This story is a sequel to The Hermit

It has been a couple of months since Sunny and Zipp were stranded in the Everfree Forest. Their encounter with Anon still weighs heavily on Sunny's mind, so it comes as a pleasant surprise when he arrives in Maretime Bay one quiet morning.

However, although he is eager to speak to Sunny and Zipp again, Anon begins seeing more similarities between the past and the present than he is comfortable with. As a result, Sunny, Zipp, Pipp, Izzy, Hitch, and Misty find themselves under a great deal of pressure to do something that Anon doesn't seem too keen on explaining fully.

What is it that has Anon, immortal spouse of the long-deceased Celestia, so anxious? What is he trying to accomplish?

And what is he so desperate to hide from Sunny?

For as long as Sunny can remember, there have been tales of a strange hermit living deep in the Everfree Forest, the most dangerous place in Equestria. Of course, nopony could ever prove if this was true. After all, who in their right mind would actually go there? Unfortunately for Sunny, she may not have a choice, as during a test flight on the Mare Stream, she and Zipp crash land in the middle of that very forest. With no way out and timberwolves just waiting to pounce, what else can she do but hope that the tales are true?

And just who, or what, is this hermit supposed to be, anyway?

Retired Special Agent Sweetie Drops has been living in Ponyville as Bon Bon for just over ten years now, and aside from the occasional monster attack or magical mishap, life has been peaceful. She's happily married and has a successful career running a candy shop. Something has been preventing her from properly appreciating the quiet life, however, and that thing's name is Vinyl Scratch. Countless hours of surveillance has convinced Bon Bon of one fact, and it's that whatever Vinyl Scratch is, it's not a pony. Today is the day she gets to the bottom of the mystery that has haunted for her so long: What exactly is Vinyl Scratch, and what does she want with Octavia Melody?

A Submission for the 2023 Science Fiction Contest.

Edit: Featured from March 24th to the 29th? Magnificent. Thank you all so very much!

Edit 2: FEATURED ON EQUESTRIA DAILY!

Art commission done by my friend Raph13th, check him out!

Necromancy gets a bad rep.

Oh, sure, some ponies like the whole cliche of the evil zombie master, pulling his puppet strings to make corpses dance and kill for their amusement. And yeah, you kinda do have to work with dead bodies a lot, and most ponies find that a bit creepy. Oh, and you learn a lot of spells to kill things and gain power from it.

But, come on, that doesn't mean all necromancers are bad... right?

Feature on Equestria Daily

3/14/24 Still Alive Edition

There's only one pony in Ponyville that the Mane Six have never met. Pinkie Pie has never thrown him a party, Applejack has never sold him a mug of cider, and Twilight has never seen him check out any books. And as far as that unicorn, Lapis Print, is concerned, that's exactly how it should be.

Lapis can't risk them knowing where he lives, what he does for a living, or even what his name is - if he gets his way, the Mane Six won't even know he exists, and nopony in Ponyville will miss him once he's gone.

It should be a piece of cake - after all, it's not like the biggest magical power in Equestria is about making sure everypony looks out for each other, right?

(Rated Teen for language - mental cursing mostly.)

Thorax and his sister have been dating Spike as well as Twilight for a while now. All three of them are in for some startling revelations, however.

This was a request for a patron and was viewable earlier for said patrons. Head over here if you want a story like this for 5$ or to see stories early for just 3$!

This is also the next of my 12 days of requests where you will see a new story requested by a patron every day until Christmas day so make sure to stop by every day for new stuff! Check out the previous story here

This story is a sequel to Scotchtavia

After a heavy night of drinking, most of which she can’t remember, Octavia awakens to a monstrous hangover. But even this isn’t enough to distract her from the obvious fact that Vinyl is acting… different. Kinder, sweeter, and much more considerate. Something happened last night, something that has clearly had a huge effect on Vinyl. But what could it possibly be?

Cover art courtesy of iJab on DeviantArt.

Reading by Astro Brony

UPDATE 09/09/2023: Edited story to fit better with my current writing standard. Original unedited story here!

This story is a sequel to Changeling Courtship Rituals

Queen Chrysalis attacked Canterlot, brainwashed Twilight Sparkle's brother, kidnapped her former foalsitter, defeated her mentor in combat, and conquered her kingdom. She kidnapped the sisters of Twilight's friends, turned them against one another, and tried to drain all of Twilight's magic. Queen Chrysalis has, at every opportunity, done her very best to utterly destroy Twilight Sparkle's life.

For some reason, this has not caused the pony to fall in love with her.

However, due to Twilight's misunderstanding of changeling customs, it does mean they are now married. Twilight eventually managed to tell the Queen the truth, but she forgot that whether it's a kingdom or a heart, changelings conquer.

And since the changeling way of conquest didn't work, Chrysalis is determined to try the pony way. The only problem is, of course, she has no idea what that is. But she knows someone who does: Princess Cadance.

Now, with the absolutely sincere help of her mortal enemy, the pony she once locked in the caves beneath Canterlot while trying to steal her husband on their very wedding day, Queen Chrysalis is going to woo the sister-in-law of that very pony.

Surely this is the most perfect plan ever devised.

***

Proofread by ShutterflyYay.

Takes place roughly after season five (so Starlight Glimmer is running around occasionally)

For years, Twilight Sparkle and Queen Chrysalis have been at each other's throats. Both have experienced victory over the other, and both have experienced defeat. Out of all the creatures in Equestria, none despise each other the way the pony Princess and changeling Queen do. They seemed destined to remain locked in battle forever, or at least until one is finally dead at the hooves of the other. The cruel insults, the vicious loathing, and the powerful spells that have passed back and forth between them at each meeting have become the stuff of legend.

Imagine Twilight's surprise when she finds out changelings consider this dating.

And now they're married.

***

Sequel: Pony Courtship Rituals

***

Some beautiful fanart of the end of chapter three was done by Dmann892; you can see it here.

More awesome fanart, this time from chapter one.

Now with a TvTropes page (obligatory TvTropes warning goes here).

If you want a Russian translation, you can find it here.

There is now a reading of the story on Youtube, which starts here.

Rarity and Twilight are dating. Rainbow Dash just asked them both out as a joke.

She didn't expect them both to say yes.

A Christmas present for the incomparable Monochromatic
Editing by Undome Tinwe and Pearple Prose