Fluttershy is a long way from home; will she survive the harsh and crazy universe while exploring its many wonders? She loves everything after all, now she has to prove that she does and it may just keep her alive.

Kindness and a magical stare are her only weapons, how far will it get her?

Thousands of years ago, a large group of ponies found themselves suddenly removed from their homes and relocated in a dangerous and foreign land beneath strange stars. They assumed it one of Discord's evil pranks at first, but quickly realized they missed their time under his rule. Inconsistent and ever-changing, he may have been, but he also offered protection and a bounty of food that this new realm sorely lacked.

Millennia later, ponykind had forgotten their sudden exodus from Equus, and all that remained of that time were myths of a great and benevolent ruler who embodied their ideals of innovation and progress. Their society, while divided, plunged forward into new fields of magic and technology at a startling rate. When an astronomer discovered an abnormality in the orbit of a distant solar system and saw the amount of magic needed to sustain it, the two massive nations controlling Eris began a rapid space-race to find their leader and explore the stars.

This story addresses the events on Eris leading to the launch of the mission to Equus. It's sequel, Beneath Distant Stars, addresses the ponies' arrival in Equestria and the events following.

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.

Talks broke down. The unification failed. Hearth's Warming have never occurred. The Great Pony War divided the land, and fears of a prophecy forced the unicorns deep underground and into near extinction.

Almost one thousand years have passed. The curious unicorn Sparkle yearns to breach the surface to discover its many wonders and to search for her missing father and brother, both of whom crossed over many years ago. She is forbidden to leave the safety of her subterranean village of Unicornia until she discovers an orange earth pony washed up on the shores of an underground river. That pony bears one of the six Elements fabled to change the world.

Or destroy it.

Cover art credit goes to ouyrof.

Re:Harmony was conceived before Season 4 aired, so some personalities and character relations do not line up with the show's canon.

Also, please refrain from revealing spoilers in the comments. Thanks!