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.

Vinyl Scratch is alone. Her parents are gone and she's estranged herself from the rest of her family years ago. Now she's fallen on hard times; she spends her days drinking, her nights partying and the intervening time in trouble with the guards.

After one too many run-ins with the authorities she is assigned a personal guard to help her get her life back on track. The only question is: can she truly be helped, or is she far too gone at this point?

Proof-reading provided by Shrink Laureate.

Cover art by Mytho.

Meet Daymos. He's just like any other pony in Ponyville.

He works.

He plays.

He has bodies in his basement.

Okay, maybe he's not like any other pony.

But he's only trying to help.

He's a killer with a conscience and murderer with morals.

So if you end up on his table... You probably deserve what's coming.

Author's Note: Okay, this is going to take a while... I have a HUGE story planned for this thing and it's going to take a while to write it all. But I feel like if I write like 3000+ words a week, I can make some headway on it. Now, about the story. It's not exactly a crossover; it's more of an 'inspired by'. One day, I started wondering how a Dexter-esque pony would play out and this spawned. I wanted to submit it to Equestria Daily... But I kept feeling like their requirements were so arbitrary and restricting. I almost dropped it because of all the tiny little nitpicks. So, here you are. Unabridged, unabashed, unedited. Enjoy.

Against your better judgement, you ended up having three little girls that you have to take care of all by yourself now.

As much trouble as they can be sometimes, you still wouldn't trade them for the world.

Twilight Sparkle has a special guardian while under the tutelage of Princess Celestia. A creature that turns intensely violent at the slightest threat against his charge. A creature that will maim and kill without concern if it has to, that will do anything to keep those it loves safe.
These are not these stories.
These are the stories from the inside. The stories that make a makeshift family work. The small moments. The little secrets. The normal life.

Short stories about Twilight's and Spike's life before the events of the Lunar Guardsman. Maybe a little funny, maybe a little sad, maybe a little sappy, certainly not on any chronological order. Chapters posted whenever I am taken by the mood to write one.

This is a collection of prequel stories to The Lunar Guardsman, an M rated story currently in progress by yours truly.

Many of the chapters are worthy of the Comedy tag, some of the Sad tag, and a couple of the Dark tag.

The immaterium is an unpredictable and fickle aspect of reality, and "impossible" ceases to be a valid term when it is involved.

As such, when Twilight witnesses a fantastical cosmic event occur above Equestria, she immediately investigates. What she finds is nothing short of one of the most dangerous artifacts to ever make its way to the relatively peaceful realm of ponies: a blackened suit of massive armor, marked by the ouroboros.

Warhammer 40,000 crossover inspired by Blooms in the Dust.
Now with a sequel, Forged Anew!

Jason's life has grown dull. While some may have thought that the weekly monster attacks might have kept him on his toes, he had grown to learn that as the norm around town. Now, after months of living in Ponyville, he can't shake the feeling that there is a void in his life. He follows his usual routine every day: breakfast, a quick shower, followed by a quick walk to the park to read the newspaper. One morning, he finds two parents playing with their filly in the playground. As he watches, an idea sparks within his mind: why not adopt a pony of his own?

Featured on Equestria Daily

When Twilight Sparkle slipped beneath the covers last night, everything had been fine. She had friends whom she loved, a teacher she adored, and a bright future ahead of her. But when she woke up, her blankets and quilts had been replaced by hospital gowns and padded restraints.

Everything is wrong and nothing makes sense; even her friends have changed. The doctors keep telling her that she is sick, that none of it was real and that it was all in her head. Yet she remembers a life far beyond the hospital walls. She couldn't have made it all up on her own. They must be lying… right?

Ask Asylum Twilight - Still updating regularly!
Equestria Daily
TVTropes
Asylum Fan Group
The Tartarus Project
Russian Translation
The Asylum 20,000 View Spectacular Stage Show!

Art:
Asylum Cover by conicer
Twilight and Twilight Smiles by dreamingnoctis
Mirror Twilight and Plague Doctor by Jaestring / BloodGoldWings
Twilight Smiles and Doctor AJ by conicer
Nurse Ratchet and Silas and What's in the mirror? by Archonix
Doctor AJ Sketch by Archonix | Colored and vectored version by ReFro82
Twilight's Asylum by Khan the Cake Lover
Smilight by HappySwitch
Twilight Waking Up by Dombrus
Fan Art by toxicdemon10
Asylum Twilight by Madness-With-Reason
Asylum Fluttershy and Asylum Ch 26 by Downburst-Backspace
Twilight and her Twin by v747
Birdgirl by sirValter

Readings and Videos:
Asylum Animated Trailer Video by formuladash
Reading by Gammarobot (SugarCubeRadio): All Chapters Here
Reading by Ender Brony: All Chapters Here
Reading by VisualPony: All Chapters Here
Reading by MelancholyIguana: All Chapters Here
Fan Trailer by Kaidan: Asylum FanFic Trailer Cuckoo's Nest

Sanctuary by Kaidan
Broadhoof Files: Dr. Humors by TypewriterError
Broadhoof Files: Corporal Phalanx Spear (Ret.) by Phalanx Spear
A Hearth's Warming Tragedy by Seven Fates

A special thanks to Breath of Plagues, Rex Ivan,
ChudoJogurt, Cynewulf, Death the Kid, Selbi, PrinceDolph, Blahman2816, Queue, and Gage!

Axan Zenith - Dr. Dreamer
Dratini4 - Way Finder
psychicscubadiver - Bright Mind
Velkaden - Dream Chaser
Reese - Silver Glow
Viola Heartstrings - Clover
Archonix - Spinney Whiteacre

My name... I do not remember my name... I do not know my purpose... my duty... my previous life... nothing. I hold a sword, and wear armor. I must have been a warrior in the time long past. Yes... I have a memory of it now... I was a warrior. A knight... of Heide...

I spend my hollow unlife doing naught but roaming; boundless in my futile objective to find a purpose. Whosoever has attempted to engage me has found themselves impaled at the end of my sword, or prostrated by its biting blade.

And so it goes, the same series of events. Day after day, month after month, year after year, decade after decade, century after century... until the cycle, to my astonishment, is suddenly broken.

After a strange event occurs, I find myself in another land entirely. What was once dull trees, ruined landscape, and a dying world, is now a forest of life, and a countryside of utter frivolity. What were once hideous beasts and selfish kinfolk that plagued my sight, are now replaced by small, sentient, equine creatures that almost reek of an emotion I have long forgotten.

One of this land's inhabitants in particular seems to go to great lengths to observe me, much to my annoyance.

Yet on I travel, deeper into the bowels of this new world, one sentiment still ringing clear in my otherwise empty, thoughtless head as I march:

A human stays among ponies, mystifying them with his odd traditions and customs. It will be five years before Celestia and Twilight can send him back to his homeworld. Until then, Twilight wants to study him and have him experience pony culture. These are their stories.