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.

This story is a sequel to Sunset Shimmer Hunts the Undead

Principal Celestia and a bunch of other middle-aged high school teachers hunt the undead.

So does her adoptive daughter, Sunset Shimmer, alongside a farmer, an ex-siren, a forgettable nobody, and a dark mistress of unholy mad science.

These are their ongoing stories.

(Ask the hunters anything, here!)

(This story almost entirely consists of reader-submitted chapters. All ideas welcome, submit them here!)

My attempt at a more serious 'Luna meets Neil Armstrong' storyline. What would really happen, both on the moon and on Earth? Inspired by 'The Eagle has Landed' by CyanBlackStone.

Princess Luna has found herself on a very different moon after some strange force interfered with her banishment. She doesn't know what the metal objects that keep orbiting and sometimes landing there are, but she wants to find out. Meanwhile, Neil Armstrong believes that being the first man on the moon will be the crowning achievement of his life. Hoo boy, is he ever in for a surprise.

For those who are interested, the most excellent Zanec has provided this link to an interactive Apollo 11 site.

Twilight Sparkle is a successful mare - it's hard to do better than a pair of alicorn wings and a crown! Which leads her to wonder - why is she still single? Perhaps Rarity, connoisseur of all things romantic, will hold the answer?

Now has a reading thanks to StraightToThePointStudios!
Now has a reading thanks to Cloud 9!
Now translated into Chinese thanks to xieyuesanxing!
Now translated into Russian thanks to GreatDragonLord!
Now translated into Spanish thanks to SPANIARD KIWI!

Lovely cover art by VladiVoices commissioned by Cloud 9 for their reading (link above).

Top spot in the Featured box 1/2/20 - 1/5/20!

~~~You asked, you receive. Bonus chapter up~~~

Twilight has successfully created fake government jobs to help her terminally broke friends be less, uh, terminally broke. All they have to do is pass a simple little background check, just an easy little formality really. Should be no problem for these national heroes, right?

Right?

Well....

I guess the constituent parts of the cover art might be property of the federal gubbermint, but, honestly, I feel like I've spent enough on ATF tax stamps to make me stealing their crisp PNGs an equal exchange.

If Rarity saved half her meals to feed to the fairies so she could stay pretty, Sweetie Belle wasn't going to argue. Rarity was always right, after all.

CW: Eating disorders, anorexia specifically. Hopeful/happy ending, I promise.

Thank you to Snow Quill for prereading!

Night Light: husband, hobbyist astronomer, and dad of two.

He always knew his incredibly talented and powerful children would have equally amazing lives & adventures. It's just that he's only now starting to really realize it. Shining Armor is already a young adult, off to the Academy. But Twilight...

Twilight is still young. They can play, and watch the stars together, and he can teach her about galaxies and nebulae and comets. He still has time, they still have time.

But it's starting to feel like there isn't enough.

An entry for the Quills and Sofas Speedwriting 'Hearts & Hooves Day '23: Types of Love' contest.

Cover art commissioned from the incomparable Shaslan! Fimfic chewed up the quality a bit, but I guarantee the original is positively stunning. :)

No one alive today can say where she came from; simply that she has always been there.

And yet, few ponies have had a greater impact on Princess Celestia's life than Raven, her most faithful aide.

Inspired by and based off of a headcanon put forth by Heir-of-Rick, though perhaps a bit less insidious than what he had in mind. He very kindly provided an alternate version of his image for me to use as my cover image! Text added by me.

All comments and criticism very welcome!

Featured in the Royal Canterlot Library! Go there to read the interview for some behind-the-scenes info on this story!

Translations: Chinese, Spanish!

This story is a sequel to Tantabus Communication Protocol

What started with laziness and a tiny slip-up in arcane intelligence creation has blossomed into its own being. With Luna's blessing, the second Tantabus is free to flit around the dreamscape as it pleases, unburdened by oversight. And what pleases it is making good dreams. Who couldn't be happy by making others happy?

As the Tantabus settles into its life, its horizons keep expanding, forever revealing more of the world and of ponies. There's always new things to learn. New dreams to spice up. New nightmares to beat down. New ponies to help. New ponies to annoy.

Don't tell Luna about that last part.

Cover art by Harwick.

Frost Windchill is known to be a storyteller of sorts. Comfortable with telling the occasional sprite tale or legend, a child approaches him one day and asks for a real story.

And so Frost tells one- the story of his life. It's not a typical story, and there's more to it- just as there's more to the descendant of a Lunar Guard. It's a story not just of himself but the heroes he stood beside- big and small, legendary and obscure. But there's something amiss, buried lies between the lines.

After all, it's hard to kill memories when you remember everything.

(Cover done by the amazing Sw1tchbl4de. Check him out here! http://sw1tchbl4de.deviantart.com/

Larger version of cover art can be found here: http://sw1tchbl4de.deviantart.com/#/d4ovlt2)