Princess Celestia has been keeping a dark secret from her subjects for a very long time.

It's not an easy truth to tell, but if anyone can accept her after learning it, it will surely be her most faithful student.

Third Place Finisher in Equestria Daily's 2013 Nightmare Night Contest!

Twilight Sparkle has overcome many trials and tribulations, all of which have challenged and changed her. Now, as a ruler of a new demesne of Equestria, she must face the world in a new light and learn the rules to play the game.

Things are different in the world of sovereigns. Foreign rulers are not as understanding or compassionate as Princess Celestia, nor are they as forgiving. Twilight must find a balance between being an effective ruler, and a strong diplomat. But with new trials arising at every corner, can she manage to maintain herself? What sort of ruler will she become? And will she manage to protect her own little ponies?

An accident at the Wonderbolt Academy occurs, and many pegasi, including the Wonderbolts, are killed. Rainbow Dash was one of the ponies killed.

Scootaloo, who is distraught over the news of the accident, goes home to find a note from Rainbow Dash herself, proclaiming that she is indeed alive.

Scoots proceeds to give up her life of crusading and finding her cutie mark to find Rainbow Dash, even if she can't fly or doesn't have meaning in her life. She is determined to find her big sis, even if it means giving up every dream she ever had.

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.

Novel Tale is an author that's been living in Canterlot for about ten years now. That's a pretty good track record for a changeling. He's even included a changeling character in his latest book, and his fans have been loving his take on such an obscure mythological creature, especially his biggest fan, Twilight Sparkle. Things are looking up!

Then an army of changelings from another hive attacks Canterlot.

Now all of ponykind knows that changelings are real, and his readers are sure to realize that the changeling in his book was too similar to the real thing to have just been based on a myth...

earlier chapters have been revised as of 7/19/13 to be more inline quality wise with the later chapters.

Featured on EQD 10/5/13!

Let it be known that there will be extensive changeling world building in the chapters to come.

cover image courtesy of ackdari.

Much thanks to Nyerguds for proofreading and to all my fellow tropers on the TvTropes pony fanfiction thread for helping me develop this from a vague idea into an actual story.

Celestia and Luna were born as unassuming foals in troubled times. But already marked for greatness, the simple earth ponies stand to face a world set against them, full of danger, fear, and sadness. A world they will change forever.

A sweeping epic taking place before Equestria was made, where Celestia and Luna must rise from normal foals to become the Princesses we know them as, beset from all sides by monsters, other ponies, and even the forces that govern nature. Their tale is as tragic as it is triumphant.

Currently on hiatus. For more info, go here.

(Cover and internal art by Madmax)
(Editing credit predominantly Lightside Luc)

In the wake of Chrysalis' failed invasion, a different hive breaks tradition and steps into the light to open relations with Equestria. The ever eager scholar, Twilight Sparkle, uses this truce as the perfect opportunity to learn more about this enigmatic race. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, she will learn all there is to know about what it means to be a changeling.

But will Twilight lose herself in the hive, or will she regain what she has lost? Only time will tell.

Featured on 9/24/13

My first featured story! You guys are awesome.

Story readings and cover art by Luminescent Skies: Click here for some audio novel treatment

My Editor in Chief: Cloud Hop

It's been said in prophecies that nopony will know the time or date the magic of Equestria that empowers its citizens would leave. I thought it was just superstitious nonsense written by ancient witch doctors. In a sense, they were right. But I would have never expected it to come like this. —Princess Twilight Sparkle, 05/05/1268

AU tag added due to the Cutie Mark Crusaders getting Cutie Marked.

After the Changeling invasion, Celestia and Luna make the decision to have Twilight investigate the Elements of Harmony and solve the mystery of their power.

A thousand years later, Rainbow Dash awakens in a world she does not recognize. She has no idea how or why she came to be there. She does not know the language, the geography or any of the rules of this new time. She soon finds allies in Star Fall, a scholarly pegasus whose Talent is Magic, and Astrid, Star Fall's Griffin guardian. Together they set out to discover why Dash has been sent to the future, and how she might return to when she belongs.

War threatens the nations, a Nightmare stalks the shadows, and Rainbow Dash's arrival has turned her into a wild card in a deadly game that pits the law on both sides of a broken Equestria against a mysterious criminal figure, Max Cash. Yet the stakes are higher than anyone knows, for in her research Twilight Sparkle discovered a dark secret about the Elements, something that will shake the foundations of the world.

Cover image by SierraEx
Has a TvTropes page

"My name is Lyra Heartstrings, and you will not remember me. You won't even remember this conversation. Just like with everypony else I've ever met, everything I do or say will be forgotten. Every letter I've written will appear blank; every piece of evidence I've left behind will end up missing. I'm stuck here in Ponyville because of the same curse that has made me so forgettable. Still, that doesn't stop me from doing the one thing that I love: making music. If my melodies find their way into your heart, then there is still hope for me. If I can't prove that I exist, I can at least prove that my love for each and every one of you exists. Please, listen to my story, my symphony, for it is me."

Cover pic by Spotlight: askspotlight.tumblr.com