"My name is Lyra Heartstrings, and you will not remember me. You won't even remember this conversation. Just like with everypony else I've ever met, everything I do or say will be forgotten. Every letter I've written will appear blank; every piece of evidence I've left behind will end up missing. I'm stuck here in Ponyville because of the same curse that has made me so forgettable. Still, that doesn't stop me from doing the one thing that I love: making music. If my melodies find their way into your heart, then there is still hope for me. If I can't prove that I exist, I can at least prove that my love for each and every one of you exists. Please, listen to my story, my symphony, for it is me."

Cover pic by Spotlight: askspotlight.tumblr.com

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.

Changelings.

To most, they are the creatures that almost took Canterlot, shapeshifters able to feed on the emotions of those around them.
While this is true, it is not all there is to the story.

When the Great War began, an alliance was struck between Princesses Celestia and Luna, of Equestria, and Queen Chrysalis, of the Changelings.
The changelings, natural infiltrators since birth, would become spies for Equestria. In return, they would no longer be hunted, permitted to continue feeding as they had for countless years before their failed invasion, provided they not engage in acts harmful to the equine government or population at large.

Of course, that was simply the beginning. As the war began to escalate, Stable-Tec, the company responsible for the life-saving Stables, recieved a request from parties that would, as part of the contract, remain anonymous and unnamed.
They were asked to create something new, something that would allow both changelings and ponies to survive, and promote harmony between the races.

They were asked to create...

Project HIVE

A young filly in present day Ponyville is cursed with nightmares of post-apocalyptic Equestria. She finds herself influencing the course of future history in ways that she cannot understand. She must learn to balance her life at home with her life on the other side of the veil, and fight to preserve her own sanity, and her own innocence.

She discovers that such a task is only possible through the magic of friendship.

The year is 1109. Long under the rule of the royal sisters, Equestria is in the midst of an economic boom. New breakthroughs in magic and steam technology give rise to elaborate machinery, resulting in an exodus as adventurers scramble to chart the unknown lands outside the Equestrian Valley. Spearheading the movement are the airships Celestia and Luna, the pride and joy of Equestrian air travel.

After failing the final exam of Wonderbolt Academy, Rainbow Dash's dreams of serving aboard an airship seem crushed. But when a mysterious stranger offers assistance, she is given a second chance to make those dreams come true. Together with a calculating pilot, a stubborn engineer, an eccentric inventor, a genius record-keeper, a timid strategist and a child cartographer, Rainbow Dash will face down the unknown in a foreign land as she is thrust into an adventure beyond her imagination.

(Inspired by the "Mares of Tomorrow" drawings by LionheartCartoon, who has green-lighted the use of his universe. Featured on Equestria Daily as of 11/2/13)

Twilight Sparkle has hit a wall in her studies. So when she is tasked by Princess Celestia with joining an expedition on a faraway island, she can't help but see it as a form of punishment. Nevertheless, she packs her bags and heads to Baltimare, one of Equestria's many port cities. It should have been simple: find a ship offering passage and pay them to take her to Haven. She soon learns, though, that ponies are afraid of the unknown waters past Eternity's Crossing. Despite her best efforts, she is unable to find a ship willing to take her there. That is, until she meets Captain Rainbow Dash.

Brash and enigmatic, Rainbow Dash, along with her crew, are the only ones willing to ferry Twilight on the waters of the Forgotten Sea. She expects six months of quiet travel that will allow her to continue her studies. What she gets is an adventure which makes her realize that, when sailing the high seas, the line between right and wrong is never as clear as it seems.

(Featured on EQD as of 4/28/13
A huge thanks to Breath of Plagues and Amacita, who are amazing editors.
Credit is also due to psychicscubadiver and Zeta040 for pre-reading.)