One ordinary mare. One never-ending time loop. Infinite ways to die.

How long before she snaps?

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.

Early one morning, Twilight Sparkle gets up to make some tea.

Sometimes, a cup of tea is just a cup of tea. This is not one of those times.

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.

Non-canon prequel to The Enchanted Library

As a filly, Rarity's favorite bedtime story was about three princesses trapped throughout Equestria by a wicked spirit of chaos. How she dreamed of finding them all when she was older, especially the princess trapped in a library under a tree. She knew, however, that fairy tales weren't real.

Only when she grew up would she find out how very wrong she was.

Based on an AU a friend came up with in which Rarity stumbles across an enchanted library where Twilight is its spiritual guardian, and both form an unlikely friendship as she helps Twilight be restored to normal.

It is not a fun week to be Rarity. She has an important photo-shoot to prepare for. She needs to scramble to put together a dress before a big deadline. And for some reason all her friends seem to think she is romantically involved with the local librarian.

Oh, yes, and she has gone blind.

Now Rarity learns just how many mud puddles one can step in around Ponyville, just how pointy her needles are, and just how many things there are around her place that exist solely to bang her fetlocks on. ...And presumably something about the strength of friendship, and the perserverance of the pony spirit, and what not, but come on, invisible mud puddles!

Big thanks as always to my pre-reader LovingTolerance.

Author's note: this story is still undergoing occasional editing as I figure out what the hay I'm doing. Some scenes may be added, modified, or removed.

Two months ago, a changeling posing as Rainbow Dash tried to abduct Twilight. Nopony was hurt, but Twilight became a bit paranoid--how could she make sure something like that wouldn't happen again? The best thing she could think of was to invent a spell, empowered with her full might as princess, that would forcibly remove the disguise of any changeling in the vicinity.

It's testing day, and Ponyville's about to get twenty percent buggier . . .

AU taking place between seasons 3 and 4. Trigger warning for one scene of implied dubcon.

After a recently thwarted assassination attempt against Rarity, Twilight and Rarity discuss the soldier's uncertain future as the queen's private bodyguard.

Part of the Bodyguard!AU Series, based on Earthsong9405's AU where Twilight is the bodyguard to a "Princess/Queen Rarity". Prior knowledge of the AU is not necessary to read the story.

After Queen Rarity once more rejects the advances of one of the many noble ponies who seek her affection, Princess Sweetie Belle finds out that her sister is secretly in-love with somepony else, thus her heart-breaking streak. Alone in the throne room with her sister and the royal body guard, Twilight Sparkle, the young princess decides that she's going to find out the identity of Rarity's secret crush, no matter what.

Part of the Bodyguard!AU Series, based on Earthsong9405's AU where Twilight is the bodyguard to a "Princess/Queen Rarity". Prior knowledge of the AU is not necessary to read the story.

A sleeping Rarity mysteriously appears in her friends' beds, and nopony knows how or why. Her friends are determined to discover the truth behind Rarity's night-time snuggling spree.