Idol Hooves holds a special place in Equestria. He's probably the only exiled changeling to serve in the Royal Guard, or at least, that's what he expects, as exiles don't really broadcast that fact. However, it's well known that Princess Celestia loves all of her little ponies, and her guards perhaps more so, and that makes it one of the best ways for a changeling to discreetly feed.

But how does a changeling even get there, let alone get exiled in the first place? For that matter, why would it ever go to Canterlot? Set a number of years before the series proper, before Luna’s redemption, Idol details how he was exiled, the ponies he’s met, and the series of misadventures that led him to joining the Royal Guard, and should continue a good ways into the series, as something of an alternate perspective.

Soon, he’ll have to deal with a boisterous new princess to serve and a royal wedding in the works bringing a third to power. Will his old instincts bring this new life crashing down around him? What precipitates Chrysalis’s ill-fated assault on Canterlot? Is it really so wrong for a changeling to enjoy good craftsmanship to an obsessive degree?

New cover art provided by the fantastic Carnifex

And a TVTropes page here.

And an Ask Blog of questionable canonity!
Out of Idol Curiosity

Fanart by Norad2! Major thanks! Short For a Royal Guard

Art by Egophiliac of Idol and his Daring Duckie Please don't tell him what that brush is meant for.

Rating updated to (T), it's a bit darker than (E)
Comedy Tag added as well
And changed the character tags a bit.

Limestone Pie: a 20-year-old homeschool graduate who can't imagine life outside of working her father's quarry.

Flash Sentry: an 18-year-old senior at Canterlot High with no bloody clue what he wants to do in life.

On the surface, these two seem like an unlikely pairing. But when a chance encounter over heavy music pulls them into an unexpected love triangle, the pair find a spark of attraction that rocks.

An early version of chapter 2 appeared in the November 2015 Writeoff, "Like the World Is Ending." Custom cover art by Captain Wuzz! Pre-reading by Dubs Rewatcher, 621Chopsuey, and Soufriere! Featured on Equestria Daily 25Apr.2017! Also featured by Seattle’s Angels! And at long last, featured on FimFiction 06Jun.2019!

It had been hard enough, being one of the first. With the walls dropped, leaving her nation, her herd, traveling to Japan and trying to exist among so many strangers... every day had been a challenge. But she'd tried. Day by day, hoofstep by hoofstep, she'd felt she was finding her place in the human world.

But now there are no humans. No other demis or liminals. Nothing to anchor her. She exists among tiny horses and the scent of their fear, or at least what little of it drifts into her cell.

For nopony can look at a centaur and see anything but a monster.

(Now with author Patreon and Ko-Fi pages -- and the TVTropes page just went live.)

Cover art by Harwick. Please contact him for commission rates & prints.

Trigger warning: character interpretation.

Each night I’m trapped in the dark, immobilized. I hear whispers as they operate on me: they say I shouldn’t be alive. Twilight refuses to tell me about the operation. Sometimes she can’t look me in the eye. What did they do to me?

Nothing used to scare me: I kicked a dragon in the nose, defeated gods of chaos and hatred, and control the weather. Now I feel broken. My memories have shattered, I feel wrong, and I’m afraid to tell anypony how scared I am.

I can’t even do the rainboom anymore. Who am I? I’m no longer the best flyer in Equestria, yet everypony assures me I am. Why won’t they tell me the truth?
↓↓ Credits

Special Thanks:
Dreampaw the artist. Best cover art.
Editors:
ArgonMatrix - Fixed 128 errors in chapter one alone.
Animus - who is awesome and for hire.
BronyWriter - The only author to punch Celestia in the face, and live.
Jaestring - Artist, Editor, and Female all in one.
Abcron - European editor, which means his time zone and my actual sleep schedule are aligned perfectly!
The Parasprite. Need I say more?
Selbi - If your editor isn't German, you aren't trying hard enough.
OctaviaHarmony - His avatar is as sexy as his editing.
RenegadeTimelord - Doctor who?
Akumokagetsu - Awesomesauce.
(Wow, a lot of editors came and went.)

Waking up with a hole in the head might seem like a bad way to start your life, but what if you deserved it?

"Every pony like me should be shot in the head at least once."

When he discovers the entire wasteland hates him, the amnesiac Ripple, once Two-Kick Rip the raider warlord, sees his wounds in a very new light. On a path that's half vengeance and half bid to redeem himself, he must rid the wasteland of his old gang and another, much more sinister foe.

----

The cancelled sequel is over at Fallout Equestria: Echoes of Chaos.
This fanfiction is based on Fallout Equestria by Kkat; a familiarity with the source material may aid your enjoyment.

Now that I was living in Equestria, it was time to finally buy a new house. I’d settled on the charming little town of Haywards Heath, and found myself a decent house that just needed some work to spruce it up.

Or so I thought.

I might have gotten more than I bargained for.