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.

This story is a sequel to Steel Solstice

Continued in: My Little Apprentice: Apogee

Twilight Sparkle learns that the trust and goodwill of the Princess isn't always a good thing as she's given the trust of an important assignment. When that assignment turns out to be long-term, how will she handle taking care of a filly of her own? How will she handle this strange new filly, who proves to be much more than she appears. As a matter of fact, she seems to be from an entirely separate universe.

Meanwhile, Second Chance has kept only enough of her memories to know that she isn't what she should be. The wonderful world of Equestria has its own dangers, and she seems to have a knack for attracting trouble. The more of her memories return, the more she wishes she could just forget. But you can't forget when all of Equestria depends on you remembering.

Only one thing's for sure: The longer Twilight keeps this strange filly in her care, the stranger her own life will become, and things she thought she knew about Equestria will unravel before her eyes. Strange ancient devices, an eccentric mint unicorn and her so-called "Equestrian Precursor Society" are only the beginning for Twilight Sparkle as she begins a journey of her own. She too may wish she could simply forget. Unfortunately, it's too late for either of them.

Anon likes his life to be simple. He wakes up, goes to work and sometimes gets himself a good book to read while he is home. It's a routine that he likes to follow, it makes him feel like he has a bit of normality with his life in Equestria. The fact that having Celestia come crashing into his home as part of his routine should prove that his life is anything but normal.

(Thanks to PeerImagination for editing!)

This story is a sequel to Days of Wasp and Spider

Believed dead by their creators, the ponies that will become Celestia and Luna have broken their mental conditioning and escaped into the wilderness. Here they plan the revolution that will free all ponykind, knowing that it is only a matter of time before their ruse is discovered.

Back in their underground arcologies, the ponies' erstwhile masters deal with the consequences of the escape, all the while unaware that something lurking at the bottom of space-time wants them all dead.

A Soot-Covered World, book 2.
Canon species only/no humans.
This story has nothing to do with the Holocaust.
Art by InLucidReverie, used with permission.

SF (canon species only; no humans) Ponies were magically and genetically engineered to be the perfect servitor race. They are powerful, adaptable, intelligent and completely under the control of their creators. A laboratory accident frees one such pony from her mental chains, but how can one mare save herself and the rest of her kind if she doesn't even know she's a slave?
This is not the Equestria you know and these are not your little ponies... not yet, anyway.

Tags: Adventure, Diamond Dogs, Gryphons, NO HUMANS (did I mention that already?)
Other tags: historical, mind control, Clarke's 3rd Law, excessive use of high energy physics, before they were famous.
Detailed review by PaulAsaran.
Cover art by endrome , used with permission.
Russian translation (partial -- 'unofficially' completed in the comments)
A Soot-Covered World, book 1.

After years of shame and ridicule, archaeologist and explorer Lyra Heartstrings stumbles across a discovery that validates all her theories and ideas in one fell swoop. Along with her best friend, Bon Bon, and her old classmate Cadance, they find themselves faced with a mystery and marvel that may change everything.

Following the next greatest lead found in the database of an ancient race, another international team is formed. Led by Doctors Carter and Jackson, they strike out to explore another network of Stargates discovered in a galaxy on the edge of the local cluster. In the process, their findings will cause them to question much of what they thought they knew.

The adventures continue and unlikely allies will face dangers new and old as the Legacy of the Ancients continue to unravel in the latest chapter of the universe.

[Co-written by Thunderclap and Shagohad12] Formerly co-written by Grey Cait. [Edited by: Lithl and m2pt5][Cover art: 1, 2 modified + vectors]
Now with a Russian reading by SviMik