'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"