Ponynapping.
A skill almost every changeling is familiar with.
A skill that every changeling knew they had to do in order for their plan to succeed, but after it failed, they vowed to never do something that stupid ever again.
That is, until one of them thought that the second time would be the charm.

This story is a sequel to Through the Well of Pirene

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NOTE: I wrote this before the 2020 BLM protests and my learning more about policing. I would have written it differently after, but I won't be changing it. Just keep in mind that the depiction here is of another world and another species from a different perspective.

In the City of Dreams, the City That Never Sleeps, a wistful heart walks the lonely streets, searching for answers to questions no one else is willing to ask. A reluctant pilgrim arrives from a long journey, weary but determined to make his mark. An old warhorse, his soul cracked and bleeding, saddles up for his last battle.

A noir tale set in Manehattan, fifteen years after the events of Through the Well of Pirene. Three people over the course of three nights weave and unravel a tale of anxiety, pain, and hope under the lights of the greatest city in Equestria, and the watchful gaze of a green star.

After storming into Princess Celestia's personal study unannounced, Twilight Sparkle soon learns her yearly battles against the forces of evil are a little more scripted than she'd thought.

And this year, Princess Celestia might've just outdone herself.

Now with a youtube reading! Here!

Twilight Sparkle - magus, heroine and Princess - has learned of worlds overlapping Ungulatia in space and time. Though this has been a well known phenomenon, safely traveling to these other worlds has always eluded pony mages. But now - after years of research and careful experiments - she prepares herself for the most audacious of all experiments: stepping hoof on the surface of an alien world and returning safely! What wonders will she find once she walks through her magic portal?

This assumes that Equestria Girls never happened.

Twilight Sparkle has important friendship problems to solve. However, that's hard to do with a "reformed" villain following you around all day.

(Context for later readers: This is based on the old Season 5 buzz when Starlight Glimmer — who got beaten in the Season 5 opener but escaped — canonically showed up in the background of the café in "Amending Fences". It was a big deal at the time.)

Audio versions:
Livereading by mindlessgonzo and friend!
Reading by Pony&Wolf Productions!

Finalist in the July 2015 Writeoff! Now revised and expanded for FIMFiction!

"Highly Recommended" by MLPmatthewl419! * Other reviews: Present Perfect, Titanium Dragon, PaulAsaran, Ghost Mike

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.

The plan, he thought, was perfect. Instead of returning to the mortal world as a shade of his former self, King Sombra would transmute his soul into the body of his greatest foe, using her influence and power to destroy Equestria from the inside and take vengeance on the Princesses that stole his beloved empire.

There's just one problem: after her fight with Tirek, Twilight Sparkle changed her address. This turns out to be a much bigger problem than Sombra thought. A Dinky-Doo-sized problem, to be precise.

5th-place finalist in the More Most Dangerous Game contest.

Cover art crudely Photoshopped by me from this and this. I am art and so can you.

Reading by Neighrator Pony

The Changeling Invasion of Canterlot left many scarred and traumatized, and Lyra is one of them. Her therapist advises her to make a new friend, since Bon-Bon is often busy.

Things aren't as simple as they seem.

Because with the release of the new Magic expansion, someone was going to make a Nyx story with this title. So it might as well be me.

Nyx and her friends have been playing the card game "Science: The Convergence." But when she finds that the new expansion set is apparently named after her, she's upset. Then furious when she discovers it's more than just the set with her name on it...

Magic the Gathering is owned by Hasbro. Nyx is owned by Pen Strokes, from 'Past Sins' and it's sequels. Seriously, go read it instead of this.

Applejack is chosen as The Nightmare's new host.

It really isn't that big of a deal. Until it is.