In the far future of Equestria's history, ponies and the other species of their world have ventured out to live in all the wondrous corners of their sparkling galaxy. Now, the spiral arms hold both the borders of six great civilisations and vast unclaimed regions of glittering stars.

Starships of all shapes, designs, and sizes now carry their crews as they seek adventure, fame, fortune, curiosity, or for some...to discover the secrets of the galaxy's turbulent past. But to many others, it's simply their day-to-day job to haul cargo and make a life in the space between worlds. To be one of the thousands who keep the galaxy running.

To be one like the cargo ship Claudia.

The crew of the small vessel all came from different places, desiring different things. Whether it was their wish to do this to prove themselves, their need for the money to save a loved one, their ambition to make a name across the stars, or having to make do with a path in life they hadn't expected to find their dream. But no matter their mixed origins, no matter their unassuming nature, they have one truth of the galaxy to discover.

That the black leaves few without trials if they wish to find a home within its both beautiful and foreboding expanse.

In the months that followed the Day of Sunshine and Rainbows, groups who backed the Stable Dweller allied together in spite of their differences to help create a brighter future for Equestria. New Canterlot now stands as a beacon of light and civilization for the rest of the wasteland.

Meanwhile, a born wastelander named Roulette, still rocked by the havoc of the events of Operation Cauterize, must come to terms with the bitter realities of what happened that day. She remembers the days before the Sun and contemplates her life in a changing wasteland. For a mare who lost everything, she can only hope to make something of herself in this ‘new’ wasteland and be like the hero she admired in her foalhood.

Her travels take her to the Outpost 52 on the border of now civilized New Canterlot territory for a bitter reunion with an old friend, but when her foalhood hero's name comes calling again, it brings up painful memories and questions from her wasteland days. What's a wasteland mare to do? 

Sometimes you have to take a gamble...

A Fallout Equestria Side Story
Original FO:E by Kkat
Edited by: Aezaelia
Past Editors: BasicJasioh, Relentless, Shady
Cover art by Jowy
Font by Calistomaniac

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.

I have lived my entire life among the ice at the top of the world with my pod. I knew little of the world outside of the ways of We of the Sea, and as a filly, that suited me just fine. But one day, the steel whales came, and on their backs, they carried creatures not unlike myself, yet wholly different. For while I swam in the sea, they walked on the land and flew through the air. Yet they reminded me of my kind, so curious, so tragic, and so infinitely precious. Where they did not understand, they sought to learn with a foolish stubbornness. Where they wandered far from home, they extended their hooves in friendship.

Where they waged their wars, they fought with a violent savagery that was frightening to me.

As I held a dear friend close, the breath fleeing from his body, I only wanted to know one thing.

Why?

Cover art and inspiration by JhonnyRebel. Pre-reading provided by djthomp.

Featured on Equestria Daily!
And an awesome reading by Illya Leonov!
Another awesome reading by Scribbler!

Russian translation of this story can be found here, courtesy of NovemberDragon!

*If you'd like to purchase a physical copy of this story, click here*

One of Equestria's greatest traits is tolerance. Every pony, whether Unicorn, Pegasus, or Earth, is accepted for who they are, and have their own parts to play in keeping Equestria running.

But what if an Earth pony decided he didn't want to play his assigned part? What if he wanted to rise above everyone else and become an Alicorn? Such a thing is possible... but the path to fulfilling one's dreams is never simple. Risks must be taken. Sacrifices must be made. And the question is always asked: How far would you go to get what you wanted? And would you be willing to pay a terrible price to get it?

Teleportation. It is the best possible way to travel... As long as you don't think about it too much. As long as you don't ask where Twilight goes in that split second when she's neither here nor there.

The sound I listened to as I wrote it, available to you in order to give you the option of having the same atmosphere.

No relation to the other story with the same name, just a coincidence of both picking the same excellent title. I was unaware that the other one existed.
Dramatic Reading by Charles Spratt | Second Reading by TheDizzyDan | Third Reading by Crafty Arts | Fourth Reading by Stormy787
Russian Translation 1 (by Aloz) | Russian Translation 2 (by Doof Ex Machina)

Fluttershy knows it is her honor, her destiny, to have been born into the Lunar Guard. She knows it with all her heart. But sometimes, when she can get away from her drills and be alone with her animals, she is beset by doubt. Sometimes, as she straps on her armor and raises her spear, she wonders why there is so much disharmony in the world.

Sometimes she feels like Equestria is missing a little kindness.

Equestria Daily

Thanks to Rex Ivan, docontra, Reese, and JackRipper for helping to make it readable.
Cover art done by Conicer.

It has been a year since I last saw her when she appeared on my doorstep, strangeness in her eyes and a mumbling under her voice.

She asked for my help to investigate a peculiar object, which once held an odd ancient magic. But it's benign now, she said.

It's benign now.

It was supposed to be an easy delve. In, explore, and out.

Instead Daring Do finds herself wandering through an endless corridor, wishing for nothing more than to see the sky once more. And when she reaches the end of the maze, she discovers something waiting for her that hasn't felt the sun for a long, long time. Something very lonely.

And hungry.

Twilight Sparkle is a student at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. She loves to learn all she can about magic and the world that surrounds her. But lately... something strange has been happening. It may be nothing. It may just be a product of her imagination, or the heavy stress she's been under since her studies started.

There's no way she just heard a voice in the dark.

Written for The Writeoff Association's latest event: "Forbidden Knowledge".