I was always told that the world below was barren and fallow. Poisoned. Unfit for life. I always believed that, trusted that. In my ignorance, I had no recourse but to believe that. Then, one day, I saw for myself that the world below our bountiful field of clouds wasn’t quite so dead as I’d been told. For a mare born without the wings so many around me took for granted, a little dirt under my hooves seemed like an impossible dream.

Abandoning everything I knew to take the plunge, to go down from our cities in the clouds and mountain hideaways and find my home again wasn’t exactly fun, but I don’t regret it.

It was the single best decision of my life.

This story (which can be best described as a Coming-of-Age/Teen Romance/Drama Masquerading as Fallout) takes place about 15 years before the events of Fallout: Equestria, although it contains only a few direct references to events/canon from it. To Bellenast is my attempt to portray a part of the pony world where the apocalypse truly happened nearly two centuries prior, and as such, ponykind--or, at least, those portions of it far away from the most ravaged and blasted ruins of the old world--has grown and moved past those early days of scavenging, abundant hostility, and mere survival. Here, ponies don’t survive, but live. Here, there is peace, there is government, there are treaties and trade roads, medicine and commodities--and banditry, thievery, and wanton violence are the exception, not the norm.

All of this is told through the eyes of one young mare who really would rather have nothing to do with anything exciting or violent. I’ve tried to write it in a way that doesn’t require one to have read the original Fallout: Equestria, although why you might have found yourself here without having read it first, I would be curious to know.

I hope you enjoy the story. As of [November 2023-whenever-2024], I am rewriting some of the most problematic portions of the first half of the story, to better match them thematically and in quality with what I’ve written most recently.

Lookie, lookie, I made a map: Clicky da linky!
Lookie Lookie 2: Electric Boogalookiedoo! An adorable painting of Crystal Dew done by Etyco Filly.
Lookie Lookie 3: Pretty Pretty Pretty!
A commission of Blitz, which contains minor spoilers, but oh well. Don’t click if you don’t want to see.

Character and/or cover art (original here)by the fabulous amazing fantastic generally awesome {all-inclusive adjective of infinite praise here}Amarynceus. Amateur title addition by me.

One does not simply blaspheme the princess's tits.

Consequences may include, but are not limited to, snuggling, court-martial, and third-degree burns. And not necessarily in that order.

Entry for the Comedy (Is Serious Business) contest.

The selected prompt was "We learned something hot."

To escape from Tartarus is nearly impossible, even for one of great magical power. When you've lost your powers and are little more than a withered old centaur, it's even harder. But Tirek has a plan, one that will draw in a creature from a world where life is cheap, hats are plentiful, and gravel is king. Will the Spy take the opportunity to enjoy a well-earned vacation in this new world, or will he see the population of friendly, innocent ponies as just a fresh selection of backs to stab? It could be both!

(Takes place before the beginning of Season 9.)

After the debacle of the Storm King's short-lived invasion and the fall of Canterlot, the former attacker, Fizzlepop Berrytwist (Commander Tempest Shadow), muses that the princesses' ability to fight was sorely lacking. Considering that she pretty much took them all down in seconds.

In order to prevent such an abysmal display in the future she has, through a few contacts around Princess Twilight, recruited the aid of a combat master who should be able to teach four princesses avoid such embarrassments in the future...

...Or kill them trying.

One morning, Celestia starts her day by hurling herself out a window. Her day goes downhill from there.

Chrysalis' scheme has borne fruit. United by bribes and promises, the leaders of each nation have come with her to deliver an ultimatum: surrender Equestria, or face hopeless war with their combined armies.

So why does Celestia look to Chrysalis with a gentle, mourning gaze? And why is Chrysalis afraid?

Sometimes, decades of your life go by without a single pony noticing any of your efforts to move up the ranks. Sometimes, you fall into a hole in the ground, wind up trapped in a political plot, and meet a cute librarian in the middle of it all.
The last part's nice.

Due to the nature of the AU, the story deserves a [Dark] tag, but it's not a good fit for the story's genre. I also strongly hesitated between Mystery and Adventure.
Mild [Profanity] included (but not enough to warrant the tag).

Updates weekly.

Huge thanks go out to: Everfree Pony, for saving this fic in at least a dozen different ways, Sir Mediocre, for holding my writing to a certain standard and correcting my broken English, Aisteru Fìre for pre-reading, and Cyeion, for his detailed and thought-out critique.

A foreigner from a distant land sends a letter to Princess Celestia, detailing an important discovery: that anymoose can do magic.

"Hey, I need to file an insurance claim on my house?"

"Nature of the damage?"

"Oh, a magical bear got dragged into town by a bunch of teenagers to impress their foalish crush and it stepped on my front porch. Also, the next week a god of chaos turned my lamps into sharks and now there's a puddle of milk in my crawlspace."

For Equestria? This is an absurdist tale. For Ponyville's insurance adjuster, it was Wednesday.

A slice of that life, starring the adjuster himself and everyone's ... third(?) favorite glasses-wearing foal.

North of Canterlot, in the far marches of Equestria near the border with the Griffon tribes, there is a mountain that flies.

West of Canterlot, beyond the Galloping Mountains and a desert painted in the pastel hues of a faded rainbow, a tower sits at the edge of the world.

South of Canterlot, past the Everfree forest and the desolate badlands, a city of gardens waits to be born.

The Lost Cities Challenge! Awesome authors who have taken it upon themselves to explore other abandoned places:

- The Land of Glass and Stone, by RazgrizS57
- The City that Breathes, by Pearple Prose
- Aletheia, by Foehn
- Far Kobresia, by Baal Bunny
- Keskiyönnon, by Bradel
- Unknown Architecture, by Not_A_Hat
- The Gentle People, by Bad Horse
- The Seal of Wax and Glass, by DuncanR

Dramatic Reading by Illya Leonov: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4.

Royal Canterlot Library interview for Lost Cities.