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.

Twilight Sparkle wakes up one morning to a harsh dose of unreality. She is stranded, without her friends, on an island which matches no known locale on Equestria. Surrounded and harried on all sides by the alien and the dangerous, she will find her mettle sorely tested, and find perhaps that the best friends you will ever have in your life are the ones you make when your back is to the wall...

Thanks to CedricBale and noobie56xx for tracking down the name of the artist so I could give them credit.

"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them."—William Shakespeare.

This story is about the latter. Alan Williams, a man trying to take a peaceful camping trip, finds himself in Equestria. Forcing to accept the idea that the show he has watched is not, in fact, fictional has taken a massive toll on his brain, torn as he is between the awesomeness of the situation as well as it's absurdity. What's worse, it seems he is not the first human to be teleported to Equestria, and now he has some big shoes to fill.

Greatness follows.

[...]To those just finding this 'un, ya found genuine gem. Keep your heads inside the respective chapter-comments. Watch out for spoilers. Buckle your seatbelt, fillies and gentlecolts. It's gonna be a wild ride.--Runcible Spoon

Approved by Twilight's Library

Book 1 of the Harmony for All Trilogy

The Piano Man has spent the last month in captivity, forced to play the piano as part of The Great and Powerful Trixie's traveling show. Now he's free, and recovering under the care of the Equestrian monarchy while Trixie awaits trial for her crimes.
All is not well, however. The Piano Man has a long road of recovery ahead, and all the time he must compete with overbearing carers, his own mental trauma, and even discrimination from members of Equestria's unicorn supremacist subculture.

This story is the kinda (can't stress that part enough) better-written sequel to 'The Piano Man'. Because the first story involved some rather dark scenes, I have included a helpful catch-up in the first chapter - so if you have no interest in reading a dark story, then you can ignore the first piece and skip straight ahead to this one.
'The Piano Man: Act II' is most certainly not a dark story, and neither is it sad. The sad tag is in place for scenes in which I reference the previous installment, and nothing else.

The absolutely amazing cover image was created by the even more amazing WIL_I_ZIN, (deviantART) who is just... just awesome, for helping out.

Parents tell their foals that they can be anything that they want.
For me, however, it's a bit more literal.
At least it would be if my parents had said that.
Or if I knew them at all!
So what do you do when you can become anypony?
You become a spy, of course.

BEWARE: SPOILERS IN THE COMMENTS

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

Over the course of Celestia’s life, she has been forced to watch her friends grow old and die, unable to give them the same longevity that she and her sister share. Even though she knows that she’d have to experience the pain of losing a dear friend again, she still cannot help but grow attached to a few particular ponies from each new generation. This pain is forever locked in her mind, but even then, she is able to keep her feelings of loss at bay.

But now, with the passing of somepony so close to her, she isn’t sure if she can deal with the aftermath.

I would like to thank The Abyss for the revised story page.

This story is a sequel to Project Sunflower: Harmony

In every tale, there are unseen details. Small stories, often going unnoticed. This is a collection of those stories that relate to Project Sunflower: Harmony.

It isn't recommended to read these stories without reading the main story. Without the context provided in Project Sunflower: Harmony, it isn't likely that these chapters will make much sense.

Every chapter will have an author's note detailing where it fits in the main storyline. These chapters are intended to be optional to read, and are intended to add some depth and color to the main story.

Cover art by Genbulein

Have you ever had a dream that just seemed so real, that it was impossible to say for certain that it was even a dream at all? A dream that, despite all of its impossibilities, seemed to re-write your entire perception of reality, re-writing your sense of what—and indeed, who—you are? Accepting change is hard enough as it is. But when you're a somebody who wakes up as a somepony, how do you cope with the impact such a drastic change has on your mind and body? With changes like these, it must surely just be a lucid dream—albeit a suspiciously accurate one—just brimming with potential and ripe for exploration. So you might as well suck it up and make the most of these distressingly…unusual circumstances, and seize this psychological adventure before you wake up and the dream ends.
After all, this couldn't possibly be real, so the dream must come to an end eventually…right?

On a dark night filled with even darker magics, an insane cult attempts to give Nightmare Moon a body and life of her own, utterly separate from Princess Luna. But, when the spell is interrupted by Celestia, something unexpected is created.

Now, a little black alicorn filly named Nyx finds herself living under the care of Twilight Sparkle, only to be haunted by memories and emotions from her past. Is she Nightmare Moon reborn or is she simply a doppelganger with a soul and mind of her own? Can Twilight Sparkle protect Nyx from those who refuse to see past her dragon eyes and black coat?

Or, will Nyx be forced to inherit the sins that may not even be hers and become the greatest evil Equestria has ever known?