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 knows they’re lucky, and she’s not stupid. All her human counterpart wants is to try and understand how the magic works. But she’s in love, and as logical as she tries to be, she can’t handle a human version of herself being around her girlfriend Sunset all of the times she can’t be.

7/7/2016: Now with cover art designed by the very generous Novel-Idea! Thank you so much!

This story is a sequel to Fortresshy: The Nine Fathers

Fluttershy has returned to Equestria after being temporally displaced to another world, where she was raised by a loving but insane family. She didn't return alone, though. Her new family came back with her, now working for Princess Luna, their new Fortress being built near to Ponyville. All involved would need time to adjust.

Unfortunately, time waits for no one, pony or human. Still, the former RED Team - now Team RED MOON - is used to handling craziness. After all, they live under the same roof.

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Part of the PWNY-verse.

Edit: New fan art by G_Haze, who also did the cover art!

A Sidestory for Zuesdemigod131's A New World A New way.

Construction worker Jacob Arrow, whom prefers to be called "X" was just a small time construction worker in Kalos which his pokemon team as both employee and family. The team does the job, gets paid, and chill out at home.

Meanwhile, young changeling Nell is struggling to find her own way, hopefully one that distances her from her brood sisters, and is about to depart on a short journey as a merchant.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. When Arceus' master plan is kicked off, Nell and the strange family known as ShadowFox construction must survive the chaos the Alpha Pokemon unwittingly caused.

Editing by the amazing TDNpony.

Cover art by me. Currently a Work in Progress.

(9/8) Featured! Many thanks everyone!
(10/26) +1 feature!

Seth Crescent, an infamous Pokemon Trainer is suddenly whisked away from his home in Unova to a strange world filled with pastel-coloured ponies. Confused, lost and wondering where the rest of his precious partners have gone, the human-turned-Pokemon is rescued by Apple Fritter, a kind Earth Pony living in Canterlot.

She takes him in and offers Seth a place to stay while he finds the rest of his friends. Action, adventure and romance await as Equestria and the world of Pokemon are intertwined.

This is a side story to Zeusdemigod131's A New World, a New Way.

I'd like to thank him for giving me permission to write this, I'm having a lot of fun doing so.

I want to also thank Tdnpony and ZeusDemi for editing as well as the multitude of authors I kidnap ask to help Pre-read.

And thanks to Bubba for my new coverart. It's awesome!!

Also, the main series has a TV Tropes page. Go check it out and add to it!

Edit - I added the sex tag due to jokes and references made.

Echo is a high ranking changeling officer. The Canterlot invasion was going perfectly, and her battalion had personally defeated the Elements of Harmony. Suddenly, she finds herself far flung from Canterlot, crashing into the Everfree forest. Now she is faced with a difficult reality - her hive, the only family she's ever known, no longer exists, and she must adapt to life as a pony. What she finds out about herself, though, will surprise her.

Rated Teen for occasional suggestiveness and language, tagged gore for brief violence, particularly in later chapters.

Dark because later chapters get pretty ... well, dark.

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Addendum 5/29/2018

This story is now, as of this addendum, five years old. It is getting more attention as I put out new chapters on the sequel.

I recognize that this story has problems, and that some of them by their nature carry over to the sequel; please remember that when I started writing this, I was not yet even old enough to legally drink in the US. A lot has happened and a lot has changed, and there are many things about this story I regret including, but which it is now too late to change. Some of those things I have simply done my best to ignore and make irrelevant, but some of them are errors from a 19 year old me that will haunt me until the sequel is finished.

In short, please be gentle.

This story is a sequel to Change of Life

Dandelion is a pegasus filly, Cogs and Lavender's firstborn daughter, and a joy to them both. As a changeling though, Cogs had no experience with raising pony foals, so when a crisis arises, he often has to wing it. Sometimes the solutions are more creative than others, and sometimes the problems are unique. After all, how many fillies have a changeling parent?

This is a series of stories that are sequels to "Change of Life" and takes up after chapter 10 (Foals).

Zevan was a loyal changeling and always did his queen's bidding, although he quietly questioned why changelings should end centuries of secret but peaceful intermingling with the pony population. After being expelled from Canterlot by the irresistible force of love and badly injured after crash-landing in trees, he had to reconsider his future. Ponies knew that changelings existed now, and the only example of them was Chrysalis' attempt to overthrow Celestia and their attack on Canterlot's population. His kind would be pariahs for the foreseeable future and maybe even their disguises would not keep them safe. A unicorn mare with a broken horn might do the trick though.

There is now a prequel to this story - Prelude To Change I suggest that you read that first.

Frothy Brew is the barista in the Canterlot café owned by himself, his wife, and his daughter. Years of hard work had made the café a successful and modestly popular place to stop and get a drink or a snack. Nothing prepared him though for it to become a hub of interaction with the undisguised changelings that were being seen more often in the streets of Canterlot. Can he put aside his feelings for the species though after witnessing the most horrifying aspect of the invasion years ago?

This story runs concurrently with the latter part of my Change of Life story. While reading that and Prelude To Change is not necessary, they do give valuable background that is glossed over in "Conversations". Cover art and story illustrations are all done by Foxenawolf.

A Metroid Crossover

A meteor, resistant to magical manipulation, crashes in Equestria, Planet Equis, and soon spreads an unknown poison throughout the land. Containment is all but failing and the Princesses have little power to stop the spread of the Great Poison. The Elements of Harmony are of little use as no knowledge exists of this threat that consumes all life. Help comes from a certain Hunter, clad in metal.

Samus Aran will not only fight for her life as always, but her own sanity as well as these ponies that she begrudgingly starts seeing as allies. New horrors and abilities await her as a reason to fight slowly festers within her, possibly unlocking something she had been denied for so long: Friendship.

Notes and Resources:

This takes place after Echoes. The events of Corruption will have not happened yet. In terms of MLP, consider everything up to and including the Crystal Empire. Princess Twilight does not exist here, etc. The official Metroid Timeline can be found here.

As well, this story references the manga in many places. Reading of it is not required and I try my best to explain the context, but if you're interested, both volumes can be found here.

EDIT: This story was written over two and a half years, beginning in 2013. You'll probably notice the difference in writing as the chapters progress.