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.

Anon's dead, apparently, and Death has come to claim his soul. There's just one problem: he doesn't want to go. And there's nothing Death can do to make him.

Against your better judgement, you ended up having three little girls that you have to take care of all by yourself now.

As much trouble as they can be sometimes, you still wouldn't trade them for the world.

This story is a sequel to Friendship is Grievous

The brutal Clone Wars have at last come to an end. The Separatists are no more, and from the ashes of the Galactic Republic, the Galactic Empire has emerged. Now, the ponies of Equestria must choose their path through a dark and terrible time.

TV Tropes page.

Cover art by Mix-up over at his his deviantart.

General Grievous, Supreme Commander of the Separatist Droid Army, conqueror of star systems, and slayer of Jedi. And... stranded on Equestria?

This can't end well.

TV Tropes page.

Now featuring a dramatic reading by LimeyPony!

It has been two years since the human TD ascended to become Princess Antares, and he is settling into his role as one of the rulers of Equestria quite nicely. His loyal guard is strong, his palace is awe-inspiring, and he is beloved and worshiped by ponies everywhere. However, when the Element of Magic is stolen by an old student of Celestia's and taken through a magic mirror while he is visiting the Crystal Empire with the Mane Six, he discovers that another world has been very close by during his whole reign. A rather familiar world at that. Deciding that he is the best pony for the job, he takes his two best soldiers through the portal with him to get the Element back. So, pretending to be a foreign exchange student from Canada, he infiltrates of all things... a high school.

He is less than pleased.

Buy a print copy of the original here!

Edited by the magnificent Strike89

Cover art by the perpetually awesome SoaringSketches

My name is Kadie, and when I was eight years old, my people, the griffins, went to war with the ponies of Equestria. My mother never wanted me to think about that, so she never talked about it. The Emperor told my father that he had to go off and fight the ponies, though, so I know that she thought about it a lot.

A few months after I turned ten, a messenger came into our town and told us that our emperor didn't want to fight anymore, so the ponies won, and we lost. Mother said that since we lived so close to our capital, we needed to go see the pony army meet our emperor.

I did not like that.

Edited wonderfully by Prak

Pinocchio wasn't the only wooden puppet to become a real person.

There are other puppets out there, animal-like beings controlled by quasi-intelligent trees. Ponies call them timberwolves and know them as nothing but beasts. But what happens if one of those beasts were to gain the intelligence and ambition of one of the most successful hunters in the universe, a human?

This story loosely shares continuity from Split Second: An Eternity Divided. Reading that is not required at all.

Has a Tv Tropes page.
Featured on EQD: 10/2/2015

General Iroh. Fire Nation hero. First born son of Fire Lord Azulan. The Dragon of the West. It was thought he would be the greatest warrior in the history of the Fire Nation.

But all that changed when the war claimed his son's life. This changed him, and he turned his back on the war.

This was a necessary event. Iroh had a role to play in bringing balance back to the world...but to play that role, he first had to be broken down, so that he could be rebuilt. This truth was self evident in the spirit realm.

But one particular spirit felt this was unfair to Iroh. The wheels of fate are cruel to those caught in the gears, but this particular spirit felt that Iroh deserved kindness. And so this spirit sent Iroh one who would help him to rebuild himself.

And so, shortly after his son's funeral, Iroh would find a creature sent by the spirits, the likes of which he never would have imagined...a pretty pink pony princess.

Somepony to love...and be loved by.

Part of the PWNY-verse.
Edit: Now with Fan Art by Mewappony.
Edit 2: New Cover Art by Sanyo21!