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.

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.

This story is a sequel to Memories of Shadow

For the last year, Moon Gazer's life has been nothing less than idyllic. Of course, when she thinks about it, her entire life has been idyllic, and the few bad times have been bleached away like bones sitting under the sun. No, the only problems she has to deal with now are a few pesky migraines and a co-worker who has a hard time grasping the idea of a "professional relationship," and to be fair, the co-worker isn't that bad.

So why does she have that nagging little doubt that she forgot something... or someone important?

Career-criminal Silent Shadow has been captured again and is expecting another vacation at one of Equestria's rehabilitation clinics. Instead, she has a meeting with Celestia to learn just why the kingdom is crime-free.

Featured on Equestria Daily 09/02/14

After the invasion of Canterlot, ponies became aware of the frightening changeling race. As a result, they had adopted methods of exposing and countering the love-feeding parasites.

Glamour, like other changelings, have found it more challenging to find a stable supply of love. Seeing the flaws in posing as a pony's loved one, she tries a new way of getting love.

By becoming a fashion model.

All she had to do was become famous and bask in the adoration of her fans. However, the world of fashion is not as easy as it looks, and Glamour finds her life become much more complicated when she gets paired up with Manehattan's newest fashion designer, Coco Pommel.

First featured on 8/29/15

This story takes place a bit after the events of "Rarity Takes Manehattan".

Octavia Melody is calm, patient and longing to break the boundaries of class through her career as a musician.

Princess Luna is lost in the eddies of her past, struggling to belong in a new age that doesn't seem to want her.

A chance meeting after a disastrous gala gives these isolated souls a chance to find companionship and comfort. As Luna seeks solace in Octavia's soothing music, Octavia comes to recognize the princess's loneliness and fears. When it's your duty to protect other ponies' dreams, who protects your own? Octavia might just be willing to try.

...a fantastic fic, with one of the best paced romances you can find on this site, great prose, and one of the best characterized Octavia's I could point out. — Soge, TPCaRG (Read the review!)

PaulAsaran has crafted what may well be the best LunAvia ship on the site. —Cerulean Voice

Highly recommended if you like romance instead of the more typical shallow shipping. —City of Doors

If you're a fan of Luna and or Octavia, it's a crime not to indulge! —Wanderer D

I guarantee you will enjoy it. —vren55

Technically, this is flawless: the writing, the pacing, you name it, it's great. —PresentPerfect

Print copy now available for purchase on Lulu!

Now with a YouTube reading by Never After All Readings!

A re-imagining of The Gentle Nights, reworked from the ground up to be bigger and brighter.

Special thanks to Mercury Gilado, Absolution and Starlight Nova for pre-reading and editing.

Artwork commissioned from the talented viwrastupr.

[11/11/2014]: Now featured on Equestria Daily!
Featured 11/22/14.

Now featured by The Royal Guard!

To better herself, Luna has studied Twilight's actions and friendship reports almost religiously. However, she never expected to find the tables turned and be under the microscope herself, nor did she realize that a pony would go so far for one they called friend.

Pre-reading/editing by auramane, Habanc, Foals Errand, Meridian Prime, and Timaeus

Cover art commissioned by me and done by Silfoe and can be found here. Thanks a bunch!

Untold luxury and wealth. A place in high society. A life full of the finer things. All this and more await Fleur, but at what cost?

Now, Fleur must decide: Is love worth nothing, or is it a secret worthy of sacrifice? Can she be the mare she is and the mare she has to be?

A cipher, after all, can be anything— Or nothing at all.

Edited/Preread by Xepher, Winston, Noble Thought, and Jade Ring
Featured by The Royal Canterlot Library, EQD, The Royal Guard, & The Pleasant Commentator-Review Group
Cover art commissioned from Raikoh-illust

With a live reading by ABagOVicodin!
Also read by CrunchyMonkey!

Featured August 5-7, 2013.

After releasing Snowdrop's first snowflake into the first winter's snow, Luna reminisces about the last time she saw Snowdrop before becoming Nightmare Moon. After going to bed and commencing her dreamwalking for the night, she runs into said friend in her own dreams.

This is a sequel to SillyFillyStudios fan episode Snowdrop. It is advisable that you watch before reading the story.

Cover art by REPLAYMASTEROFTIME.

Cadance didn't know what to expect when her formerly banished Aunt Luna returned from her thousand year banishment. But, she's quite entertained by the hilarity. Especially if it means a chance to play a little joke.

Edited by Habanc. Preread by The Albinocorn, Foals Errand, and Timaeus

Cover art was done by Silfoe and used with permission! In fact, this fic is a gift for her!

Now with Spanish translation by SPANIARD KIWI.