I'm a Badass Fire Horse

Chapters

Chapter 1: Unexpected Company
Chapter 8: Critical Roleplay [Part 1]
Chapter 2: Castle Life
Chapter 3: Small Changes
Chapter 4: Curious Cadenza
Chapter 5: Big Changes
Chapter 6: My Faithful Student
Chapter 7: Lesson Preparations
Chapter 9: Critical Roleplay [Part 2]
Interlude: The Other Fire Horse

Chapter 1: Unexpected Company

Deep within the Everfree Forest, inside an abandoned, derelict castle, an ancient equine being paced around the throne room worriedly, trying to calm herself.

She was tall, taller than most of her kind. Her mane and tail were formed out of bright yellow flames, yet they didn't appear to burn anything around them. Her coat was a brilliant white, which was tinged yellow and orange from her flames. She had a pair of large white wings on her back, and an impressively long horn on her forehead. She wore intricately designed regalia, which were formed in such a way that they could also act as protection. She had yellow slitted eyes with dark scleras, and a set of sharp teeth in her mouth.

The pegasister-turned-alicorn paced around worriedly as she assessed her predicament,

"Okay, okay... so you got thrown into Equestria, that's good! And you're a pony, that's great! You're also an alicorn, even better! But instead of an OC or something, you're DAYBREAKER of all alicorns! Damnit!"

She shouted in frustration, slamming her hoof on the floor and causing it to shatter, leaving a molten crater behind. Her flaming tail and mane flared accordingly with her emotions, and the room became hotter as well.

Daybreaker took a deep breath, "Alright, okay. I can work with this. The Elements are still here, which means Twilight's either still in Canterlot or she's in Ponyville right now." she rubbed her face with a foreleg, "Right... I can do this."

She paused to think. She didn't want the Mane Six to think of her as a threat, and she knew her villainous appearance wouldn't help her case. Who would be stupid enough to trust a flaming-demon-pony-thing?

"I could... help them beat Nightmare Moon... but how can I do it without messing up their trials?" she thought aloud.

Daybreaker began to pace around the room again, "Maybe I can swoop in and keep Nightmare in a headlock while they're blasting her? Might get myself blasted too..." her eyes widened, "But I'm not really evil, I just look evil, so that means nothing's going to happen! Yeah, alright, I should do that instead!"

She glanced around the decrepit throne room and sighed, "Stay here for a night, if I hear evil laughing, that means Nightmare's here. If not, then maybe try to find a disguise spell and go to Ponyville..." she muttered to herself once more.

As day continued on to night, Daybreaker kept a vigilant eye upon the Mare on the Moon, she knew it won't change until close to sunrise, but it never hurt to be careful.

"Come on, Nighty..."

During the time between arriving and observing the moon, she had gone through a significant chunk of the castle's library as a way of training her magic. It was a pleasant surprise that, despite not knowing any magic as a human previously, she was actually very adept at using it. Daybreaker didn't know if it was because of her transformation or something else entirely, but she was grateful that she had—as far as she knew—about as much mastery over magic as the actual Daybreaker nevertheless. She felt a little guilty about accidentally burning Celestia's old bed, though.

As time went on, she started to think that maybe she'd been transported farther back than she thought, as the moon hadn't done anything but move along the sky, and was quickly being lowered towards the horizon.

"Okay, so maybe not the first episode, then." Daybreaker muttered.

The moon continued to dip below the horizon, and was eventually replaced by the sun, which Celestia had just began raising.

"Definitely before episode one. Shit..."

Before she could do anything, Daybreaker was blinded by a flash of light. She felt like her consciousness was being lifted from her body and placed somwhere else. It was an utterly surreal experience for her.

Blinking for a few times to clear her eyes, Daybreaker looked around her surroundings for potential threats.

What she didn't expect was being met with the sight of an ethereal realm, a very familiar ethereal realm. The very same realm that a certain book-loving purple pony was transported to when she got her wings.

Daybreaker's jaw dropped, "W-what the..."

She looked around the space, only to find nothing but blue clouds and glowing orbs floating around.

"This doesn't make sense, why would I-"

Daybreaker quickly interrupted herself when she saw another tall, white-coated alicorn, who was standing in front of a smaller, pink-coated alicorn who was cowering behind the former.

Princess Celestia took a defensive stance in front of the newly ascended Cadance with unfurled wings and a lit horn.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" she asked. Her voice was calm and commanding at the same time.

Daybreaker's eyes widened, she was this far back?! She didn't want to meet Celestia as her evil counterpart!

'Red alert! Red alert! Uh, um, channel your inner roleplayer! Come on!'

Daybreaker cleared her throat, "I am you." she replied in a similarly calm voice.

Celestia stood her ground, "I am not in the mood for playing games, who are-"

"You didn't let me finish." Daybreaker pointed a hoof to her chest, "I am you, from an alternate future timeline. And I have travelled through time to prevent a catastrophic event from happening that lead us to becoming–" she motioned a hoof towards her fiery mane, "–this."

'Wow, I'm great at bullshitting.'

Celestia glared at her, "And how am I supposed to believe these claims? You don't expect me to trust what you say just like that, do you?"

Daybreaker shook her head, "No, I don't. I know we're not fools.

"My evidence is my—and by extension, your—knowledge of our dear sister Luna. Who is prophesied to return from her banishment within, hm..." she glanced at Cadance, who hid herself behind Celestia even more, "about a decade's time, give or take?"

'Hopefully this is enough...'

Celestia's expression softened, and her stance became more relaxed, nopony else is supposed to know.

Daybreaker took a tentative step foreward, "Do you believe me now?"

Celestia lowered her wings ever so slightly and paused for a moment before asking, "How?"

"How in what way?"

"How did you... we become this." Celestia said as she gestured towards Daybreaker's form.

Daybreaker lowered her head and did her best attempt at looking sorrowful, "I... gave in to the darkness...

'God, that sounds edgy as hell.'

"I have failed my ponies. And I've been given another chance to fix my mistakes. Please, if not for us, then do it for them. They deserve better..."

'Come on, Celly, just take it!'

After a few tense moments, Celestia fully relaxed her stance and eventually walked up to Daybreaker.

She smiled towards her self proclaimed counterpart, "If you truly believe that, by being here, you can prevent a calamity from befalling Equestria, I would gladly extend my hoof in friendship to you."

Daybreaker returned the smile, "And I would gladly accept." she paused as she realized something, "Ah, and to avoid confusion, please, just call me Daybreaker."

Celestia raised an eyebrow at the odd name choice but nodded anyway, "Very well. It is nice to meet you, Daybreaker."

"Um, princess, what's going on?" the newly ascended Cadance called out from a few paces away.

Celestia stifled a giggle while returning to the soon-to-be princess, "Worry not, Cadance. Just a misunderstanding between me and an old friend."

Cadance glanced between the two alicorns nervously, "A-alright..."

Daybreaker didn't show it externally, but inside she was celebrating metaphorically rolling a nat 20 on her deception check.

'Still got it, baby!'

Daybreaker was back in the material realm, it took a bit to reorient herself.

She had informed Celestia of her current location, and requested to be picked up via a carriage and deliberately left out the fact that she was reluctant to try flying. Celestia, of course, was unsure about sending one to the middle of the Everfree.

Eventually, they had agreed that Daybreaker will teleport to Canterlot instead, which led the flaming alicorn into studyng a bunch of dusty old books on long range teleportation.

Unfortunately, without a clear picture of how the actual Canterlot looked like, she had to use the points of view that were shown in the cartoon as her waypoint.

They had agreed to meet up at the castle's entrance once Celestia was done picking up Cadance from her village. Daybreaker waited for a few moments before preparing the spell.

"Hope this works..." she muttered to herself.

She channeled the required amount of magical energy into her horn and pictured the drop bridge of the castle. She silently hoped that she didn't misfire a drop herself into the moat.

"And... go!"

Daybreaker released the red-colored energy stored in her horn, and in a flash, disappeared from the Castle of the Two Sisters.

Celestia and Cadance were waiting for Daybreaker's arrival in their specified location. Cadance was still a little apprehensive about the admittedly monstrous looking alicorn, but trusted Celestia when she said that Daybreaker wasn't a threat, but rather an old friend of hers.

She found it odd that, despite being an alicorn as well as a friend of the princess, she had never heard of Daybreaker before their encounter. Sure, she was busy cowering behind the solar monarch when they met, but Cadance could've sworn that the two of them were talking about something else entirely back there. Celestia merely waved it off as them having a misunderstanding caused by Daybreaker being away from Equestria for the last few centuries.

As for Celestia, the (as of right now) monarch herself was also quite concerned, but not for the same reason as her now adopted niece. She was worried of how her ponies would react to two new alicorns, and Daybreaker specifically. Cadance's presence was easy enough to explain. She was a pony who had obtained Harmony's favor, and was ascended by its will.

Daybreaker, on the other hoof, was another story entirely. She had the same general look and proportions as Celestia herself, it'd be hard to convince the populace that she had only recently ascended alongside Cadance. There was also the fact that she would easily frighten many a pony with a single glance. Her flaming mane, slitted eyes, and sharp teeth definitely would be a cause for alarm for those who looked at her. Though she supposed it couldn't be helped, as Daybreaker's form was supposedly altered by the dark magic she fell to.

Celestia sighed, just what sort of catastrophe could cause her to become Daybreaker and cause Equestria's downfall? It was unfortunate that her future self couldn't tell her much due to the nature of the spells she used. All she could do now is to listen to Daybreaker's guidance and advice to lead her nation away from going down a dark path.

For now, they agreed to use the cover story that Daybreaker was an old friend of hers, and had recently returned from her ventures outside of Equestria's borders. She will not be granted the title of Princess, but will be gifted the title of royal advisor. It was all they could come up with in such short notice.

Both alicorns were snapped out of their thoughts as a massive jet of fire erupted from the other side of the draw bridge. Definitely Daybreaker.

As the flames died down, the intimidating figure of Daybreaker slowly made her way towards her fellow alicorns.

She flashed them a fanged smile, "You don't know how much I've missed this castle."

'Gotta make sure the lore's consistent.'

Celestia bowed her head slightly, "Welcome, Daybreaker. Or should I say, welcome back?"

Daybreaker sniffed in amusement before turning to Cadance, who flinched as she did so, "And hello to you too, Cadance."

Cadance smiled nervously, "H-hello..."

"Now that we're all here, I would like you all to follow me inside. There's somepony very special I'd like to introduce to you first." Celestia instructed as she turned around.

Cadance raised an eyebrow and Daybreaker flat out frowned.

'Hopefully not as bad as her other depictions...'

Sunset Shimmer felt like her time was being wasted.

She had been taken away from her studies to greet the princess' new guests in the dining room. From what she's heard, they might be staying here for a while. No biggie, as long as they leave her alone, she'll do the same to them. She just wished Princess Celestia hadn't forced her to sit here and wait for half an hour when she could be doing something far more important.

Sunset sighed as she propped her head on a hoof, "I should've brought a book..." she grumbled quietly.

Just then, the doors to the dining room opened gently. Princess Celestia entered while smiling at her personal student.

"Hello, Sunset. Are you ready to meet our special guests today?" she asked.

Sunset huffed, "Ready as I'll ever be." she replied unethusiastically.

Celestia pretended to not notice her student's show of displeasure, "Wonderful! I would like to introduce you to my niece and soon-to-be Princess Mi Amore Cadenza."

Cadance walked up from behind Celestia and extended a hoof towards the student, "Hi, nice to meet you!" she said brightly.

Sunset's eyes widened as she took in the pink alicorn's appearance, "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Um, nice to-"

Sunset waved a hoof, "No no, that was a rethorical question." she turned to her teacher, "So."

Celestia raised an eyebrow, "Yes, Sunset?"

Sensing trouble brewing, Daybreaker decided to finally step into the room and make her presence known,

"Apologies. It's been quite some time since I last roamed these halls. I believe I took a wrong turn somewhere."

Sunset halted her prepared rant as she gazed upon the third alicorn in the room. To say that her jaw dropped would be like calling Discord weird.

In front of her stood a being who simply radiated power. Even by standing there nonchalantly, she exuded an aura of glory and might that Cadance could only ever dream of having.

"I-I... bwuh?" was all Sunset could mutter.

Celestia looked towards her time travelling counterpart, "Ah yes, and this is Daybreaker. She is an old friend of mine and has returned to Equestria after her long travels."

Daybreaker nodded at the young unicorn, "Greetings." she said curtly.

Sunset only replied by a slight nod while staring at the flaming alicorn.

Celestia gingerly approached her student, "Sunset? Are you feeling well?"

Sunset eerily turned turned her head back towards Celestia, eyes still wide open.

"Is she... okay?" Cadance asked tentatively.

THUD!

Daybreaker looked over the unconscious unicorn before turning to the surprised Celestia and Cadance, "Was it something I said?"

Author's Note

I must thank Skyblazer9 for inspiring me to begin writing this story!

There are a truckload of Human to Nightmare Moon stories out there, but only one Human to Daybreaker story that I know of, so here's my contribution to an almost untouched concept of stories here.

I also made her appear during Sunset Shimmer's era to shake things up a bit.

For those who are familiar with Crucible Spark and enjoy his unhinged shenanigans, this might feel a little more subdued. The human who became Daybreaker won't be as hell-bent at changing the timeline for the sake of it as Spark is. She'll be more like Brony-Spike if anything.

If you want to share ideas on how this story should go, consider commenting!

Corrections and criticisms are more than welcome, I can't improve without those now, can I?
Have a good existence!
:)

"Remembered forever, the land of Equestria"

Chapter 8: Critical Roleplay [Part 1]

Author's Note

MERRY CHRISTMAS! HO HO HO!

It's been quite a while, hasn't it?

First, I would like to sincerely apologize for my lack of updates for just a little under two months. Quite a few things have been going on behind the scenes lately, and I simply haven't gotten the time to really lock into writing like I usually do. Once again, I am sorry for that.

Secondly, I'm changing the plans of this chapter. By that, I mean I'm going to put this out in two parts.
That's right! A two-parter! Ain't that something?

Now, I know what you're thinking, "But Baroque, why separate them into two when you can release it as one chapter?"
My answer to that is: My gut feeling told me so and it's always been right, so I'm not questioning it. So I'm releasing part one as a sort of 'introduction', with chapter 9 being the focus of the session!

Chapter 10 will be about Daybreaker finding out the consequences of her FlameBoom, and Opaline will instead be focused on an interlude after it. hopefully I won't change my mind again...

Anyway, that's all for now, I think. If you're curious of what I'm planning after I get to the interlude, you can take a look at this blog post!
(Disclaimer, changes to this timeline are already at play)

"Glory and honour, the Land of Equestria."

Chapter 8: Critical Roleplay [Part 1]

"It's not your fault, sister..."

"Do you understand what this means for us? For all of Equestria?"

"There's no turning back now..."

"Fools! Do they really think that they can fight against the unfathomable power of the sun itself?!"

"Burn them. Burn them all."

"Leavenonebehind."

Daybreaker jolted awake. Her eyes cracking open instantaneously as her dream ended abruptly. She raised a foreleg to rub her bleary eyes, but realized that she... stumbled?

She quickly put her leg back down to stabilize herself. The sensation of nearly falling had practically jumpstarted her mind and made her acutely aware of her surroundings.

"What the heeee- hrk- khk!"

The former human then choked on her own spit when she finally registered what was actually happening around her.

There she was, on the balcony to her room, the morning breeze flowing through her flame-like mane, her horn alight with powerful red magic, and the sun jittering ever so slightly in the sky every time she moved her head.

It didn't take her long to put two and two together to realize...

"CRAP! THE SUN! I'M CONTROLLING THE SUN! HO SHIT! WHA-"

Unfortunately, she still wasn't awake enough to gain full control over her motor functions, and her airway was once again blocked.

"Hhkk! AIR- SPI- WRONG! ENTRY!"

She continued to try and not get assassinated by her own bodily functions while the magic on her horn was still connected to the massive ball of plasma in the sky. Obviously, having the sun start breakdancing in what was supposed to be the early morning wasn't something that most ponies—and likely other creatures—would appreciate very much.

With one final cough and sharp inhale, Daybreaker slumped on to the railing and tried to focus on the literally glaring problem in front of her.

"What the hell happened here?" she muttered.

So... she can raise the sun now. It wasn't totally unexpected really, considering that Daybreaker—the pony—was Celestia herself. The fact that she still had the princess' cutie mark as well should have been a dead giveaway.

The flaming mare tiredly rubbed her muzzle, "It's too fucking early to deal with this shit..."

Thankfully for her, it seemed like sompony had heard her silent—to be more accurate, 'loud'— pleas, as Celestia descended from her own balcony with a flourish of her wings.

The princess looked at her advisor with worry, "Daybreaker, what are you doing?!"

Daybreaker, still in a state of fatigue, confusion, distress, and advanced confusion, practically whipped towards her 'counterpart'. The former human's slitted eyes bored into Celestia's, causing the monarch to stumble backwards.

"Help. Me." she begged through gritted teeth.

Daybreaker hadn't realized it, but by the time she finished her... request, she was only a few inches away from Celestia's face.

The princess gently nudged her 'other self' away, and relaxed her stance once Daybreaker's eyes turned to somewhere else.

"Could... you tell me what happened? You were doing fairly well these last few days, I'm wondering what could have caused you so much distress." Celestia replied after a passing moment.

That got Daybreaker's attention.

The fiery alicorn raised a hoof, "Hold on. What do you mean by 'these last few days'?"

Celestia raised an eyebrow, "We've been taking turns raising the sun for the last week. You were the one who started first. Don't you remember?"

Daybreaker took a moment to mull over that information. She looked back towards the sun, which jittered slightly whenever she moved her head.

'For the last week?!'

She sat down on her haunches, put her forehooves together close to her muzzle, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

Daybreaker opened her eyes again, and stared back to Celestia.

"I don't. I don't remember ever waking up this early, I don't remember ever walking out to this balcony, and I definitely don't remember ever raising the sun. This—" she gestured towards the massive ball of flames in the sky, "—was all involuntary. I had no expectations waking up to this today." the ex-human ranted. The surrounding temperature noticeably felt warmer.

And now, it was Celestia's turn to process the information. She gave Daybreaker a blank look, which slowly developed into bewilderment.

"So all that time..."

Daybreaker sighed and rubbed the bridge of her muzzle, "Yes. It seems like I've been rather busy in my sleep..."

'Let's just put it like that. Gonna have to deal with this later...'

She looked back to Celestia, "Just... help me, please."

The princess, in turn, looked at her like she had removed all the cake from the castle's kitchen.

"You... don't know how?"

Daybreaker's eyes widened as she realized her slip. It seemed like roleplaying with a groggy mind wasn't very viable, especially when your... everything, depended on it.

'Crap, crap, crap! Quick, brain! Think of something!'

Her mind went into overdrive. Thinking swiftly with the knowledge she had obtained throughout the years as a fan of various types of media, the former human once again weaved another... lie? Right in front of the solar monarch.

She did her best attempt at looking remorseful, "Well... when Equestria fell... and I gave into the dark powers..." Daybreaker took a small breath,"The sun... was used as a weapon. For a desperate last resort."

A glance at Celestia showed that the princess appeared to be quite engrossed with the tale. Years of donning the mask of a wise ruler helped her stifle a reaction, one that Daybreaker nearly missed.

The flaming mare turned around and looked towards the sun, its golden rays illuminated the balcony in such a way that helped set the mood for her 'backstory' greatly. Celestia noticed how Daybreaker's body seemed to stiffen when she sat back down again.

"As far as I can remember, with the remaining fragments of my full memories, I decimated an opposing force by channeling its power into myself. That was the moment where I became... well, me."

Celestia tentatively stepped closer to her. Daybreaker had rarely spoken about the future she came from with this much detail, and with every small mention and description, that future only seemed to get darker and darker.

"Then... what happened to everything else? Without the day-night cycle, how could the world function properly?" the princess asked.

The advisor closed her eyes and shook her head lightly.

"The last time I was there, before I transported myself through time... the world was nothing more than a vast, empty wasteland of sand and dust."

Celestia could only stand in stunned silence. She didn't even know what to say to that.

A moment of silence passed before Daybreaker spoke again.

"I haven't seen the sun in... a very long time, I suppose."

A pause, before she continued, "Feeling its presence in my magic again feels... alien. Like I don't even recognize it. But perhaps... I still have some sort of connection to it."

Celestia, finally given the chance to think over Daybreaker's story, decided to step closer to sit beside the fiery mare.

She took a careful look at Daybreaker's expression and noted that it looked... distant. Hollow, even. As if the mare she had been listening to wasn't all there, so to speak, with her eyes blankly locked on to the horizon with the sun idly sitting upon it.

The princess sat beside her 'counterpart' with thoughts whirling through her mind. Both alicorns sat in silence as they gazed upon the sight of the still stationary sun looming over Equestria.

Realizing that Daybreaker had seemingly stopped channeling her magic, she decided to reach out to the sun with her own and went through the usual process of raising it.

After properly placing the massive ball of plasma where it should have been, Celestia turned her focus back to Daybreaker, who was still oddly stationary.

She reached out a hoof towards the advisor's foreleg.

"Daybreaker?" she called out softly.

The fiery mare jumped in place when she made contact. Her eyes widened and snapped to Celestia..

"Uh... r-right. Thank you for that." she replied. Before looking back into the distance with a confused expression.

'Just blanked out there for a sec... what happened?'

The monarch kept her gaze upon Daybreaker for another moment, her face barely giving away any internal thoughts she had.

She breathed out a small sigh as she spread her wings to take flight.

"I should get going. We'll meet each other again for your lesson, yes?"

Daybreaker looked back to her. Celestia noted that the blank look was gone.

"Uh, right! Yes. We'll all meet up again in the dining room at six PM."

With a nod, the monarch of Equestria ascended back to her balcony with a single flap of her wings. As she watched Celestia return to her chambers, Daybreaker turned back to the now properly placed sun in the sky.

She sighed heavily and put a hoof on the side of her head, "Aaand now I've got a headache. Fucking great..."

With one last adjustment, Daybreaker took a few steps back to get a good look of her finished setup. Back during her little shopping trip with Sunset, the former human had decided to restrain herself from going all out as she did before her transformation. While the possibility of finally getting her dream setup with quality miniatures, terrain, and custom everything thanks to royal funding was incredibly enticing, she really didn't want to cause suspicion by purchasing the store's entire stock of O&O products.

"Maybe I could join a group or something..."

She paused, "As Dayzie, of course."

After finishing her duties for the day, Daybreaker had rushed back to the dining room to prepare for the lesson she had planned. Unfortunately, it had to be postponed by another day, due to the fact that she had underestimated the time needed to help her new players create their characters.

Thankfully, when she brought this up with Sunset, the young prodigy seemed to be fine with it.

Daybreaker went up to her seat at the head of the table and adjusted her DM screen, "At least I get more time to ponify my setting." she muttered.

As she waited for everypony to arrive, the ex-human idly tapped a hoof on the table and thought of what specific kind of gameplay would be effective for her players. Back home, she was known as the type of DM to let her players goof around the world, even if the overarching story was derailed. She always prioritized the 'fun factor' of her sessions first, with the story second. Sure, it might not be everyone's cup of tea, but her old friends enjoyed them very much, so she didn't have any reason to change her style.

Daybreaker frowned, "Ah, right..."

She slumped down on the table and folded her forelegs below her head.

The former human smirked and chuckled wryly, "So caught up in messing up magical horseland I forgot about you all..."

"Finally got to that point, huh?"

The one thing most humans who get transported to Equestria tend to forget within the first few days, only for it to hit them back with the force of a bullet train, the one thing that makes many humans-in-Equestria bitter and distant, the one thing that only some are truly lucky enough to have it transported with them.

"Living in the land of Friendship and Harmony, without any of my long-time friends... heh, ironic."

A wave of homesickness immediately washed over her. It hadn't truly hit her of how alone she actually was.

Sure, she had Celestia, Cadance, Sunset, and various other ponies who reside in the castle as company, but considering how all of those relations were built upon an unfathomably massive mountain of lies and acting, it just wasn't the same.

Maybe someday she'll be able to reveal everything to them, and be able to be their actual friend.

"Someday..."

The clock had finally struck six, which meant that it was time for Daybreaker's unorthodox lesson to begin. The blazing alicorn took a deep breath and pulled her DM personality back to the forefront. It had been quite some time since her last session, likely a few months, but she was sure she'd still be able to put on a respectable performance.

She turned to the main doors expectantly. Everypony she had asked should be arriving soon.

"Any minute now..."

Just as expected, the doors parted with a visible turquoise aura, revealing Sunset, who had her character sheet floating beside her.

The young mare then made her way to the seat closest to Daybreaker and turned to her current teacher.

"So... how're we going to play? Don't we need like, two more ponies to start?"

Daybreaker merely smiled and nodded towards the door she had came from.

Sunset raised an eyebrow before curiously turning her gaze to where the flaming mare had gestured to.

Recognizing the three figures who were quickly approaching them, she whipped her head back to Daybreaker with a deadpan expression.

"You've gotta be kidding me."

Princess Celestia, Cadance, and Raven, who were all carrying their own character sheets, sat down on their respective seats on each side of the table. The monarch had chosen to sit directly in front of her student, while the young princess chose to sit beside Sunset, making her unnoticeably uncomfortable. Raven sat to the opposite of Cadance, completing the current assembly for the campaign's party.

The fiery alicorn snickered, "I doubt you'd be willing to play with ponies you're not familiar with."

"But!"

She gestured Sunset to calm down, "Now, now, I know you have some... history, with Princess Cad-"

Cadance cleared her throat loudly.

"Cadance and Raven here, but perhaps this is a good chance to mend a few bonds, hm?"

She leaned closer to her student, "And Raven apparently plays, so she's here to help teach you all as we play."

Sunset gave the advisor a look, and quickly glanced at her fellow players.

Both Celestia and Cadance gave their own smiles, with Cadance's being a bit more hesitant. Raven, meanwhile, held the familiar neutral look that she was most well known for.

The prodigy sighed, "Fine."

Daybreaker nodded and smiled, slightly revealing her fangs.

"Wonderful!" she turned towards her players, "Now, have you all finished with your characters?"

Celestia gave her advisor a nod as she levitated her sheet over, "I admit, it was quite enjoyable to come up with my own fictional character. I hope I followed the rules correctly."

Cadance followed suit, "It was kind of confusing at first, but I think I pretty decent job. Thanks for helping!"

Raven slid her own sheet towards Daybreaker, which was promptly picked up, "You said we're starting of simple, yes? I opted for one of my basic characters."

Sunset levitated hers of the others within Daybreaker's aura, "Here's mine. Wasn't all too hard to make."

The advisor shook her head lightly as she sorted each of her players' character sheets. During the extra day between her trip and the lesson itself, Daybreaker had taken the opportunity to help both Celestia and Cadance in making their own characters. True to her style, she only taught them them the basics of filling out a character sheet, gave twenty-seven points to spend on ability scores, and gave them the player's hand- hoof- guidebook before letting them work out what sort of character they'd play themselves.

'Let's see what we've got here...'

First up was Celestia's. Apparently, the solar princess had chosen to play as pegasus bard. There was a small, simple doodle of a beige-coated pegasus with a braided golden mane playing a lute on the section dedicated for potential character art. Daybreaker felt she looked familiar.

The advisor narrowed her eyes as she read the character's name.

'Golden Feath- oh come on!'

She gave Celestia a discreet yet sharp glare, to which the princess only responded with a cheeky wink.

Daybreaker could only sigh as she moved on to Cadance's. On the art section was a insectoid pony with a dark green cloak with a gold trim. Around their neck was a bow, and a quiver with arrows could be seen peeking from the cloak as well.

Cadance awkwardly pawed on the table, "I chose a shiftling ranger, is... is that okay?"

Daybreaker paused to think. Based on the information from the guidebook, shiftlings were essentially just changelings, created without any knowledge of the changelings themselves.

She gave the young alicorn a kind smile, "I would have suggested a simpler race to start with. However, I do believe I can help you work with this, don't worry."

'Real subtle foreshadowing there, Denza. I think I can make up some nice lore for her.'

While shapeshifters weren't exactly exempt from her setting, she had never really considered having them as playable characters. Still, allowing Cadance to play as a shiftling gave her the possibility to play around with experimental lore, so it was kind of exciting to see what she could do.

Right after that was Raven's. Daybreaker didn't need to intervene much when it came to her since she already had experience in playing O&O.

Really, it was quite the surprise when the secretary told her of the existing O&O sessions ran by members of the castle's staff. Apparently it helped with overall morale so she and Kibitz decided to let them be.

'Maybe I should go check them out later.'

On Raven's sheet was an awe-inspiringly realistic sketch of a deer stag. He stood proudly whilst wearing a cloak adorned with intricate designs. The glasses on his snout and scroll-filled satchel around his neck implied he was a scholar of some sort.

Daybreaker glanced up to see what his name was and tried to stifle a reaction when she registered the character's name.

"Timber... Timber Spruce?!" she mumbled.

Noticing the odd look on the advisor's face, Raven raised an eyebrow and decided to ask.

"Any changes required?"

The fiery alicorn waved a hoof dismissively, "N-no, no, I was just thinking. That's all."

Raven watched her for another moment before replying with a silent nod. Daybreaker took it as her cue to move on the her last player.

She clipped the three sheets she's read on to her screen and levitated Sunset's character sheet closer. On the art section was an admittedly cool-looking drawing of a centaur wearing a waistcoat rearing up on his hindlegs with a ball of magic between his bovine horns.

'Magnar the Crimson... why does that sound familiar?'

Sunset gave her a proud grin, "I'd say I did pretty good job on his stat distribution."

Daybreaker glanced at Magnar's stats and nodded approvingly. Sunset had prioritized INT as her main statistic, with CON and DEX following suit. WIS also had some attention on it, while the rest were distributed between CHA and STR. Overall a nice wizard build for somepony with no experience in playing tabletop RPGs.

Not that the others were made poorly, of course. Raven's character sheet definitely showed her experience, while Celestia and Cadance's were decent as well, if a bit scattered for their chosen race and classes.

Daybreaker placed the sheet on her screen. She took another glance at each character and took in their designs, her mind coming up with various scenarios that would fit a party such as theirs.

With a confirming nod, she turned back to her players and lit her horn. During the extra day between her trip and the lesson, the fiery mare had opted to learn a few trick from her book of illusion spells, thinking that she could enhance her players' experience.

Initially, she had hoped to learn one or two simple area-of-effect spells that would encompass the entire room, but to her surprise, she had quite a bit of free time to spare. This gave her the opportunity to learn a lot more than she intended.

'If I was able to do this back then... hoo boy!'

The room suddenly darkened, leaving everypony in pitch blackness. Not a moment passed before small motes of flames burst into existence atop the table, becoming the only sources of light. The players looked at the floating lights above with confusion, they had never seen Daybreaker display a spell of this particular type before, especially one so... atmospheric.

'Learned this one from an old friend of mine!'

The sound of chuckling drew their attention back to the advisor. All of them showed various degrees of surprise when they saw her altered form.

Everything about Daybreaker, from her shining regalia to her flame-like mane, had been engulfed by the darkness of the room. The only parts of her that were visible to them were her faintly glowing, slitted eyes.

The adviso- Dungeon Master smiled deviously, revealing her sharp teeth. For each word spoken, her eyes flared and dimmed accordingly.

"Welcome, my dear players, to an adventure you shall never forget!"

To be continued...

Chapter 2: Castle Life

Author's Note

SURPRISE CHAPTER GO!
BOOM!
Gottem.

With all the attention that this story's getting, I thought I'd give you the second chapter before chapter 8 of Crucible Spark.

As a treat.

Just this once.

Couldn't hurt, right?

Anyway...
I genuinely can't believe this story blew up as much as it did! You know, when I first started writing Three Outcasts, I thought 'Man, I really hope one of my stories will get featured some day. Eh, it'll probably take years for that...'

Oh you naive child, past Baroque.

So! From the bottom of my heart, thank you, for giving my story a read.
:)

"Glory and honour, the Land of Equestria"

Chapter 2: Castle Life

Not even a day in Canterlot and she had already caused a scene. Wonderful.

At least they were able to sort it all out after Sunset recovered. The meeting went about as well as anybody who's read a few stories about pre-Fall Formal Sunset would've expected.

It consisted of three tablespoons of eye rolling, two cups of sighing, three-and-a-quarter ounces of huffing, and to top it all off, a generous drizzle of glaring, specifically towards Cadance.

Throughout it all, all three alicorns noticed her odd demeanor whenever Daybreaker becomes the focus of the conversation. It was as if she was trapped in her own fantasy, with her frequently staring off towards the flaming mare. This worried Daybreaker.

She knew that Sunset, particularly in this era, had an unhealthy obsession of wanting to become an alicorn, and thus, a princess. Seeing the way she reacted whenever the fiery alicorn was brought into the spotlight could only mean one thing.

She was scheming.

'And she's not doing a great job covering it up, too.' Daybreaker thought to herself as she followed an assigned guard down the hallway to her personal quarters.

Sunset had been trailing her along the way, up until the student realized that she had an assignment due soon and hurriedly returned to her room. While she did put a decent effort into hiding herself, her naturally bright color palette certainly didn't help her blend in all that well.

Daybreaker sighed, 'Hopefully that won't be a problem in the future...'

When they finally made it to her room, the guard proceeded to open the door and stepped aside.

"Y-your room, Lady Daybreaker." he said while discreetly avoiding eye contact with her.

Daybreaker nodded, "Thank you."

She noticed that the guard flinched slightly when spoken to.

Once inside, she closed the door behind her with a gentle kick before taking a deep breath. Her mane and tail seemed to dim slghtly.

"Finally..."

Daybreaker took in the sight of the room, it was just as she had expected. The room was absolutely luxurious. Every piece of furniture and decor looked like it costed at least a fortune to buy, with intricately carved patterns on each of them. Even the stack of paper on the bedside table seemed expensive.

She looked towards the massive bed curiously. The four-poster was large enough to fit at least three of herself with enough room to spare.

"Can't complain about that."

Daybreaker slowly took off her regalia with her magic and hooves. It took a bit of fiddling with the peytral and wing plates, but she eventually worked it out.

After putting the pieces in a neat stack on a dresser, she took another weary glance at the bed.

Daybreaker ran a hoof along her mane, "Well, it doesn't feel hot right now."

She climbed up onto the bed and bounced on it a few times. Nodding to herself in satisfaction, she laid down on her back and sighed, enjoying the softness of the bed and pillows.

Of course, as all good things do, the comfortable atmosphere of the room came to an abrupt end when Daybreaker realized how deep the hole she dug for herself was.

She immediately shot up to a sitting position, "Oh crap."

Pretending to be Celestia's alternate self, from the future, who came back in time to 'fix' an incoming calamity that she's not allowed to describe. Masterpiece storytelling right there.

Daybreaker practically shot off the bed, she frantically searched around the room for paper and writing implements.

Once found, she slapped the paper and inkwell on the desk and sat down on the larger-than-average chair.

"Alright, let's write down some lore... shouldn't be too hard, right?"

Daybreaker dropped her head on the desk, causing inky sheets of paper and snapped quills to fly all over her and fall to the carpeted floor.

"Me and my big mouth..." she muttered to herself tiredly.

She didn't know how long it had been, but based on the way the sun was closing in on the horizon, it was likely that she had spent about three hours writing down a list of excuses and tidbits of her own 'lore'.

And most of it can be boiled down to her blaming time travel and experimental magic shenanigans. It wasn't concrete, sure, but with good enough acting, anything is possible, she supposes.

Daybreaker straightened her posture, "Anything is possible... hm..."

It hadn't fully hit her until now, but she was transported quite the ways back. This was a mostly uncharted territory for a human who was transported to Equestria, if she's not mistaken.

Finally catching up with her own lore, Daybreaker perked up as it finally dawned on her.

"I can... change things. I can change things!"

She swept away the remaining paper on the table and stored her 'character sheet' in a drawer before grabbing a newer, cleaner sheet. Her mind raced with an endless flow of ideas waiting to be released.

For the rest of the day—and eventually night—Daybreaker wrote down all of the things she could do to make her own perfect version of Equestria.

Daybreaker slowly stirred from her slumber when she felt... something calling out to her.

She sat up on the bed, a part of the blanket still clinging on one of her wings.

"Mmm... gotta... sun..." she mumbled. Body still mostly asleep from pulling an all-nighter.

Once awokened, that strange feeling returned again. With greater force. It was enough to make the sluggish alicorn to get off the bed.

As she stood up, Daybreaker felt the sudden urge to walk—or in her case, hobble—towards the balcony.

Still stuck in sleep inertia, she mindlessly followed along whatever the feeling was telling her to do, which lead her outside, facing towards an early, sunless horizon.

The mysterious force then told her to light her horn, and visualize the rising sun. Of course, in her condition, the mental image was mostly a blur of yellow and orange within her mindscape.

When Daybreaker did as instructed, the sun peeked just over the horizon. It jittered and spasmed for a moment before shooting up into the sky, almost instantaneously causing the sky to switch from orange to blue.

It was then that the force simply disappeared from her being. Feeling oddly satisfied and even more tired, Daybreaker went back to her room and unceremoniously dropped herself back on the bed, not caring to wear the blanket again.

From another part of the castle, on a balcony situated higher from Daybreaker's room, Celestia turned her gaze from the hijacked sun to her guest's balcony, only to see a glimpse of a flaming tail slipping back inside.

'What the hell happened last night?' Daybreaker thought to herself as she made her way to the dining room.

When she woke up that morning, she noticed that the balcony doors were slightly open, allowing a faint breeze to enter her room.

She did not remember ever going outside.

'Gotta make sure to check the locks next time.'

Continuing down the hall, Daybreaker took occasional glances at some of the paintings put up throughout the hall. Most of them depicted historical Equestrian figures, but there were some that intrigued her.

For example, a painting depicting a beautiful scene of a forest. According to the plaque on its frame, it was a gift from none other than King Aspen himself to celebrate five hundred years of Equestria's friendship with Thicket and the Everfree as a whole.

"Comics are definitely real here." Daybreaker noted.

Next to it was a painting of two black-furred anthropomorphic cat creatures. This painting was another gift, specifically from when the Abyssinian embassy made first contact with Equestria.

"Movie's real too..."

By the time Daybreaker arrived, she could see that Celestia, Cadance, and Sunset were already having breakfast, with her own plate already placed on her seat's side.

"Good morning." she greeted.

Cadance gave her an uneasy smile.

Sunset took a glance away from the book she was reading, and straightened her posture.

Celestia gave her a warm smile, "Good morning, Daybreaker. Did you sleep well?"

"Like a b- foal." Daybreaker replied.

'Almost...'

The monarch nodded, "That's good to hear." she paused to take sip of tea, "If I'm not mistaken, you will be meeting with Raven and Kibitz today, right?"

Daybreaker took a seat and opened the cloche that covered her plate. It was a fancy fruit salad.

She looked back up at Celestia, "Are they not upset that I'm taking away what is essentially their primary roles?"

Celestia covered a giggle with a hoof, "Oh goodness no. Raven is actually quite glad that she can devote more time to other tasks, and Kibitz simply doesn't mind."

Daybreaker nodded, "Good to hear."

Breakfast went about as well as a human-turned-demonic alicorn could expect. With Celestia discussing a couple of leftover topics from the day before.

Eventually, it was time for everypony to part ways, and for Daybreaker to meet with Raven Inkwell and Kibitz, two very important ponies whose jobs were to aid Celestia in leading the nation.

"I wonder what they're like?" Daybreaker muttered to herself.

Supposedly, they were waiting for her in Kibitz's office, and will be discussing about her duties as Celestia's advisor. A part of Daybreaker hoped that she doesn't have to deal with stuffy nobles too often.

"Don't want to end up throwing one of them out of a window..."

Daybreaker shook the thoughts of defenestrating nobles out of her mind as she knocked on the office door.

"Come in!" a voice called from inside.

With that, Daybreaker entered. Once inside, she saw Raven—who was apparently an earth pony in this Equestria—reading something on her clipboard, while Kibitz was sorting through a stack of documents.

"Alright, you better make it quick because-"

Raven interrupted herself as she finally saw who had just entered the room. She slowly turned her gaze upwards from an orange peytral to see the slitted eyes of a towering alicorn with a burning mane and tail.

Her eyes shrunk into pinpricks, "Uh-"

Kibitz gave Daybreaker a welcoming smile, "Ah, Lady Daybreaker! Right on time! It's good to finally meet you. As her highness has likely already informed you, I am Kibitz, the scheduling advisor." he motioned a hoof towards his companion, "And this is Raven Inkwell, the royal secretary. I see that you are here to discuss your new role as an advisor, yes?"

Daybreaker nodded, "I am. Shall we begin?"

"Absolutely." Kibitz turned to the secretary, "Raven, could you please bring out the documents I've prepared? It's on the shelf to the right."

There was no answer.

Kibitz raised an eyebrow, "Raven, could you-"

THUD!

"My goodness Raven, I've told you to keep up with your sleep schedule!" he sighed and looked back at the soon-to-be advisor, "My sincerest apologies, Lady Daybreaker, it appears our companion here has been staying up late with paperwork again." Kibitz commented while shaking his head.

Daybreaker looked over the unconscious secretary, "I'm starting to see a pattern here..."

Thankfully, Raven recovered quickly, and they were able to finish their meeting in record time, much to Kibitz's delight.

From what the two had informed her, the entirety of her duty is mostly centered around telling Celestia to not do anything stupid that could lead to the nation's demise.

Simple enough, and fitting with her 'lore' as well. Now all Daybreaker needed to do is figuring out what to change in the timeline first and when.

'Sunset's an obvious choice, but isn't it her 'destiny' to be the mirror world's savior? What would happen there if she never went through?'

Daybreaker took a silent moment to think as she explored the castle.

'Let's see... sirens might not be too much of a problem since there won't be a rainbow laser, Sci-Twi probably won't be investigating the portal, Gloriosa might still go for the geodes, though...

Daybreaker passed by a maid, who nearly threw herself into a large vase to get out of the way when she saw the—to her—irritated look on the alicorn's face.

'And then there's the rest of the stuff Starswirl threw in there...'

She snorted in frustration, causing a pair of patrolling guards to halt and tense up momentarily before shakily continuing on.

"God damnit, Starswirl. Why did you need to make this harder than it should be." Daybreaker murmured.

'Maybe I can tell Celestia to send a team there and collect them SCP style? That could work.'

Sighing for what felt like the hundredth time that day, Daybreaker decided to go back to her room and flesh out her plans more. There was an opportunity here to save a lot of ponies from living a life of villainy. Specifically for three of her favorite unicorns who will eventually become memorable big bads if she didn't decide to change their fates.

"No time to waste."

Chapter 3: Small Changes

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 4: Curious Cadenza

Author's Note

Apologies for the long wait, my friends! Family came over this week and I've been getting dragged along with their vacation.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

"Glory and Honour, the Land of Equestria."

Chapter 4: Curious Cadenza

"We can't hold them back much longer!"

"No! Are you Insane?!"

"You are our only hope..."

"Where are they? What happened?!"

"You idiot! You absolute fool!"

"I'm so, so sorry..."

"There's nothing else we can do, is there?"

"I have the perfect plan."

"THE UNDEFEATED SUN!"

Daybreaker shot up from her bed panting. Her coat was covered with sweat and her mouth felt dry, her heart beat rapidly in her chest as her mane writhed and flashed periodically.

She looked around the room, trying to comprehend what in the the everliving f-friendship just happened.

"W-what?" she said breathlessly.

She rubbed her face with her forelegs before taking a glance at a nearby window. Looks like Celestia was in the process of raising the sun.

After taking a deep breath, Daybreaker tried to focus on recounting her recent dream. Or perhaps it was a nightmare?

"The hell was that about?" she wondered to herself.

The voices that she heard were oddly vivid, it was almost as if they came from actual people... or ponies. Something that Daybreaker realized about the dream was the fact that she can almost remember everything they said. It all seemed random at first, but there was definitely a sense of urgency and panic in each voice.

The ex-human looked up to the ceiling, "Are you messing with me, Nighty?"

During this time, Nightmare Moon had already corrupted the nyx, turning them into the Nightmare Forces. Daybreaker assumed that she had taken notice of her and decided to send a nightmare to put the flaming mare in her place.

"It's not exactly impossible..."

Obviously, this was all mere speculation. For all she knew, it could just be her mind being a massive wreck of various trains of thought ever since she got transported to Equestria.

She sighed, "Whatever. Might as well get ready for the day now..."

"~Because my flames are hot, you mess with me? You better not, or else you might get burned~"

Daybreaker softly sang to herself as she made her way to the throne room. Today, it was her turn to accompany Celestia as an aide during open court. Which meant dealing with ponies with genuine problems and whiny nobles who'll be trying to weasel their way through the law to do... whatever it is they did.

Raven had suggested to bring something to entertain herself while listening in. Daybreaker was pleasantly surprised when the secretary sheepishly admitted that she mostly used her clipboard to sketch out random ponies in the room who caught her eye. Her drawings were so detailed and lifelike that one could mistake them for monochrome photographs.

"The fact that she does it with just her mouth... like... how?"

Daybreaker entered the throne room from a hidden door behind the throne itself before walking up the dais and flashed Celestia a smile with a bow of her head. It was then that she noticed Cadance sitting off to her left on her own seat. She seemed quite nervous.

"Your highnesses."

Celestia returned the smile and nodded, "Lady Daybreaker. Please, take a seat. We will begin shortly."

The advisor sat on a large ornate cushion prepared specifically for her. It was placed on the lower platform to the right of the princess' throne.

The monarch turned to her and whispered, "I hope you don't mind me bringing Cadance along today. I thought this would be an excellent opportunity for her to observe and learn the duties of a princess."

Daybreaker nodded in understanding, "Considering her destiny, it would be wise to do so early." she whispered back.

"Indeed."

Celestia then nodded to a guard, notifying him that court has started.

The guard responded with a salute and proceeded to head outside to call on the first petitioner.

Daybreaker adjusted her position and straightened her posture.

'Here we go...'

The first pony in line entered, but almost immediately halted his walk when he saw a demonic alicorn with a burning mane and tail sat to the side of the princess.

The unicorn stallion trembled in place while blankly staring at Daybreaker.

"Haaaaa..."

The three alicorns up on the dais shared a look of concern, as if knowing what was about to-

THUD!

Clunk! goes Daybreaker's shoe as she facehooved and struck the top of her helm.

While not exactly used to the characteristic sound caused by a pony fainting, both Celestia and Cadance have come to expect such outcomes when the fiery mare is in the same room. For the last few days she's been at the castle, pretty much everypony who isn't an alicorn, a royal guard, or Kibitz has at least fainted once in her presence.

Daybreaker heaved another all too frequent sigh and shook her head.

'This is going to be a looong day...'

'Well that was something.' Cadance thought to herself as she trotted through the castle garden to refresh her mind.

Court was... quite the experience. While she was no expert in such things, she was pretty sure that there wasn't supposed to be that much fainting involved.

'What's up with that, anyway?'

Even now, she was still utterly baffled by the very weird effect Daybreaker had on ponies. Sure, she could be quite intimidating with all the pointy regalia-armor and certain body parts that really shouldn't be on a pony, but for the few days she's known the flaming mare, there was nothing to really worry about. In fact, Daybreaker's been nothing but nice and polite to everypony she meets, and especially to Cadance herself. She always greeted the young princess with a smile, and occasionally gave her words of encouragement whenever she noticed her looking overwhelmed by all of the fancy princess duties. The only other pony who did so as frequently as Daybreaker did was Princess Celestia herself.

'Maybe I should talk to her more...'

She continued to take in the sights of the garden, enjoying the fresh air and peaceful atmosphere. Or she would have, if a familiar voice hadn't captured her attention.

"Where the hell is he?"

Cadance paused her walk and looked around the area to see where Daybreaker was. She peeked over a couple hedges and statues, trying to locate the flaming mare.

'For an armored alicorn with a burning mane, she sure is hard to spot.'

She eventually made her way towards the maze in her little quest of finding Daybreaker, and it seemed like she was in luck, as the royal advisor could be seen standing in front of a statue that depicted a... creature, singing its heart out to the world. It also looked like she was talking to herself while examining it.

Cadance felt a growing sense of anxiety when she thought to greet Daybreaker. This was a rather common phenomenon, and she had discovered that this feeling appeared to be equally shared between anypony who intends to approach the blazing alicorn, but it was still pretty off-putting just how suffocating that feeling could be.

She stood there silently, almost mimicking Daybreaker's own stance, though with a lot less confidence.

The armored mare still hadn't realized she was there and continued to inspect the odd statue whilst quietly muttering.

"I know you can hear me in there..."

'Wait, what?'

"And I've read enough fanfics to know you can."

Daybreaker was... talking to the statue? Getting curious, Cadance decided to hear out more of the one-sided conversation.

After a moment of silence, Daybreaker jumped slightly in place. She was facing the statue with her back towards Cadance, but it was clear that the flaming mare was surprised by something.

It didn't take long for Daybreaker to calm down and begin nodding.

"I see... but I'm guessing you're not going to tell anyone, huh?"

Another moment of silence passed.

"Wait, just like that? No str- oh who am I kidding, there's probably an entire textile factory's worth of strings attached to this, isn't there?" she said while shaking her head.

Cadance only got more and more confused as the conversation went on for a few minutes. It was clear to her that Daybreaker was interacting with something. Whatever that something was, it was either invisible or could only be heard by the advisor herself. She decided to stay silent, getting even more curious of the older alicorn's odd behaviour.

'Should I step in now?' Cadance considered.

Daybreaker sniffed, "I'm sure. As long as I pick ponies with little potential, we'll be able to collect them without any possessions."

'Possessions?'

Yet another moment of silence.

"Deal. But I'll have to wait until the Empire's back before that. "

'Empire?'

The fiery mare nodded, "Okay then. See you in like, a decade or something."

She suddenly turned around and stopped midway as her eyes locked on to the young princess'.

'Uh-oh!'

Daybreaker froze, stunned by the unexpected appearance of a confused and alarmed looking Cadance.

"Princess Cadance?" the advisor asked.

The princess of love forced a smile, "O-oh! Miss Daybreaker! I was taking a stroll around the garden when I found you. I just thought I should greet you. That's all!" she answered a little too quickly.

The taller alicorn looked her over before returning the smile, "You know you don't need to call me 'miss' every time we meet, right?"

Cadance felt a wave of relief wash over her, "Well... you also don't need to call me 'princess', since I haven't been coronated yet." she playfully replied.

Daybreaker chuckled, "Touché. Now, I was just about to head back for lunch. Care to join me?"

The young princess gave a genuine smile, "I'd love to!"

"Wonderful! Now come along. For some reason, I feel like eating a big slice of chocolate cake." the fiery mare commented as she walked away from the statue, acting like she hadn't been in a full on conversation with it a few moments prior.

Cadance took another glance at the statue while Daybreaker was trotting away. Somehow, she felt like it was looking back at her, despite the eyes of the creature it depicted being closed.

Shaking her head, she followed the older alicorn back to the castle.

'Creepy...'

It seemed like Discord already had an inkling on what's really going on even in stone. Typical.

'And he's being all mysterious about it. Double typical.' Daybreaker complained in her mind as she took another bite of cake from a levitated fork.

Initially, her idea of looking for him in the garden was born mostly out of curiosity, what fan wouldn't want to see Discord's statue in real life?

However, as the search for his petrified form continued, Daybreaker realized that there was an opportunity to be had if she was able to communicate with him.

Obviously, it was a wild guess. While Discord had admitted being capable of listening in on his surroundings in the cartoon, it was never shown if he could communicate with anypony outside of his imprisonment in some way. Daybreaker simply hoped that the years worth of fanfiction she had read were right and that he was able to at least telepathically talk with her.

And to her surprise and delight, it was possible! The spirit of chaos was indeed capable of speaking with her through telepathy.

'Made my head feel all tingly, ugh.'

The conversation they had could be summarized as Discord considering her offer of friendship and him eventually agreeing to it if Daybreaker could secure each and every one of Cosmos' stars and store them in a safer location.

The draconequus was initially rather hesitant about the idea, considering the risk of the alicorn getting possesed due to her high amount of magical power. But with enough coaxing, he finally relented and accepted the deal.

Of course, she wasn't that gullible. She knew that Discord could have been lying or twisting his words to have an outcome that would only benefit himself. It was why she chose to free him after the star in the Crystal Empire was discovered and secured, so that she could have the Elements of Harmony prepared as a failsafe in case the spirit tried to backstab her.

'The Element Bearers might be pretty hard to figure out because I'll be changing a few things. Hopefully I won't prevent the Sonic Rainboom...'

All Daybreaker needed to do for now was to inform Celestia of this new revelation. She hoped that the princess would consider the help Discord could give Equestria if they could get him on their side.

She sniffed at an amusing thought, 'Need to work on my charisma if I want that to work.'

Cadance sat on the other side of the table while eating fruit slices as she recollected the events she had witnessed that day. Specifically the conversation Daybreaker had with that statue.

'What's up with that statue, anyway?'

She still couldn't shake off the memory of the sensation she felt when she took that final look at the large ornament.

'Super creepy...'

The young princess sighed. Maybe she was digging into it too much. It could just be one of Daybreaker's many quirks.

'Maybe that's just how she deals with stress?'

Cadance turned her gaze to the alicorn who sat accross from her. The advisor was devouring an entire tier from a large cake in the kitchen, and she had bits of chocolate and icing that covered her mouth.

She covered a giggle with a hoof, 'Yeah, it probably is.'

Chapter 5: Big Changes

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 6: My Faithful Student

Sunset Shimmer walked through a hallway towards Princess Celestia's personal chambers in deep thought. She had decided to ask the princess directly if Daybreaker could tutor her for the next meeting.

Ever since her talk and lesson with the advisor, she had noticed a significant difference between the way the fiery mare and the princess taught her. This was something that she realized the moment they started the session.

Compared to Princess Celestia, Daybreaker seemed a lot more open and... 'informal', the student supposed, when she teaches. Sunset silently admitted that the princess can be a bit too by-the-books and frustratingly cryptic sometimes. The excitement that she gets whenever she figured out the answer or meaning of a lesson based on the vague clues she had been given was enjoyable, sure, but there's just something about the way the flaming alicorn taught her that felt a lot more... preferable.

'Not like how I expected, like, at all...'

Prior to the lesson itself, Sunset had expected the blazing mare to be pretty standoffish in the way she would articulate the subject matter. It wasn't just mere speculation, as the advisor does act rather formally to the other inhabitants of the castle. Even referring to the yet-to-be coronated Cadance as 'Princess Cadance'. She thought that Daybreaker would have been one of those 'do as I say or you'll fail' kind of teacher.

To her genuine surprise, however, Daybreaker's demeanor was almost the exact opposite from what she thought. The—presumably—elder alicorn was actually quite jovial and oddly casual about the entire ordeal, frequently making jokes and witty remarks all the way until the end of the session. And earlier into the lesson, she had told her to forgo any formalities between them, up to the point of making up potential nicknames for each other.

It was only when Princess Celestia visited them that she went back to calling her 'Miss Shimmer'.

'She called me Shimmy, so what do I call her? Daysie? Breaky? DB?'

It was quite a surreal experience, really, to see such an intimidating and powerful individual act so carefree. Just another surprise from many others.

Sunset couldn't help but admire the mare for that. For a significant part of her life, she had always tried to keep up with her status as 'the princess' personal student', which had affected her ego greatly. She was proud of being the absolute best, and she's not afraid of showing it!

But then came Daybreaker, a pony who could likely rival Princess Celestia in terms of power and knowledge, who acts like a, well, normal pony. Despite her commanding presence and intimidating aura, with the way she acted, one would think she was once just an average, everyday pony.

This made Sunset stop and think for some time right after they parted ways. She thought back to the vision the mirror showed her and her attempts at trying to pry information out of the princess.

All of that time planning, studying, scheming... everything swept away just by three simple words from Daybreaker.

'Friendship and Harmony...' Sunset recalled.

It truly was a revelation. All this time, she thought that Princess Celestia had been holding her back, that her destiny had been stolen from her by that prissy pink princess.

But it wasn't the case at all. The princess never had control over it, and Cadance didn't even want to become an alicorn, nor was she even aware that whatever she did had made her worthy. It was all due to the will of an unknowable force that ties the very foundations of Equestria together.

And Daybreaker was more than willing to share knowledge about it with her.

It didn't take long for Sunset to reassess her perspective on the prospect of alicornhood ever since that fateful day. The mirror showed her destiny, she was sure of it, but perhaps she had been taking the wrong approach to reaching it.

Challenging herself by studying sophisticated magic and various other forms of essential knowledge to prepare herself if- when she becomes an alicorn was all well and good, but it wouldn't be worth diddly squat if 'Harmony' didn't see her as being worthy.

And to become worthy, she needed...

"Friendship... ugh..." the student muttered.

Based on what Daybreaker had told her, if a pony wishes to 'gain Harmony's favor', then they would need to actively partake in activities that help maintain or even spread its influence, like making friends. Evidently, everything that Sunset has done up to this point in time hadn't been very harmonious. Heck, she's probably even farther from being harmonious than she would have thought.

And that's exactly why she needed Daybreaker.

While Sunset knew that Princess Celestia would certainly be more than happy to guide her towards what she would likely consider to be a 'brighter path' if she asked, her pride wouldn't let her do so. There was something about admitting she was wrong to the solar monarch that didn't sit well with her.

She also couldn't just start being all buddy-buddy with other ponies out of nowhere, and especially the ones from CSGU. While Sunset had isolated herself from interacting with her peers, she wasn't totally inept in social interactions either. She knew that they'd be pretty suspicious of her sudden change of heart after years of actively mocking and belittling them. She needed to approach this carefully, lest she ended up making everything harder than it should be.

With those two options off the list, Sunset only had two possible others left. Cadance, who had been trying to be friends with her and also appeared to be well-versed in making friends, or Daybreaker, the pony who seemed to know the ins and outs of how Harmony works, along with what the student assumed to be centuries worth of knowledge relating to it.

Considering her less than amicable, yet somewhat mending relations with the youngest alicorn, Daybreaker was pretty much the best and only option for her goals.

'And then what happened a few days ago...'

The event that everypony in Canterlot referred to as the 'Sonic Flameboom'. Based on the legendary phenomenon that it resembled, the Sonic Rainboom.

Yet again the advisor from beyond Equestria baffled every single pony around her. Based on Sunset's own studies on Equestrian history, such a feat had been considered impossible for millennia, with sparse records claiming that Commander Hurricane had executed but a single one prior to Hearth's Warming.

What was the most notable thing about the event, at least to her, was the reason behind the Flameboom itself.

Daybreaker hadn't done it on purpose, it wasn't a show of power or dominance, nor was it the result of some competition, no.

It was a byproduct of Daybreaker pushing herself to her absolute limits in an attempt at saving the lives of three ponies. It was merely an accident, and nothing more.

And it was this very event that caused, as far as Sunset knew, everypony who is aware of the advisor's existence to change their view on her.

Daybreaker may not have noticed it, but prior to the Flameboom, most of Canterlot's populace saw her with incredibly high amounts of suspicion and fear. An alicorn who appeared to be just as old as the princess herself and came out of pretty much nowhere suddenly became the royal advisor. To top it all off she looked like she emerged from the deepest depths of Tartarus itself.

And yet, with a single act of what most would consider to be a selfless sacrifice, everypony now saw her as a hero.

That, along with the Flameboom and her talk with Daybreaker, was the final straw for Sunset. She was now more determined to achieve her goal of alicornhood than she ever was. After all, who wouldn't want to be like Daybreaker? A mighty, powerful pony who is admired and respected, all while staying humble and respectful to those around her.

And if that meant that Sunset would need to make friends with the entirety of Equestria, then by Cel- ah, by Harmony, she'll do it!

She'll become the friendliest, nicest, coolest, most awesome, and dare she say, the most badass alicorn to ever exist! None of that prissy princess stuff! She'll go around Equestria, saving the day like a superhero! And she'll wear one of those cool studded jackets! With sunglasses! And she'll learn how to play an electric guitar because only badass ponies play those!

Sunset giggled excitedly to herself as she neared the doors to Princess Celestia's room, "And it all starts with this."

She knocked a hoof on the door and called, "Uh, princess, could I talk to you for a moment?"

The sounds of paper being scratched by quills and shuffled around could be heard from the other side. Not long after, a muffled voice replied.

"Come in!"

Shrugging to herself, the student proceeded to open the door with her turquoise magic and entered before stopping mid way as she saw what was inside.

Sitting on either side of a large circular table in the middle of the room were Princess Celestia and Daybreaker. Both of them appeared to be doing some paperwork together, as evident from the three stacks on the advisor's side and an extra large inkwell along with another stack close to the princess.

'Welp, didn't plan for her to be here...'

The two looked up from their respective tasks towards the newcomer, with Celestia giving her a smile.

"Hello, Sunset. I am so sorry for this mess, it's been rather busy recently."

Sunset waved a hoof, "Oh, uh, that's fine."

The princess nodded before placing a quill back in the inkwell, "So, what is it that you wish to talk about, my dear student?"

The young mare took a quick glance at Daybreaker, "Um, well, I've been thinking... maybe... Miss Daybreaker... could teach me... for the next meeting...?" she asked slowly and carefully.

A moment passed in silence as Sunset waited for Celestia's reply. Daybreaker had put her own papers down and stared at her with an unreadable expression, which only made her feel more anxious.

The monarch happily clapped her hooves, "That sounds like a wonderful idea!"

Sunset and, oddly enough, Daybreaker gave her a confused and suprised look.

"It is?" the two asked.

"Of course! Why, I'm quite surprised it took you this long to ask, Sunset. Seeing as the two of you seem to be quite fond of each other." Celestia continued.

"Huh? no- I mean! uh- I-" the student stammered

Daybreaker gave the princess another confused look, and noticed that there was a glint of... something, in her eyes.

"Why you little..." the advisor murmured.

Celestia covered a chuckle with a hoof, "Oh? did you really think I would disagree to such an opportunity? I know for sure Daybreaker has collected quite an impressive amount of knowledge during her travels, isn't that right?" she turned to her advisor with a discreet wink.

Daybreaker sat up straighter, "Ah." she cleared her throat, "Yes, well... while I'm sure some of it would be beneficial for her, I don't believe most of it would be of use..."

The princess waved a hoof dismissively, "Oh, nonsense! I think it would be good for Sunset to learn more about what lies beyond Equestria. I admit, I am not very well-versed in that particular subject myself, so I believe that you're the perfect teacher for it." she insisted happily.

The flaming mare looked between Sunset, who was trying—and failing—to hide her anticipation, and Celestia, who gave her an encouraging nod along with a smile.

Daybreaker let out her characteristic sigh, "Very well... if you truly think that I could lend a hoof in Miss Shimmer's education, then I'll do it."

She leaned in closer to the princess and whispered, "But you're going to have to share half of that strawberry cheesecake when we're done."

Celestia's eyes widened. She paused for a moment before taking a deep breath and looking at Daybreaker resolutely.

"D-deal." she answered with a slight waver to her voice.

The advisor raised an eyebrow and gave her a nod, "Alright then."

She turned to Sunset, who was giving her an awkward smile, "Come, I think I have an idea on what our next lesson should be."

The young prodigy's smile turned genuine, "Lead the way!" she excitedly replied as the two exited the room.

Once the door was closed, Celestia looked towards the stacks of paper that held important bits of future-altering information that Daybreaker had deemed important enough for both of them to go through.

She brought up one very important—at least to her—sheet of paper. This particular sheet held information regarding Sunset's future, or rather, futures. All organized into a flowchart of decisions that lead to different potential timelines.

The solar monarch sighed as she recalled what Daybreaker had told her earlier today.

'Running away to the world beyond that mirror... I knew something had changed ever since I showed it to her, but I didn't think it would end up like that.'

Supposedly, Sunset and her had a falling out some time in the future, caused by a growing amount of resentment from the young mare due to the princess' incessant need to withhold information from her student.

Fortunately, Daybreaker decided to deal with it first before anything went awry, and had been attempting to lead Sunset towards a better path during their meeting together.

This was the primary reason why Celestia had agreed with her student's request. She had witnessed first-hoof just how effective her future self was at convincing the admittedly stubborn pony to change her ways, as evident from how Sunset went from utterly despising Cadance to mostly tolerating her, along with her being generally less... snooty, towards other ponies who isn't the princess herself.

Sure, it didn't seem like much at first, but the fact that such a prominent change had occurred at all in such a short period of time was quite impressive. Even considering the fact that Daybreaker likely hadn't interacted with Sunset for quite some time, as shown by her trepidation when asked to teach the young prodigy.

'I know I should be the one doing most of the work, since she is my student, but whatever it is Daybreaker's doing is working spectaculary. I'm afarid I'll ruin all her efforts...'

She shook her head and placed the sheet back on its own stack before setting the entire thing in front of her.

"Maybe I should start with a few of these myself."

Author's Note

Okay, before anybody says anything, we'll be going through Daybreaker's persepective and her little adventure with Sunset next chapter, okay? Cool.

I hope Sunset and Celestia's motivations made sense. I admit that I don't think I'm good at deep introspections like these, so I just tried to reference it from how my own mind would process such things. I apologize if it made Shimmy and Celly look silly.

Also! Ever since this story blew up, my mind has been overflowing with countless ideas for other HiE and isekai-style stories. So I would appreciate it if some of you could take the time to share your thoughts on this blog post.

Anyway, that's all for this chapter, I hope you're still enjoying the story so far!

If you want to share ideas on how this story should go, consider commenting!

Corrections and criticisms are more than welcome, I can't improve without those now, can I?
Have a good existence!
:)

"Remembered forever, the land of Equestria"

Chapter 7: Lesson Preparations

'What the actual FUCK, Celly?!'

Was one of the many thoughts that passed through Daybreaker's mind as she walked along a hallway with Sunset in tow.

'And here I thought today was gonna be a simple one!'

It had been about three days since she finally stopped sulking in bed and decided to go out. During that time, Daybreaker had mulled over the possibility and risks of revealing some of her plans to Celestia.

Initially, she dismissed it for being too risky. She didn't know how the princess would react, and she also didn't know whether it'd affect the timeline or not by showing certain things early. There were so many things that could go wrong, so many opportunities could be lost.

And yet... there was just as much of a chance that everything could go right. Having another per- pony help her go through the list would be a tremendous help. They could bounce ideas off of each other, they could theorize, Daybreaker was also confident that Celestia's experience during her long reign would be essential in dealing with the more political side of things, especially for her plan regarding the Storm King.

In the end, Daybreaker decided to simply han- hoof... horn? Hoof-pick just a couple of sheets from each of the three stacks that she deemed to be important enough for them to discuss. This included Sunset's future, the changelings' potential threat, the Element Bearers, and the like. She also added a special extra sheet that contained her deal with Discord.

There was one small problem though. Before their meeting, the ex-human realized that she hadn't found a way to excuse her obvious lack of knowledge on Celestia's past. Daybreaker realized that going into a deep discussion with the solar princess would inevitably lead to them talking about 'their' past one way or another.

Also considering Mirror-Sombra's decaying world was in fact, one of the pieces of info she had selected to talk over.

It took her about a day before an idea popped in her mind. Dark magic.

Thankfully, as a part of her knee-jerk reaction when she first met the princess, she admitted to have fallen to dark magic when Equestria supposedly 'fell'. Taking a page out of the many stories she had read, both pony-filled or otherwise, Daybreaker could use the excuse of dark magic having affected her mind, thus causing her to forget many smaller details of her past.

Oh sure, there was probably a better excuse that she could have used from the whole 'time travel' part of her façade, but she really didn't want to give herself a migrane from thinking about paradoxes too much.

'Of all the things I could've said when we first met...'

And there was also yet another matter that Celestia would definitely like to inquire about. The so-called 'Sonic Flameboom', as everypony in Canterlot had collectively decided to call it. .

'I thought it was supposed to be exclusive to RD! Like, it was her thing!'

The Flameboom was never a part of her plans. It was an accident, through and through. It was this very reason in particular that made it difficult to come up with an excuse for it.

And she really couldn't find any, short of outright admitting her mistake. 'So be it, then', she thought at the time. Perhaps there was a way for her to convince Celestia that it could be beneficial for the timeline. Daybreaker didn't know how big the consequences of the Flameboom could be, but the best case scenario she could hope for the Mane Six is they either got their cutie marks early and lived different lives but are otherwise unaffected, or are different ponies entirely. And if the timeline's leaning towards Glimmer-ing itself, then hopefully they could still prevent things with her foresight.

It certainly wasn't a calming thought, now she knew why many a Human-in-Equestria tended to not fiddle around with the timeline too much if they were aware of it. Accidents can and likely will happen, and even the smallest mistakes could lead to problems that may even be worse than the ones getting 'fixed'. An important lesson, for sure.

Of course, she didn't let this setback bring her down. She'll just have to be more careful next time, which was another reason as to why she was going to let Celestia in on her plans, so that one might catch the other if they tripped.

So off she went, visiting the current monarch of Equestria to tamper with the very threads of fate itself. Before they began, Daybreaker decided to rip off the band-aid and admit her act of folly first and foremost.

To her utter bewilderment, however, instead of showing signs of concern or suspicion, the princess... commended her?

"It was either that, or letting those ponies fall to their certain doom." Daybreaker recalled some of her words.

It was a relief, that was for sure, but she still couldn't relax, it would be unlikely for something as significant as the Flameboom to not become a catalyst for something big. It seems that for now, she just had to keep her eyes peeled for any leads on any divergences from canon.

'Canon... heh, probably blew it to bits by now.' Daybreaker thought wryly.

After explaining to Celestia what the stacks of paper were about, the two alicorns went to work, brainstorming and sharing ideas on what could be done to 'avoid Equestria's demise'.

It went a whole lot better than doing it by herself, the former human admitted. Having another individual there to share their thoughts on her choices made everything a lot less, well... chaotic, for a lack of a better word. Celestia was very keen on getting a lot of them started right away, but there were a few things that she was hesitant to approve.

Like her deal with Discord.

Daybreaker had explained to her of the situation, with Cosmos' takeover attempt, the mindwipe, the spirit's cover-up, and everything that lead up to his full reformation, yet it seemed like convincing Celestia would take some more effort.

Eventually, they agreed to visit his petrified form again later, as to question his motives. Daybreaker also hoped that she might be able to get at the very least a glimpse into his time serving under King Vorak, if the theories on his cameo were true. She knew it was very unlikely for him to just open up like that, but it wouldn't hurt to try. Any information on Tirek would be beneficial.

They were also able to get into discussing Mirror-Sombra, which meant that Daybreaker had to fully lock herself into roleplay mode again. It took quite a bit of internal debating on whether she should have brought him up or not before the meeting, but she quickly realized that pushing it aside for later would only give evil Cel- the other evil Celestia more time to wreck his land.

'Why do I keep insisting that? Even now...'

It was quite an experience, to pretend having to tell your past self about a relationship that ended... unfavorably. She tried keeping it short and concise, but it seemed like it only made Celestia feel even more disheartened, since it probably looked like her 'future self' was completely indifferent about it, considering the fact that Mirror-Sombra was the first and only pony she ever loved. Looks like she didn't roll a twenty this time around.

Unfortunately for her predicament, Daybreaker never was one of those romantic sorts. Sure, she'd probably read an entire website's worth of shipping stories if given the chance, and she has her own fair share of OTPs for each fandom she's been in, but getting into a relationship herself never seemed appealing. But that's neither here nor there, she thought.

The room felt a lot more gloomy after that, but all in all, everything was going decently. They were able to get a sizeable chunk of the list started or at least prepared for. Her excuses of having her memories altered also seemed to work... she thinks.

Everything was going swimmingly up until Sunset came in with her request, and Celestia, being the ever-so-wise ruler that she was, agreed by dragging the advisor under the spotlight and forcing her to agree as well, despite the fact that it may or may not be a good idea.

'Can't do anything about it now... looks like I'll be around more often now, Shimmy.'

Daybreaker was pulled out of her thoughts when Sunset called out to her.

"So... what're you gonna teach me today, Daysie?"

The advisor stopped her trot and turned to the student. Sunset noticed that they were in front of the door to Daybreaker's room.

She gave the young mare an amused smile, "You've finally found a nickname I see."

Sunset looked away as she scratched the back of her head, "Do you like it?"

Daybreaker chuckled, "I think it's great! 'The eye of the day'... it fits with my cutie mark, don't you think?"

The student returned her own smile, "Thanks. And... huh, I guess it does."

The fiery alicorn nodded, "And to answer your previous question, this lesson might be a little different than what you're used to. We will go to the city first, there is a place there that I need to visit to prepare for the session, and you're going to accompany me."

Sunset raised an eyebrow, "The city?"

"I believe it would do wonders for you to get out every now and again. Getting cooped up in this stuffy old castle can't be good for you." Daybreaker paused, "That, and I'm also getting pretty darn bored."

The student sniffed at her remark, "Well, okay then. Where are we going, exactly?"

"It wouldn't be much of a surprise if I told you now, would it?"

The former human opened the door to her room, "Wait here for a moment. If we want to go out, I need to disguise myself. Don't want to draw attention."

Sunset nodded, "Alright."

Daybreaker entered and closed the door behind her. She made her way to the dresser beside her bed while grabbing a book from a drawer.

The book itself was about illusion spells and glamour charms. It had been borrowed from the library right after her first lesson with Sunset. She decided to read through it just in case she ever needed to go beyond the castle without getting noticed by the public.

Daybreaker flipped through a few pages until she found the spell she needed. An automatic illusion spell that created a custom form based on the nature of the caster's magic. For a typical unicorn, such a spell would have drained a significant chunk of their magic reserves, another benefit of getting transformed into an ancient alicorn, she supposed.

She then proceeded to take off her regalia and placed each piece on her bed before looking back towards the mirror.

"Okay... full body illusion. Hope this works." she muttered.

Daybreaker lit her horn and closed her eyes as she casted the spell on herself. She felt a tingling sensation all over her coat, which caused her to flinch.

"Sheesh... that feels weird."

The feeling faded away as quickly as it began, which meant that the spell was complete. She opened her eyes to see...

"Woah mama!"

In the dresser's mirror, right in front of her, was another pony entirely.

Daybreaker turned her head from side to side to look over her temporary new form.

"Huh..."

Her general color scheme had stayed relatively the same, her coat being white, and her mane and tail being a bright orange. Both had lost their flame-like appearance, with her mane having been styled into a ponytail, tied by a black spiked hair cuff. She also had bangs of yellow colored hair swept to the side of her horn.

Daybreaker looked down and saw a dark red choker around her neck, with a small sun-shaped ornament hanging off of it.

She then noticed the orange jacket around her body. Daybreaker raised a hoof to inspect her sleeves and saw that it also had fuzzy cuffs of beige fur.

"The hell?"

She took a few steps back and looked over herself again. Taking a peek at her back, she saw that her wings have disappeared entirely, though she could still feel and move them like normal.

"So weird..."

The ex-human trotted over to a full-length standing mirror to see her entire form. She was still taller than the average unicorn, maybe comparable to Cadance during the show's run, but a lot less dainty. She found that it fit better with the outfit.

Daybreaker leaned closer, and saw that her eyes had stayed the same, slitted pupils and all.

"That's gonna be a problem."

She went back to consult the book. After skimming through a few pages, she tapped a hoof on the one she required.

"Bingo!"

She lit her horn and casted another illusion spell. Unlike the first one, this was a smaller accessory spell that was placed over the primary layer.

In flash, a pair of square cat-eye sunglasses appeared over her muzzle.

"Sweet!"

Daybreaker one final look in the mirror and nodded in satisfaction at her disguise. She then opened up one of her drawers and pulled out a coin purse full of bits.

"I feel like I've seen this pony before... eh whatever." she muttered while making her way back outside.

Sunset noticed the door being opened and turned to see-

"Woah..."

Daybreaker smirked, revealing that her fangs haven't been altered, "Pretty neat, hm?"

The student blankly nodded.

"Before we go, I need a pseudonym. So we'll use my nickname instead."

She flicked her bangs to the side and struck a pose, "You can call me Dayzie! With a 'z', because why not?"

Sunset blinked a few times before shaking her head to focus, "O-okay, um, Dayzie."

'Dayzie' nodded, "Alrighty, let's go!" she said as she waved a hoof and continued on to the castle's entrance.

As the transformed mare trotted away, Sunset couldn't help but think about Dayzie's jacket.

"Yeah, black's a better color."

Dayb- uh, Dayzie furrowed her brows as she, along with Sunset, rounded a corner of a block.

"It should be around here..." she muttered to herself.

Sunset looked around the area with a tired expression, "We've been looking for this 'special place' for an hour now, are you sure it's even real?"

The disguised alicorn continued to look back and forth between buildings, they were definitely in some sort of shopping district, as all around them were stores of various types selling various items.

"One hundred percent. I know I definitely saw it when I was flying."

The student sighed, "Well, maybe you mistook it with something else."

Dayzie shook her head, "No, no. I saw it while I was hovering. There was no way I mistook it for any- aha!"

She abruptly exclaimed as she pointed a hoof towards a... comic book store?

"Huh?" was all Sunset could mutter.

"This—" Dayzie gestured a hoof towards the store again, "—is our destination!"

"It's a comic book store..." the younger mare commented.

Dayzie grinned excitedly, "Oh, it's more than just a mere comic book store, my dear Shimmy!"

She proceeded to point towards a glass display next to the entrance. Beside a few featured comic books were boxes of-

Sunset's eyes widened as a realization finally dawned on her.

"Oh... oh no."

The disguised mare chuckled at her reaction, "That's right! For your next lesson, we will be playing through a Dun- er, an Ogres and Oubliettes campaign! Isn't it exciting?"

The student slowly turned her head to Dayzie. One of her eyes twitched as she saw the older mare's sharp-toothed grin.

"Is... is this necessary for learning... friendship?" she muttered through gritted teeth.

"Of course! O&O encourages teamwork, companionship, social interaction, creativity, and many, many more things that I believe would be beneficial for you."

Sunset gave her a confused look, "Didn't Princess Celestia say you'll be teaching about stuff from beyond Equestria?"

"You'll be learning all about that as you go through the campaign." Dayzie helpfully explained.

She walked up to the store and opened the door, ringing the bell attached to it.

"Now come on, you can take a look around while I shop." Dayzie called out while waving a hoof.

The prodigy could only sigh in exasperation as she followed her teacher inside.

She saw Dayzie moving over to the O&O aisle and disappearing behind the shelves. Not really knowing what to do, she decided to check out the comic books for sale.

"Power Ponies... Supermare... Revengers... ugh..." she muttered as she read each title.

If somepony told Sunset a week ago that she'll be walking into a comic book store some time in the future, she'd probably laugh at them before telling them off for disturbing her.

She never really understood why some ponies liked comics so much. Sure, the artists did a great job at making the art appealing, but she had always considered it as nothing more than mindless entertainment. Why would anypony engage with stuff that's not even real, when you can study and perfect your knowledge with cold, hard information?

Shaking her head, she moved over to an area filled with a set of rather peculiar novels.

"Huh..."

Sunset was somewhat surprised by the cover art. It wasn't like any novel she's ever seen before, as the art looked fairly rough and rugged compared to most novels sold in Equestria.

She levitated one of the books closer to inspect it. The cover depicted a large group of ponies in thick gray armor with oversized pauldrons. Two of them, a unicorn with a flowing dark grey mane and a raised sword floating in his magic, along with what appeared to be an earth pony, were looking back at the viewer and their fellow armored brethren with fierce expressions. They were the only ones without a helmet upon thier heads. Both of them were a lot larger than the average member of their respective tribes, and so were the other armored ponies.

Sunset moved her gaze towards the title and read it aloud.

"'The Boris Betrayal, Boris Rising, the seeds of betrayal are sown'... hm..."

She didn't know why, but there was just something about that novel that seemed to pull her in. It was almost as if the book itself was tempting her.

The student looked towards the rest of the novels around it. Based on the cover art of each book alone, it seemed like all of them were a part of the same setting.

"'Kommander Cane', 'Eisencorn', 'First and Solely'... " she read some aloud.

Sunset looked back at the book in her magic for a moment, hesitating to take a peek before her curiosity got the better of her.

She opened the book and read the opening line.

"'I was there,' he would say afterwards, until afterwards became a time quite devoid of laughter..."

Dayzie looked back and forth between the numerous items in her magic. She had collected quite a few books for officially released campaigns, along with some supplies like dice, character sheets, and small props, as well as a few rulebooks for players and the DM. She compared it with her experience in DM-ing D&D campaigns before she was transported, and thankfully, it seemed like O&O was almost exactly the same, give or take a few differences in lore, since Equestria is already a magical fantasy world.

"This is either going to be really fun, or really stupid." she said to nopony in particular.

Just as she was about to reach a cashier, a familiar, yet higher-pitched voice could be heard yelling from the aisle next to her.

Dayzie's eyes widened under her sunglasses, "Twilight?"

She discreetly trotted over the the source, and peeked from behind a shelf. Lo and behold, there she was. The future bearer of the Element of Magic, whining to her brother while he was looking through a shelf of comics.

"Shiiiny! I wanna go home!" the little filly whined.

Her brother, Shining Armor, looked at her with an annoyed expression, "We haven't even been here for five minutes. Why don't you look around for some novels or something?"

Twilight pouted, which Dayzie thought was the cutest thing ever, "But mom and dad said I'm not old enough to read those!"

Shining shrugged halfheartedly, "Yeah, well, that was before your birthday. Now you're old enough."

The filly perked up, "Really?"

The older colt nodded as he flipped through a comic, "M-hm."

"Yay! Thanks Shiny!" Twilight hugged her brother's side before running off to the novels section.

As the filly disappeared among the shelves, Dayzie couldn't help but smile.

"God, that's adorable..."

Realizing that she still had a task at ha- hoof, the disguised advisor continued on her way to the cashier. Coincidentally, Sunset was also heading there, and the two met up at the register.

Dayzie gave the student an amused smirk as she saw the decently large stack of books in her magic.

"Found something you like?"

Sunset gave her a genuine one, "Guess so. I'll take these with me."

The transformed alicorn took a glance at the title and cover art of the topmost book the younger mare had picked. She stifled a reaction when she recognized what they were about.

'I'm sorry, they have that in Equestria?!'

Granted, the books didn't exactly share the same name as the over-the-top grimdark franchise that she was somewhat familiar with, but the similarities were just too close for it to be just a coincidence.

'Battlemace fifty thousand... what the fuck. ' Dayzie swore in her mind for the second time today.

The cashier cleared his throat loudly to get her attention, "Is this all?"

She gave him a silent, distracted nod.

The cashier, an orange-coated unicorn stallion, gave her a curious look.

"You know, I never thought a pony like you would be playing O&O." he commented.

Dayzie raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

The cashier rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, "No offense, I just thought that, by the look of your outfit, I'd have mistaken you for a delinquent or something."

The disguised mare gave him a confused look and shrugged, "A lot of ponies in Equestria, man." she replied coolly.

He nodded and continued to count the price of the books, "Yeah, I guess so."

Daybreaker finally shed her 'Dayzie' disguise as she and Sunset entered the castle, both were hauling their respective purchases in their magic.

The now fiery alicorn turned to the student, "Alright. It might take me a bit to set things up properly, so I think we may need to continue this tomorrow. Are you good with that?"

Sunset, eager to read her new books, nodded, "Sure. I guess I'll see you later, then."

Daybreaker smiled, "See you later."

As the two parted ways, the former human wondered on who she should bring to join Sunset's party.

She sniffed in amusement as an idea popped up.

"Oh this is gonna be good." she muttered with an oddly villainous chuckle.

Author's Note

Alright, Operation O&O with Sunset and the Canterlot Castle Gang is a go! We'll see how our dear ponies would react to Daybreaker being a role-playing master next chapter.

And of course, it's not an official Baroque-made multi-chapter story without Warhammer 40k references! Which Primarch do you think Sunset would like the most?

Anyway, I hope I gave a decent explanation on how DB and Celly's meeting went. I know I probably half-assed DB's excuse for her 'missing memories', so I'm still kinda iffy on that regard.

Oh, and also, if you haven't realized it yet, yes! DB's diguise is, in fact, [url=https://derpibooru.org/images/3472650?sort[]=24&sort[]=3472650&sd=desc&sf=upvotes&q=oc%3Adyx]Dyx! An OC created by (if I'm not mistaken) PonyQuarantine!

Be thankful the real Dyx isn't here. I'd imagine she'd be a pretty bad influence on our dear Shimmy.

If you want to share ideas on how this story should go, consider commenting!

Corrections and criticisms are more than welcome, I can't improve without those now, can I?
Have a good existence!
:)

"Remembered forever, the land of Equestria"

Chapter 9: Critical Roleplay [Part 2]

You find yourself confined within an old, yet oddly cozy tavern. The rain outside continued to pour endlessly, ignoring your silent pleas for it to stop.

Thinking to sate your boredom, you decided to order a drink from the bar. As you took a seat, you noticed that there were three other individuals beside you. They seemed to share your current mood.

Initially, you opted to stay silent, but as time went on, you realized that a tankard of magically-cooled cider just wasn't doing it for you. Striking a conversation with these creatures would likely help pass the time.

It seemed like the shiftling had decided to start first. She leaned over the counter and greeted you, along with the others next to you, with a kind smile.

...

***

Daybreaker looked to Cadance and let out a small cough. The young alicorn jumped slightly and blushed.

"S-sorry, I got uh... a little too immersed..."

Celestia covered a giggle with a hoof, while Sunset merely rolled her eyes. Raven seemed mostly oblivious to the whole ordeal.

Cadance cleared her throat, "Alright, now what would she say..."

***

"Looks like this rain's not letting up, huh?"

The others looked at her and nodded, wordlessly agreeing with her comment. It was unusual, especially in this region of Erda-

***

"Ah, is that the name of the world you've crafted, Dayb-" Celestia began, but was quickly silenced by the DM.

"Shush!"

"Well-"

"Shush!"

"It-"

"Shush!"

After a moment of silence, Celestia could only sigh, "My apologies. Carry on..."

***

Where large-scale rain is typically scheduled closer to the middle of the year. Perhaps the pegasus could give some insight into this sudden downpour?

Raven's character turned to Celestia's as he adjusted his glasses.

"Excuse me miss, if I may ask, was there a re-scheduling issued by the local weather factory?"

The stag asked politely to the pegasus. She tapped a hoof on the table in thought, trying to remember any news or information shared between the assigned weather ponies of the region. Of which she was one of them.

...

***

Celestia leaned closer to Daybreaker and whispered.

"How exactly would I know that?"

The DM gave the princess a confused look before something clicked in her mind. A certain episode she had watched over five years ago.

Celestia, the pony frequently portrayed in fanworks as a political mastermind and chronic schemer, couldn't do improv even if her life depended on it.

'Well... shit.'

She paused for a moment in thought, before deciding to force the princess to wing it. Daybreaker leaned towards her 'counterpart' and quickly whispered back.

"Just... say you don't know or something!"

Celestia turned back to her fellow players with an uncertain look on her face. She took a breath and attempted to act out her character.

***

"Uh... I don't... know?"

***

The princess turned to the DM with a tentative smile. Daybreaker could only reply by heaving a sigh and shaking her head tiredly. A quick glance showed that Sunset had also shared her thoughts by facehoofing.

'Good enough.'

***

The pegasus' answer was... odd, but you decided to write it off as a simple quirk of the mare. How curious, if a weather pony wasn't informed of this sudden change, then what could possibly have happened? Was there perhaps more to this meteorological anomaly? The three creatures who had spoken turned to the centaur, who in turn, had stayed quiet during their interaction. Does-

"Before you all start asking, no, I also have no idea what's going on with this rain."

***

A pointed glare from Daybreaker caused Sunset to flinch. She may be on friendly terms with her, but the student still knew how intimidating the fiery mare could be at times.

"Sorry..."

The DM sighed and continued her narration.

***

Realizing that no creature had a clue about what had caused the event, the four of you settled back into a comfortable silence. Oh well, you thought, the weather would clear up eventually. No need to assume anything out of the ordinary.

Not a minute passed before another individual took a seat on one of the barstools. From what you can see, said individual was an earth pony mare with an orange coat and a brown stetson on her head. A part of her mane peeked from the base of her headwear, revealing her blonde mane.

You ignored her, for the most part, not thinking much about the mare. That is, until she began to talk to you.

***

A ray of magic emerged from Daybreaker's obscured horn and coalesced right in front of her. It took the glob of energy no more than a few seconds to properly take shape, but once it was done, the players quickly realized that it was a scaled-down bust of the previously described NPC.

The projection moved as if it were an actual pony and addressed them directly.

***

"Say, y'all happen to be adventurers, ain't ya? Open fer a contract?"

Sunset's character took another sip from his tankard before turning his gaze towards the newcomer.

"And what exactly would we be dealing with?"

The centaur replied bluntly to her question. The mare seemed to be slightly put off by this but carried on anyway. Now that you've gotten a better look at her face, you noticed how she seemed to be rather distressed.

"Uh, well, y'see, our village's been dealin' with ponies disappearin' in a nearby forest fer the last week. At first, we thought they've just hunkered down somewhere what with the constant rain an' all, but come the very next day, nopony seen or heard of 'em comin' back! Now, we've sent out search parties, obviously, but they've also just... up an' disappeared!"

Raven's character hummed in thought. He then proceeded to pull out a pencil and notebook from under his cloak.

"Curious... does the forest have a reputation for being hard to navigate? Or perhaps for harboring dangerous wildlife?"

The mare seemed less perturbed when the stag addressed her. Perhaps the centaur's visage was a little intimidating?

"No sir. Ponies've been goin' in and outta that forest for generations. Biggest critter its got was a badger... or at least, last I've heard."

"I see. Now, could you elaborate further on..."

The motes of fire that floated above the table had gone dark, replaced by smaller, flashing lights that almost resembled fireflies. The room's atmosphere had also changed, making it feel colder and much less welcoming.

Upon the table were small projections of pine trees, with a large path going right through the center. On one end of the path was a brightly glowing diamond-shaped marker, as a way to indicate where the party was.

***

After passing through the small village that the mare had led you to, she had left you, along with the three other adventurers who had agreed to accept the contract, standing face-to-face with the edge of a coniferous forest.

From what you could see, it appeared just as any naturally formed forests in the region would, with tall pine trees towering up in the sky, partially obscured by the non-stop rain.

The four of you nodded to each other and adjusted your raincoats. This quest will be a little different from what you're used to, but the reward made it more than worth it.

Finding those ponies alive would be nice too, you supposed.

***

A glance towards her players showed three out of four of them giving her a concerned look. Daybreaker raised an eyebrow before questioning them.

"What?"

Celestia quickly waved a hoof, "Nothing, nothing. Please, continue."

The obscured mare shrugged and carried on.

***

As you continued to make your way through the forest, you soon realized that you hadn't caught the names of your fellow adventurers. Well, better late than never, right?

Raven's character abruptly stopped in place as he realized something. He turned to his allies with wide eyes.

"My goodness, it just dawned on me that I haven't introduced myself! Terribly sorry.

The stag began. The others looked towards him with intrigue.

"My name is Timber Spruce. I am a scholar first and sorcerer second. It is a pleasure to meet you all."

Cadance's character leaned forward from the other side of the group and gave Timber a friendly smile.

"My name's Oxytocin and I'm a ranger! You can call me Oxyn. Nice to meet you too!"

***

The young princess noticed the odd look that Sunset was giving her and raised an eyebrow.

"Uh..."

Sunset put her hooves together on the table, "'Oxytocin'?"

Cadance shrugged her wings, "The guidebook said that shiftling names use biology terms, and Oxytocin is the hormone that makes us feel love. It fits the theme, doesn't it?"

The student was about to remark but decided against it. She leaned back on her seat and crossed her hooves.

"Fine."

***

Sunset's character rolled his eyes and gestured a dismissive wave.

"Magnar the Crimson. You may call me Magnar. I am a wizard."

The centaur, Magnar, seemed to be a rather... aloof individual. He does seem to be rather well-equipped, however, so you carried on anyway.

Celestia's character adjusted her wing grip on her lute before finishing off the introductions.

"AND- er, ahem. I'm Golden Feather, a bard. Uh, my friends call me Goldie?"

***

An encouraging nod from Daybreaker caused the monarch to do a small hoof-pump. This did not go unnoticed by the other players, as Cadance could be seen giggling at the sight.

Sunset slumped onto the table and buried her face in her forelegs, "This is gonna be a loooong night..."

The projected layout once again changed. This time showing only a small section of a cave system's layout that wasn't visible to the characters in a circular formation.

***

It had taken you some time to find, but you have finally reached the first of the three known caves as informed by the mare. You noted that it was a medium-sized cavern, with vines growing along its rocky entrance.

"Well, here goes nothing."

Each of you prepared your spells and equipment as you entered. With your magical lights showing the way as you weave through stalagmites and uneven terrain. The thrumming of the rain outside faded as you went deeper.

You roamed among the pitch-black darkness as you searched for the lost ponies. Yet after a considerable amount of time looking behind geological formations and calling out to them, it was starting to become strikingly clear that there was likely nopony to be found there.

That is, until you heard a rumbling sound echoing from a nearby chamber.

Do you wish to leave this cave, and head to the next one? Or do wish to further investigate this unexpected discovery?

***

"Yeah, no, that's definitely a sleeping monster, and I'm not planning on losing this early on."

Sunset commented while resting her head on her hoof.

Unfortunately for her, it seemed like her fellow players weren't so keen on leaving just yet.

Raven raised a hoof, "All in favour of investigating, say 'Aye'."

Both princesses raised their own hooves in agreement.

"Aye. / Aye!"

The three of them then turned to the student, harboring various expressions ranging from neutral indifference to tentative relief.

Sunset put a hoof to her forehead and slowly dragged it down her face. She looked to Daybreaker, who only replied with a silent shrug.

The young mare shook her head and murmured to herself.

"Stupid democracy..."

***

The four of you agreed, for the most part, to investigate the source of the odd noise. You sneakily trod over to the chamber with your spells ready, hoping that they won't be necessary.

As you got closer, you realized that the sound was starting to resemble... snoring? With each step you took, it only got louder and louder.

Once you have reached the entryway, the four of you stuck yourselves to the rocky wall and craned your necks beyond the entrance, trying to see beyond the reach of your lights.

***

Daybreaker projected another image with her magic. The players noted that it didn't seem to resemble a pony, or any typical race or species, for that matter.

The blob of magical light slowly coalesced to form what at first appeared to be... star constellations? A deep blue background began to form behind the constellations and enveloped each one.

Just what could this-

Sunset threw her hooves in the air, "I knew it!" she pointed a hoof back down toward the completed projection, "I freaking knew it!"

Cadance tapped her chin as she examined the projection closely.

"Huh... didn't the pony from earlier say that there aren't any animals bigger than a badger in this forest?" the young alicorn muttered.

***

Your breath hitched as you gazed upon the slumbering form of a massive Ursa Minor. Its deep snores reverberated throughout the entire chamber, shaking you to the bone.

You continued to observe it with both fear and curiosity. From the faint blue glow of its fur, it was clearly an Ursa Minor, which meant that it was incredibly likely an Ursa Major, who no doubt would be its parent, was also nearby.

And yet... you could not see any signs of the titanic star-beast anywhere within the same chamber.

Turning back to the sleeping Ursa, you noticed the movement of a small, shadowy figure near the beast's drooling mouth. You strained your eyes and directed your lights in a way that wouldn't disturb it and soon spotted...

***

The players leaned closer toward the projection as a small, yellow figure crawled from underneath the Ursa's neck fur. All four of them looked at curiously, wondering what it was.

With a quiet grunt, a small yellow-coated filly with a red mane and a large bow on her head turned towards the players with a look of shock and relief. She waved at them to get their attention before quickly gesturing toward the sleeping Ursa.

***

"You've gotta be kidding me..."

Your eyes widened as you noticed a small filly trying to get your attention. She tried to say something to you, but it was clear that she didn't want to wake the slumbering beast.

You motioned her to come, but it seemed like she couldn't. The filly pointed towards her hind legs and struggled for a bit before looking back at you.

It didn't take long for you to understand that she was stuck under the Ursa's jaw.

What do you do?

***

Celestia turned to her fellow players, "I believe the answer is rather obvious."

Raven nodded in agreement, "Of course. But I think it would be wise if we send the stealthiest of us to rescue the filly, while the rest will keep watch of the Ursa."

***

Magnar, Timber, and Goldie turned towards Oxyn, who was still captivated by the sight of the slumbering beast.

The three nodded to each other before Timber tapped her withers with a hoof.

The shiftling jumped and whipped her head around. Her faintly glowing eyes lit up the stag's face as she did so.

She stared at her party members for a moment and heaved a sigh.

"Alright... but I better get a bigger cut!"

***

The others looked at Cadance with expressions of awe and utter bewilderment. Of all the things they had expected her to say...

"What? That's something she'd say." the young alicorn refuted.

Celestia nodded halfheartedly, "I see..."

Daybreaker, seemingly ignoring the whole thing, levitated a green D20 towards the center of the table.

"If you are still confused by how this works, I can do the calculations for you. Don't worry."

Cadance nodded and lifted the die in her magic. She shook it for a moment before flicking it away. The die tumbled and landed on a...

[17]

The young princess looked up towards the DM with a tentative smile.

"That... that's good, right?"

Daybreaker showed her confirmation with an interested glance. The obscured mare nodded and continued her narration. She projected a simplified avatar of Oxyn and animated it according to the situation.

***

The party agreed that Oxyn should be the one who will sneak in. Shiftlings were naturals in stealth and espionage, after all. It was quite obvious, given the available options.

The ranger carefully crept towards the sleeping beast. Her chitinous hooves barely made any noise as she made her way closer. The others kept a watchful eye on the Ursa, preparing to warn her of any sudden developments that she couldn't have noticed.

Soon enough, she finally reached the squirming filly without alerting the Ursa.

Oxyn gave the filly a small wave and paused in thought.

***

Cadance tapped her chin in thought as she tried to figure out what to do next. She could try to move the Ursa's jaw, but that could cause it to awaken. There was also the possibility of pulling the filly out directly, but that could hurt her, and she'd feel really guilty if that happened. Even if the filly wasn't real.

Sunset, feeling impatient of the young alicorn's indecisiveness, smacked a hoof on the table.

***

"Come on! Just grab her and run!"

***

Cadance was about to give an irritated reply but stopped when she heard Daybreaker's disturbingly sinister chuckle. It seemed like she wasn't the only one who noticed it as well.

Celestia looked to the DM curiously but refrained from saying anything to avoid getting silenced.

***

Timber and Goldie gave Magnar a baffled look. The centaur himself had slapped both of his hands over his mouth in surp-

***

Sunset shot up from her seat and jabbed a hoof toward Daybreaker, "NO! NO! YOU CAN'T DO THAT!"

In response, the DM gave her a devious, toothy grin. The young mare could feel herself shudder for some reason.

She turned toward Celestia first, who replied with a hesitant shrug and smile. Sunset then glanced toward Raven, whose expression instantly answered all her questions.

The student threw herself back onto her chair as she heaved a lengthy sigh of resignation.

***

Oxyn quickly turned around to see the shocked looks of her party members. The three of them gestured to her to rush the procedure.

She turned back, only to see a freed filly quickly running past her.

"Run! Save yerselves!"

How unfortunate. It seems like Magnar's shout had awakened the previously slumbering Ursa. Oxyn could feel its warm breath right behind her neck, nearly blowing away her cloak with each exhale.

***

Cadance looked to Daybreaker with concern, "Is this the part where we-"

"It's the part where you run, yes."

The DM paused for a moment, savoring the satisfaction of messing with her players.

"Or..."

Celestia leaned closer, "'Or'?"

Daybreaker levitated three more D20s and dropped them in front of their respective players.

"You could... roll for initiative. I heard Ursa pelt sell for quite a lot of gold." the obscured mare continued calmly, seemingly uncaring of her players' dismay.

Raven hummed in thought, "The risk is incredibly high, and we're still severely under-leveled. I don't think we should."

Celestia nodded. "Indeed. And why would we want to strike down a lone Ursa Minor? I don't think I would be able to continue the quest knowing we just took the life of what is essentially a cub."

Cadance seemed to agree as well, while Sunset opted to stay silent.

The DM refrained from rolling her eyes, "Very well."

'Damn ponies...'

***

In a flash, Oxyn ran back towards the group, with the enraged Ursa hot on her hooves. The four of you quickly scrambled and ran after the filly, who thankfully hadn't gone too far from your sight.

You ran as fast as you could, the beat of your hoof steps echoing throughout the now violently rumbling cavern. The Ursa roared in fury, which only encouraged you to run faster.

Unable to contain your curiosity, you glanced back at the charging beast behind you.

It was getting closer, and closer with each stride of its gigantic legs.

***

Raven clicked her tongue, "Is the Ursa a male or female?"

Daybreaker looked to her curiously, "Uh, male, I suppose?" she asked. Leaving out her next question of 'why?' for later. This could be interesting.

The secretary nodded, "Roll me my dice, please."

The DM complied by levitating her dice and lightly throwing it in her direction.

[19]

[6]

Raven adjusted her glasses and looked back up to the magical projection of her fleeing party.

"That settles it, then."

The royal secretary pointed a hoof toward the Ursa, "I cast..."

***

Timber abruptly slid to a stop, causing his party members to look back in bafflement. The stag whirled around to face their pursuer and looked at it defiantly.

His antlers crackled with bright green energy, a mighty spell prepared to be released at a moment's notice. He confidently stomped a hoof on the ground and snorted, another sign of blazing defiance.

"I cast..."

The magic coalesced into the form of two orbs orbiting each other between his antlers. Arcs of magical energy occasionally leapt from each branch.

"TESTICULAR TORSION!"

***

It was at that moment that Daybreaker finally broke her 'Mysterious Dungeon Master' persona, mainly due to the fact that she had thrown herself onto the floor, madly cackling after Raven had casted her... spell.

In fact, she thought it was so funny that she started to roll around next to her toppled seat, whilst clutching her stomach. This, unfortunately, also caused the set of illusions that she had been keeping up all this time to warp and contort.

But not before having it show the Ursa pulling back his paws to hold his 'precious jewels' and roaring in pain, before dissipating into thin air.

The others also seemed to have their own reactions. They were not exactly 'good' reactions, mind you, but they were very appropriate for the situation.

Sunset was in the middle of sipping her cup of tea when the secretary called out her spell. Needless to say, all of that tea was now decorating the table, and, much to the young prodigy's embarrassment, most of Celestia's face and mane as well.

Celestia, however, hadn't shown any reaction whatsoever. Her eyes were locked on to the only earth pony in the room, pupils so contracted they could be mistaken for pinholes. Even getting sprayed with hot tea from another pony's mouth didn't seem to affect her.

Cadance, on the other hoof, was left with her jaw agape. The young alicorn also appeared to be fiercely blushing, with her eyes looking back and forth at the chaos that had just erupted.

Raven, who had seemingly kept her composure throughout everything, only held a satisfied look on her face.

Slowly, with a shaking hoof, still giggling to herself like a madmare, Daybreaker pulled herself up and readjusted her seat wit her magic. She looked at her players with a wobbly smile and tried to collect herself to address them.

"Aheh... let's- heh, let's continue this next week, yes?"

Sitting upon her throne, with scrying screens monitoring the current geothermal and atmospheric heat of various regions in the world, and one large screen overlooking a paused Ogres & Oubliettes campaign, along with a bowl of fruit slices and a glass of cider floating beside her, Opaline Arcana bore a look of utter confusion, bewilderment, shock, and befuddlement all at once.

She dismissed her main screen with a flaming flash of her horn, before uttering a single word.

"What?"

Interlude: The Other Fire Horse

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.