Rainbow Dash was the Iron Wing. She was a war hero, the Slayer of Shadows, the Liberator of the Crystal Empire, the Wrath of Celestia. And depending on who you ask, she still is.

But the war is over. There's little need for a pony like her in peacetime. So she keeps telling herself that she needs to adjust, that she needs to find a new role to fill in the world that she saved. But Equestria seems content to let her remain what she has become, even though they have no need of a warrior.

"This isn't how it's supposed to be", is something she keeps telling herself. But every time she says it, the only thing she can reply is, "so what should it be?"

One whole year after the close of the war, and Rainbow Dash still doesn't have the answer.

Art by NCMares.

Maybe that glance lasted just a little too long, or maybe a certain conversation could be interpreted as innuendo. Whatever it is, sometimes we see only what we want to see, and sometimes our fantasies get the best of us. Rarity is no exception.

Featured on Equestria Daily.

Vignette Valencia is the worst person Wallflower Blush has ever met. She's vain, petty, materialistic. She's the kind of person that shouldn't exist outside of horror stories about social media influencers.

She's also easier to talk to than anyone else.

Struggling with conversation at the best of times, Wallflower finds Vignette's existence so baffling that it's impossible for her to be uncomfortable around her.

Winner of a committee prize in the 2022 Crackship Contest.

Huge thanks to VoxArachne for editing and prereading.

Sometimes, running is a very efficient method not to run out of time. And Twilight certainly has every interest in making sure she doesn't run out of time, and therefore in doing things as efficiently as possible. She wouldn't want to be late, after all.

Princess Celestia has inspired many writers, artists and poets over her centuries as both ruler and Princess of the Sun. Now she invites one pony to do a special task for her.

A tale of poetry, pornography, puns, printing presses and pretty pony princesses.

Audiobook by Illya Leonov, ft Luna Farrowe and Shadow of Cygnus

Cover image by Linnpuzzle
Edited by Solstice Shimmer and BaeroRemedy.
Special thanks to Dr Bethan Tovey for help with the Old English.

“How is it that gems like these are always hidden so deep? I love your poetry, can't get enough of it.”

— SillyMare

“This is just really stellar, I hope everyone checks it out.”

— PresentPerfect

“A concept which in the hands of just about anyone would have become empty prurience is instead warm and brilliant and funny and just lovely.”

— GhostOfHeraclitus

Oriole has a problem. She can't stop eating stallions.

Rarity has a problem. Her new friend can't stop eating stallions.

Twilight Sparkle has a problem. A stallion-eating monster has moved into her town.

Spike's just glad he's not a stallion.

Did you know Fluttershy was made Royal Game Warden of the last remaining Royal Game Preserve in Equestria? Of course, she only has that title because the newly winged Twilight needed something with which to defraud the government, and that "preserve" is, due to centuries of neglect, actually the Everfree Forest, but that's not really important.

Until, of course, the Griffon Ambassador showed up at her door demanding her services as a hunting guide for his lunch.

Then it was a little important.

Applejack digs a hole.

It was a normal life, until Twilight Sparkle fell out of time and into her lap. Then things started getting complicated.

100 words. Fragments of a life. Each year, every year: as the years march forward, unstoppable, unceasing, Granny Smith wonders what it all adds up to.

An entry for Bicyclette's Crackshipping Contest!

Earth-pony Twilight Sparkle has always been a little "out there". But while testing her latest crazy idea, she finds that there are places even farther than that...

For more of this AU, check out the entire series:

• When Ponies Fly
• The Two Unicorns
• Pinkie Pegasus
• The Muse of Fire