Echo is a high ranking changeling officer. The Canterlot invasion was going perfectly, and her battalion had personally defeated the Elements of Harmony. Suddenly, she finds herself far flung from Canterlot, crashing into the Everfree forest. Now she is faced with a difficult reality - her hive, the only family she's ever known, no longer exists, and she must adapt to life as a pony. What she finds out about herself, though, will surprise her.

Rated Teen for occasional suggestiveness and language, tagged gore for brief violence, particularly in later chapters.

Dark because later chapters get pretty ... well, dark.

---

Addendum 5/29/2018

This story is now, as of this addendum, five years old. It is getting more attention as I put out new chapters on the sequel.

I recognize that this story has problems, and that some of them by their nature carry over to the sequel; please remember that when I started writing this, I was not yet even old enough to legally drink in the US. A lot has happened and a lot has changed, and there are many things about this story I regret including, but which it is now too late to change. Some of those things I have simply done my best to ignore and make irrelevant, but some of them are errors from a 19 year old me that will haunt me until the sequel is finished.

In short, please be gentle.

This story is a sequel to Adaptation - A Changeling's Story

*Cover art is made from two separate pieces, neither of which did I create. I linked to one, the other is an old piece I had requested from Ficisism on Deviantart, but the account is deactivated.

(( NOTE 4/20/2019 -- Integration is on an indefinite hiatus. My apologies. ))

It's been almost three years since Echo officially came out of hiding, adopted her daughter, and began the arduous task of becoming part of what was, to her, an alien culture. She's managed to secure financial stability, but now she struggles with things that are altogether foreign to her.

What does it mean to have friends? She knows it's a good thing, she knows it keeps her alive, but it seems like there's a measure of responsibility to it. More importantly, how can she be a good mother to her daughter if she doesn't understand something so fundamental to ponies as friendship?

Moving back to Ponyville presents its own challenges though, as she finds an unexpected surprise waiting for her.

Seeking respite, she turns to help in Canterlot, only to find that there is an even greater menace there, waiting to ruin her peaceful existence.

She really can't seem to get a break.

(2/27/17: Due to alternate changeling continuity, AU tag has been added)
(4/12/17: I have received more than a few messages requesting the dark tag. It has now been added.)

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.

Though most view them as simply immortal powerful rulers, some ponies worship the Princesses as actual Goddesses. Some families with deep Earth Pony roots worship the old Nature Spirits of their ancestors.
But some ponies turn to darker forces. They worship monsters and demons, praying for plagues and misfortunes upon those they despise.

One day, Discord finds out that in his "extended absence", a cult formed with him as the Central Deity. Unfortunately, it's not exactly what he would want. These ponies will soon find out it's a bad idea to anger your god.

Edit 5/18/18: New cover art courtesy of the illustrious Mix-up. Check out the original here.

There is a hidden village deep within the untamed forest surrounding Neighagara Falls. Should one ever journey to this village, those who live there will welcome them for a simple price: love.

When the village accepts a new family from Cloudsdale, a not-quite-altruistic pair of changeling siblings offer a young filly friendship and a chance to find her place in the strange village she hopes to call home.

New cover art done by Arcticwaters.