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?

Desperation can make a pony do a lot of crazy things. Lie. Cheat. Steal. Pay a call on two ponies who were trying to kill her the last time she saw them.

Of course, she was trying to kill them, too, back then.

But that's all in the past! And now that their daughter Rarity is on Princess Twilight's new ruling council, set to become a leader in the Equestrian government once Princess Celestia and Princess Luna actually step down, well, everything'll be totally different and so much better, right?

As long as the truth doesn't come out, of course...

An entry in the Ancestral Tribute contest, this story was awarded 3rd place, and its title comes from David Mallett's song "Ambition."

On her way back from the market, Rarity saw the most horrible thing and now has to right this dreadful wrong!

Preread by Rainedash!

Dramatic Reading by scorpion1m!

Lyra was having a good day. Then she stole a caramel drop, and her day became a lot hotter.

Brighter.

On-fire-y.

Probably shouldn't have stolen that candy.

Meeting you, with a view to a kill…

"We're going to talk about this later!"

Well, later is now. Lyra wants to make things clear with Bon-Bon – I mean, Special Agent Sweetie Drops – and the unicorn has a lot of questions on her mind.

Editing done by Vivid Syntax. Inspiration provided by M.A Larson and the awesome 100th episode.

Someone just confessed their feelings to Twilight. Sugarcoat of all people. Someone like her shouldn't have any jealous girlfriends to deal with, right? Surprisingly, she does. And it's herself. Wait, what?

Why is Midnight Sparkle looking at her with those hungry eyes? And why... is she liking it?

(Teen rating because there's inappropriate touching, but no sex scenes)

Twilight's been having weird, unfamiliar urges ever since she became an alicorn. Like an intense desire to grow flowers, or the fact she can't stop chewing on her wings when she's distracted. As it turns out, you can't just suddenly inherit the magic of all three pony tribes without getting the instincts to match, and instincts can be a powerful thing. Doubly so when you're not used to them, and especially when they're telling you that your best friend with the gorgeous wings would make the perfect partner to share a nest with.

Wait, what was that last part?

Originally this was supposed to be a birthday gift for Celysus, but I fell in love with the idea so it's gonna be a full fic now. You can't stop me.

(Rated teen for mildly suggestive flirting)

Author's note to clarify; This story takes place in a human version of Equestria, but not the EG versions of the characters exactly, for clarification.

Octavia Philharmonica grew up a single child in her family's country estate, and had discovered her natural gift with the cello at the young age of 7. What followed was a life of luxury and praise, all the endorsements and deals she could ever want. Now, at the age of 23, the savant lives a life that's slowly losing the spark it once had. The music she once lived for, has became dull and monotone. This void in her life has only highlighted her biggest issue of all; she's lonely... really lonely. As a girl who was thrust into a serious career at a young age, she never got to develop the bonds and friendships that other's seemed to find so easily.

Though, that at all changed one fateful day, when she meet a DJ who showed her a new purpose. A girl, named Vinyl Scratch.

"Hey, I need to file an insurance claim on my house?"

"Nature of the damage?"

"Oh, a magical bear got dragged into town by a bunch of teenagers to impress their foalish crush and it stepped on my front porch. Also, the next week a god of chaos turned my lamps into sharks and now there's a puddle of milk in my crawlspace."

For Equestria? This is an absurdist tale. For Ponyville's insurance adjuster, it was Wednesday.

A slice of that life, starring the adjuster himself and everyone's ... third(?) favorite glasses-wearing foal.