Once upon a time there was a very lazy dragon who did not want to find a town to pillage.

So he decided to make one of his own.

Editors: Mitch H, Dlafrferg
Jake the Army Guy has done an amazing reading of this on YouTube
Excellent cover picture credit: Harwick on Fimfiction or Harwicks-art on Deviantart.com
Also, the Audio Project has done a reading of this and other stories on YouTube

One thousand years ago, the Ancient Ones arrived. To each of their progeny they came seeking submission, and came to rule through peace or through blood. The Princess asked two sisters to cede their rule over Equestria. When they refused, she banished them to the moon, their forlorn visages to ever look down upon the denizens and nation they lost. 

With the one thousandth Summer Solstice Celebration approaching, the Royal Scholar Twilight Sparkle discovers a prophecy that The Mares in the Moon shall escape with the aid of the Stars, and return to Equestria with fire and fury. However, she is ordered by The Princess to disregard such a false prediction and assist with preparations in the small township of Ponyville. 

A madmare, a farmer, a braggart, a socialite and a wallflower may be her only hope of saving Equestria.

A Lovecraft-Lite AU which is inspired by the Lovecraft Mythos, but does not require having read Lovecraft stories in the past to understand.

Cover art commissioned from Nemo2D.

Thanks so far to Shaslan and Zontan with some proofreading help.

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 An Affliction of the Heart: Volume Two

Swarm is the first ever changeling/pony hybrid, child of Warden the pegasus, and Kuno the changeling.

What does life have in store for this unlikely trio?

Twists, for a start!

A noble earth-pony family, fallen somewhat on hard times, is killed in a mining accident. They leave behind a single male heir, who is in sore need of a guardian, and of protection. Celestia takes the young pony under her wing and delivers him not to ponies - not earth, unicorn or pegasus - but to a dragon, an ambassador, an old friend of hers.

Playing a game which may just be deadly to the uninformed, the dragon decides that the one path open to him to ensure the safety of his charge and to carry out his sworn duty, is to adopt.

This story is a sequel to An Affliction of the Heart

Kuno and Warden are happily together now, but events are transpiring to force them from their happy life.

The reappearance of the Crystal Empire causes Kuno and Warden to give up their new-found home. And Kuno, ignoring the fact that they're two different species and completely incompatible, decides that she wants a baby.

Kuno, a young changeling, is left weak, bloodied, and bruised after the events of the Canterlot wedding. She is soon discovered by Warden, a Royal Guard. But for some reason, Warden shows her mercy. Instead of taking her into the custody of the Royal Guard, he becomes both her captor and her savior. But over time, Kuno will come to ask herself the hardest question she has ever pondered: Can a changeling feel love?

Cheer up, Twilight. It's not every day somepony changes species. In fact, no pony has ever changed species. It's something new and you like discovering new things. Granted, Equestrians don't like new things, especially things that fundamentally alter their government. So maybe there is reason not to be happy after all.

Meet Pipsqueak.

Pipsqueak, or "Pip" as he prefers to be called, has quite the imagination. There are times when he is a fearsome pirate, scourge of the seas of Equestria. There have also been times when Pipsqueak has fantasized about being a gallant prince, traveling the land, saving fair maidens, slaying wicked beasts, and being hailed as a hero by his peers. Not once did he ever imagine he'd get exactly what he wished for in the form of Princess Luna adopting him, making him an actual prince! Soon enough, Pip learns that being a prince isn't as glamorous as he thought it to be, and that there are more than a few downsides to being a part of the royal family. One in particular downside coming in the form of a nuisance named Blueblood.

On the other side of the coin, Princess Luna must adjust to her newly-found position of motherhood, balancing the task of providing her adopted foal as normal a life as possible for a young prince, while also making sure the nobility and paparazzi keep their hooves out of their business. Fortunately, this mare not only has the entirety of the Royal Guard, including her own Night Guard at her disposal, but her sister and niece also happen to be fiercely protective of the newest member of their family.

Since her return and rescue, Princess Luna has been looking for some way to properly honor the six mares who saved her from herself, but nothing she has been able to think of has seemed meaningful enough to repay her saviors.

Nothing, at least, until she spends Nightmare Night in Ponyville, and gets to actually know the six ponies to whom she owes such a great debt. She realizes she enjoys their company, and wishes for them to spend more time with her, that she might grow closer to them.

So, in accordance with many fine and ancient traditions, and after thinking it over for a good...couple of hours, easy, she proclaims that she shall marry all six of them. Oh, and that Twilight will be marrying Celestia, too.

Now would be the appropriate time for everypony to panic.

--Cover Art Courtesy of Zemious--
--Editing Graciously Provided By BronyWriter--

NB - The sex tag is in place for sexual situations and suggestions; the story is, and shall remain, free of explicit sex.