Ponies get older over time. They slow down. This is a part of life. But Rarity, Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie can keep pursuing their dreams as they get older. Rainbow Dash can't. This is her last chance to be a Wonderbolt, and despite working her tail off, she's not getting any better. In fact, she's getting slower. She just wants things to be fair. She wants one last chance to achieve her dream.

She wants to be faster.

This is what happens when she gets her wish.

A three part story.

Featured 10/7-10/9/13. Posted to Equestria Daily on 5/2/14.

Now with a sequel.
MEDALS AND RIBBONS:

This story is part of Twilight's Library because of Skeeter the Lurker.

Twilight's Library Ribbon

And

It also won Skeeter the Lurker's medal.

Skeeter the Lurker's medal

Entry for the Writer's Group Contest & the Rainbow Dash Contest.

Winner, 2nd place, Rainbow Dash Contest.

Voted in by Twenty Great Stories on 11/3/13.

Voted in by The Royal Guard, March 2014

Edited by: SpaceCommie, Cola Bubble Gum

Artwork by: 2135D

An earlier draft of this cover art was featured on EQD.

There is a secret in Equestria. A secret the newly crowned Princess Twilight Sparkle doesn’t dare to believe. Like puppeteers pulling on marionettes, they have influenced Equestria for better and worse since the fall of Discord. So far they have been benevolent, but their potential for evil is vast. What’s worse, she doesn’t know their name. She doesn’t know their mission. All she knows for certain is one thing.

That they all seem to be zebra.

This story is a sequel to Innavedr

Rainbow Dash and her companions fly east.

"We live in what we believe is a shell, a closed sphere where all is constant. As physics would have it, nothing in the universe is unique, nothing is wasted or destroyed: it is repurposed. But now I prove them wrong. With a single idea, I realize that we are not so insignificant as we think. We are not slaves to destiny and existence. We are the ashes of gods, the fruits of eternity, the products of choice and fate. We are not meaningless. This universe is not our prison.

This is our empire."

- Excerpt from A Lexicon of Impossibilities, by Cypher

Special thanks:
AeronJVL, for the amazing cover art.
Emberspeak, Forderz, RTStephens, PropMaster, and RazgrizS57 for their editing.
shortskirtsandexplosions for the idea.

This story is a sequel to The Flight of the Alicorn

Rarity was certain her troubles with magical gemstones had ended, but an unexpected royal visit soon convinces her otherwise. In order to save an ailing Princess, stop an ancient menace, and avert a disaster that threatens the survival of a lost tribe of ponies, Rarity, Blueblood, and a brave group of friends will travel to strange and foreign lands, and into the fathomless depths beneath tormented seas. In her quest to uncover the secrets of the Abyssal Forge, Rarity will have to use all her charm, wit, and skill—and rely on allies old and new—as the unlikeliest of ponies once again attempts to save the world in style.

Part Two of Three
The Adamant Triskelion - Book One: The Flight of the Alicorn
The Adamant Triskelion - Book Two: The Abyssal Forge
The Adamant Triskelion - Book Three: ???

Beautiful cover art by Lucky Dreams.

Rarity's exploits in "Sweet and Elite" set in motion a chain of events that will find the unicorn dressmaker taking part in the greatest airship race in the world, the Alicorn's Cup. Excitement will give way to terror, as Rarity soon finds herself the victim of a plot against Equestria, and shipwrecked far from home with her least favorite stallion, the boorish Prince Blueblood. Rarity will learn of treachery in Canterlot and abroad, and will have search for something of substance beneath the prince's obnoxious veneer as she struggles to not only save herself, but her entire nation.

Part One of Three
The Adamant Triskelion - Book One: The Flight of the Alicorn
The Adamant Triskelion - Book Two: The Abyssal Forge
The Adamant Triskelion - Book Three: ???

Most pirates that stalk the Seven Streams prefer to live only in the shadows, skulking through the skies as daylight dies and striking with brutal efficiency at any helpless merchant vessel in range.

Most pirates that the Royal Equestrian Aeronautical Navy hounds after are ragged, ruthless cutthroats who'd just as soon sell their grandmothers for a chestful of bits and a bottle of rum.

Most pirates that you hear about in stories would flee in terror at the sight of the RES Corona, the -world-famous warship helmed by the most dangerous and determined sky captain ever to fly under the Equestrian flag.

This story is not about most pirates.

P.S. Big ups to Chromosome and CouchCrusader for the editing help. Appreciate it as always, gents.
P.P.S. nitstits, go home.

Twilight gets drunk and ships Rainbow Dash with everything in the universe.

Rainbow Dash is not amused.

For so long I've been living life like a marionette on its last string. Only one thing kept me from falling into emptiness. That one thing that kept me going. It gave me a reason to pretend that life still mattered.

Only one pony in the world ever showed me a speck of kindness when I never deserved it. And now she's gone.

I'm falling, and the only thing that scares me is what I'll find when I hit the ground.

(Comments contain spoilers.)

A big thank you to PresentPerfect for his tireless help in editing this fic.

Distance can drive us apart. It can also bring us closer together.

After all is said and done, and the ponies have gone their separate ways, the only way they have to keep in touch is through letters.

Original Equestria Daily post is here
Russian translation
Chinese translation
Polish translation
Spanish translation

Now with music and audiobook