There is a secret in Equestria. A secret the newly crowned Princess Twilight Sparkle doesn’t dare to believe. Like puppeteers pulling on marionettes, they have influenced Equestria for better and worse since the fall of Discord. So far they have been benevolent, but their potential for evil is vast. What’s worse, she doesn’t know their name. She doesn’t know their mission. All she knows for certain is one thing.

That they all seem to be zebra.

She was one of the best. Loyal, powerful, unbreakable. That was until the love burst ended the invasion of Canterlot. One of queen Chrysalis' personal guards, after flying over half of Equestria tossed by the blast, lands inside enemy territory. Crippled, and defenseless, can she fool the ponies around her long enough to sink her fangs into their necks? Will that even be an option? Is she even half as good as she thinks?

Unfortunately, with her eyes wounded beyond repair, she has to rely only on her ears to escape her predicament.

Cover is a beautiful fanart by CitreneSkys / PaintedSNEK
(Just a little experiment in a purely dialogue-based story. As usual, comments, criticism, suggestions, or anything really is encouraged if it's constructive.)

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.

Fluttershy doesn't realize exactly what she's getting into when she becomes the bearer of the Element of Kindness. Thus, when the Elements are used to turn Discord to stone, she is horrified and plagued by nightmares... nightmares of the power she wields but never asked for, nightmares of how far she might have to go, nightmares of a legacy she never wanted. She's going to have to take major steps to soothe her guilt. Befriending Discord is only the beginning, it seems.

Twilight has a secret coltfriend who nobody knows about.  Not even her.

And he’s not too sure either.

Then Luna gets involved, and it only gets weirder.

Editors: Tek, Mitch H, Airy Words
Cover photo: Getty images

This story is a sequel to The Trial of Faux Pas

This is not a story about tolerance. This is a story about caution.

When Cheerilee gives her class the assignment to set up a little business, Apple Bloom and her friends set out to sell apple juice. Everything looks like it'll go smoothly, until the new kid in town starts selling a drink that's insanely popular with the help of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.

And Apple Bloom doesn't like it one bit. She thinks Lyra and Bon Bon have adopted a poison mixer out to brainwash Ponyville.

And no, it's not just because he's a changeling.

A/N: Yes, this is the sequel to Trial of Faux Pas, but the prologue pretty much tells you everything from that story you need to know. It's not required reading and it won't offer spoilers to this.

Note: this story has both comedic scenes and dark themes. However, since neither of these dominate in the story, they are not added as tags. This is meant to be occasionally funny, but the subject matter can get pretty dark, a little darker than what we've seen on the show.

The scenes in this story are not meant to remind you of racism, but apparently they might. This is not the author's intent nor is it the author's problem. If the notion of racism among ponies makes you uncomfortable, either avoid the story or finish it.

You have been warned.

Also, avoid comments for massive spoilers.

Faux Pas: War Engineer of Chrysalis' Hive, a personal advisor to the Queen and one of the select few allowed to think freely.

Military genius, master strategist in both offense and defense, mastermind of the Canterlot raid.

Of course he got captured.

For his actions during the raid on Equestria's capital, he is put on trial and judged by a court out for his blood. The odds are stacked against him, and there is hardly any doubt that his days are numbered.

But changelings are nothing, if not masters of deception. Faux's got his own plans for the trial.

Now has a sequel

A/N: My submission for the fourth Author's Prompt, which is about, you guessed it: being on trial. It's a little darker than my usual fare, and I'm not too sure about the ending. Feedback is appreciated, as the story hasn't been officially submitted to the prompt yet.

19/12 Edit: Woop! Judges loved it, offered suggestions. It has been rewritten with their suggestions in mind.
Some changes:
-actual trial is more two-sided. Both parties have a fair point.
-fight that breaks out during the trial is longer.
-Celestia is made more believable in general (I hope, it's really hard in this sort of story).

Rainbow Dash's morning was pretty much ruined.
She tripped getting out of bed and landed flat on her face, giving herself an aching muzzle.
She forgot to buy her favorite brand of hay flakes at the store yesterday and had to eat plain toast for breakfast.
She found out she had to pull double-duty today and tomorrow on the weather patrol.
Oh, and she found a nearly-dead foal, broken and bleeding at the edge of Ponyville.

The rest of her day became a whirlpool of stress and worry but the colt woke up, thank Celestia.
Something's not right, though. Nopony can find his parents, he's not in the registers, and there's an unsettling look in his eye...

-
YouTube reading by Fire Hearth

Chinese Translation by forgivenlove

Russian Translation by Likantrop

TV Tropes page, if you're interested in that sort of thing.

This story is a sequel to Claws Scratching on A House of Glass

It's been a rough few weeks for Bastion: misunderstandings, weird dreams, international intrigue with the threat of a changeling Queen looming over him...

So it's decided he needs a little break. He needs to go someplace new, reset himself a little, see how he acts without anyone trying to steer him one way or another. Appropriately enough for the heir to the War Engineer Faux Pas, that place is Fight Camp.

It's not long before he makes some new friends, of course, and learns some new combat tricks.

His new friends, however, may be a league too high for him, and have their own dark pasts to worry about.

Mandibles "Mandy" Carapace hated Queen Chrysalis.

He hated her hare-brained schemes, he hated her commanding and dominating nature, and he especially hated her unending arrogance.

So, when the Canterlot Invasion failed and he was sent careening into Ponyville, he felt no particular rush to return to her.

Author's note: Contains Romance, but there aren't enough tags to include it, so I chose Drama over Romance (because the Drama is the main theme of the story, while the Romance is a side-plot that feeds into said Drama).

And now, I've also added the "Alternate Universe" tag, because of the stuff involving Mothra and Chrysalis.

Sequel is here.