This story is a sequel to Idol Hooves and The Deathly Tired Princess
Recently promoted to the rank of Colonel, (not his fault) Idol Hooves is tasked with the supervision of rebuilding the Crystal Empire's Guard Force. As the first Colonel in several centuries, Celestia, Luna, and his friends Shining and Cadence feel the rank and his stoic demeanor will be a boon for the traditionalist crystal ponies.
Plus his recent fame thanks to the plush dolls made in likeness are sure to draw recruits in by the wagon full!
How will Idol and his family handle this new life in the land of the far north? Can Idol keep Cersus out of trouble long enough to finish his task before being court-martialed?
NOTE: This story is a sequel to my own Idol Hooves story, which is based off Vdarke's Changeling of the Guard. Events depicted in this story are not cannon unless he decides later to borrow some! 
Commissioned the cover art from Scope from the COTG Discord, and it looks lovely! You can find him on Twitter, and Deviant Art
Editor in Passing HorseWordFan is the one you have to thank for the newest round of edits!
Looking forward to more adventures of Colonel Hooves
I need to have one chapter of him getting drunk of the love from the crystal heart
I love this so much.
And any glimpse into Idol life is amazing. Thanks for writing this and I can't wait for the next chapter.
It's always good to have more Idol Hooves stories.
10381427
That’s not a bad idea actually.
Edit: I meant for the Idol being drunk off of the Crystal Heart, but writing another chapter isn't a terrible idea either.
My only problem with this premise is that though he would vehemently deny it Idol is the closest thing to a leader the Changeling Exiles in Equestria have. Something Celestia and Luna would probably realize after learning his whole story. The aftermath of The invasion must have them in chaos that won’t be fast or easy to resolve. Idol would need to remain somewhere his fellow exiles can easily reach him for some time to come. While the Crystal Empire is at the very edge of Equestrian territory with only one train in and out.
10381766
And a valid point to make. I was going to reveal it later in the story but no pony besides Luna knows Idol is a Changeling, and until recently Cersus was unknown to them as well.
Quick correction: the term is "court-martial".
10381978
Thank you sir.
So basically, the princesses decided to take his donations as a "bribe" for his promotion. They were waiting for a moment such as that. "For your Generosity to the betterment of pony kind and long support to the Royal Guard, Loyalty to the Crown and Equestria, spreading Laughter even with the face of a statue, for Honesty in the face of the adversity and aftermath of the Invasion. Something something kindness, heres your eagle go train a guard detachment in the crystal empire, we do this because we love you now go. No whining, youre long over due. Yes we are aware, can't have you being ordered around by the captains nor have your orders contradiced. besides you'll be in charge of the whole city guard till recalled. Like that one play, "Glory" i think it was, when the Colonel was promoted to train his soldiers. Also with the old fashioned nature of the crysatl ponies, they will know the Colonel rank's weight and be more amenable.
I'm going to assume that a few (many?) chapters down the road when Idol is well established in the Empire another certain changeling will make their appearance?
And since we know where baby alicorns come from, has anyone tried to estimate when those two got busy? Popular head canon says it's 11 months and we have a general idea when the little terror shows up so it's just a matter of working the timeline backwards...
10383025
Just about, but it was a bribe per say. It was common for nobles to purchase officer commissions during times of conflict as a status statement, and get out of actual service. Idol didn’t know this when he offered Celestia the bits, but because of his service and affiliations with many important ponies including Luna accepted ‘the purchase.’
It also helps that Celestia might have an interest in said pony, but who knows.
10383070
I thought about having them meet, and what that might be like. As for Flurry Heart, I have plans that will be impact ever pony in the empire.
10383266
You mean besides shattering the crystal heart and almost condemning the Empire to the frozen wasteland trying to reclaim it?
I'd still like to see Idol struggling with a true foal. Changing the diaper, without it falling right off, and dealing with the demonic biochemical hazard therein (what in Faust's name has it been eating???). Feeding from a bottle or the special foal food without getting more of it on the foal than inside. Don't forget to burp the baby and watch out for spit-ups (eww). Finally clean the mess and cocoon- er,"swaddle". Then try to find out why the foal is still upset after doing all that because the book said that's all there is to it. I know it's an old cliche that men have no idea what to do with babies while women just roll their eyes and take over after shoo-ing them out of the way... but it's still funny.
idol: i have no fear
Luna: marry celestia
idol: one fear
I love this horse.
10388019
I suppose running isn't an option, or it won't do any good, eh?
10388197
I mean he is going to the Empire located on the farthest, and northern most border of Equestria, but he'll be under the watchful eye of Princess of Food Cadence. Who loves playing a good game of pony ships so...
This story is developing nicely! Two minor typoes: "two sets off hooves" should be "of", and "Princess Luna’s aid" should be "aide".
10388562
Thanks for pointing those two errors out, and I'm glad you're enjoying the progress so far.
For story development, this will be much different than Deathly Princess in structure, pace, and tone; Deathly Princess was a one-shot turned into a multi chapter story, while this one is a planned multi chapter story framed more like Vdrake's story.
Quite the adventure indeed.
I love that he was essentially gangpressed inti the rank. One well earned through years of service and dedication. Given that level of command how well can he handle the more administrative nature its duties would entail and what kind of support staff he was to either take with him or shall be assuming command of.
10388205
Conductor Cadance says, "The shipping train has no brakes!"
10389350
i.pinimg.com/originals/de/14/00/de1400ded9f8837c3075454165724137.jpg
Nice chapter!
I like the story so far, the only thing of note is the lack of twitching due to being inside the 'metal beast' (as you have probably had other readers mention)
As always, looking forward to reading more!
10392284
I might touch on that, but right now I'm rolling with the belief he has finally accepted the rolling death trap won't actually cause him harm on purpose...just on accident.
10392296
I haven't wrapped my head around the author's note regarding Miss Showers. i do, however, see it as a dissassociation of cersus from topaz in their relationship. And using the unmarried version is like an extra rub in it punctuating her unmarried status. It was a very literal, you're not my mom, Ordeal to someone who has loved and cared for you saw to your physical, social, and emotional needs and protected you as a parent for a long time. Very hurtful indeed. Cersus did this over a dress.
Also a thought, did he just use Order? Not on the same level as a Queen, but still a capital 'O'
10392462
That's exactly what the author's note was about, and you hit the nail on the head on what happened. As for Idol, he used his position as a changeling of superior standing to shut her down. Vdrake made the comment that unlike him, Cersus doesn't have the same kind of programing since she was taught to be independent as an infiltrator.
He's her superior but has been raising her without the need to remind her, well here he had remind her whose in charge.
10392462
Think of it less about the dress or Cersus trying to be hurtful and more her being a stressed out teenager. Here she is, going to a new place, to meet new people, because she's the ward of a guy who bumbled his way into a promotion that means she has to leave her friends. Add to that a dress is meant to make you stand out, which is pretty much against most changeling ways. So, there's a cultural clash too.
Now Topaz is fussing over her, and she's grumpy and scared and uncomfortable and things were said in the heat of the moment and regretted immediately.
The title: Did you mean "who's (who is) doing the shopping"? "Whose" always means "belonging to who".
I just realized something.. I cannot WAIT for Idol to meet Thorax, the future king of his old hive XD
10398771
Now that is the question, I'm trying to say is Idol and family doing the 'shopping' or the mob? But likely its "who's" so I'll change it.
10398787
Cool. Just checking, is there a "widow" in the story somewhere to make the pun work? Or was that just another typo for "window"?
10398797
As Vdrake knows, the need for author pellets (comments) is a terrible temptress. I make mistakes when I rush, because my mind can say the word faster than I can type creating a real life lag.
You may have added a slash here
this story;
I LIKE
10398823
Thanks for pointing that out, and glad you're liking the story so far.
"Who's" is a contraction of "who is"
10398778
Omg yes it must be nearing that time.
Wait, isn’t the running cover story for idol that he had amnesia when topaz found him and remains unaware of any family he may have?
10398909
I will admit that is a detail I forgot about, but in this story many ponies that know Idol and Topaz don't know about Cersus. Topaz was put on the spot and just blurted out the first thing she could think of, and Idol went along with it.
But Cersus' disguise is a Pegasus that closely resembles Topaz, and nothing like Idol. Shining only accepted the excuse because they are running late and having known Idol for so long, weird comes with the friendship.
Oh heck you for this whiplash :cersusrapsberry:
10399207
Idk what you mean, Idol was thankful his friend was looking out for him.
I think you’re suffering from a dangling infinitive there. He doesn’t dislike authority, he loves it, he just doesn’t like being in authority.
10399660
At least you knew what I meant, and thank you for catching that. I'll go fix it to better clarify that.
10399664
Given that this is a bug who was first promoted as a punishment for not taking sufficient time off, what you meant was quite clear.
10399906
You were the only one to point that wording out, which I assume meant other readers knew what I meant. Still, the wording suggested another meaning and its nice knowing it has been corrected.
But if I may ask, what's your opinion on the story so far?
10399951
Perhaps a tiny bit OOC in that Idol just seems different when being scribed by a pen that isn’t Vdrake’s, and the chain of events that lead to this is perhaps a touch unclear, though I get the general gist (Though a jump from corporal to colonel is a tiny bit hard to swallow, even after a massive donation to the guard), but I like the concept. And you’ve got the buggy obliviousness and the Topaz exasperation down just right.
10400058
Thanks for those words sir, and to address the question about his promotion might need some further touching on later. The idea was when he donated that sizable amount of bits to the guard, Celestia took it as an old tradition of the nobles to 'purchase' the rank. She knew what his intent was, but decided to take it as him purchasing the rank since she needed somepony to help rebuild the Crystal Guard, and who better than loyal Idol?
In Vdrake's story, ponies already note his antiquated ways, and his stellar performance as a model guard would appeal to a traditional society. So I figured all of these factors would have led to Celestia using the opportunity promote Idol to a rank she felt he deserved, and solve the issue for Shining and Cadence who are being overwhelmed in other matters.
10400222
Buying a commission, that is very two to three centuries ago. Sneaky princesses.
How much did he donate, they were NOT cheap, and escalated with rank and more prestigious regiments. Let’s see, he’s stationed in the castle, so let’s say he’s a member of the household cavalry, the 2 most senior regiments in the army. In 1837 buying the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, not Colonel mind you, you couldn’t actually buy that rank as it was the Colonel of the regiment you were buying the rank off, would have cost £7250, the equivalent of £664,000 today. Crikey.
10398922
Weird? Weird enough to fit right in with the rest of the loonies at Ponyville.
(Maybe that's why Kevin was
dumpedassigned to Ponyville?)10400745
While I can’t come up with a number, but it was substantial. The first chapter hints on it with him saying he gave Topaz the bits to spend, but instead she reinvested them which proved fruitful.
It will be brought up, but I’ll leave what exactly happens to Vdrake and others from the discord to write about, but he got a foal’s doll made in his likeness. It became very popular which is how he got all of these bits, and Topaz suggested he donate them to an organization he likes-the guard.