Frost Vortex is busy this week, so I'm taking on the task to announce the winner of our "Cutie Mark Crusaders ???" contest to not drag out the announcement further!
First off, I want to apologize for the huge delay. This was entirely my fault. I volunteered as a judge for the contest, which required me to read the entries, but then real life stuff and a particularly exhausting fic I wrote got in the way and left me stressed out and one thing led to another, so it took me much longer than I thought before I could read the fics and judge them.
I'm sorry for this unfortunate development and promise that for the next contest (that will happen very soon), things will go down much quicker!
But now, without further ado, on to the announcement of the winner!

CONTEST #3 - CONTEST WINNER

We received three very good entries for the contest, all in their own, unique style. There were two very hot candidates for the first two ranks and deciding which one should go on first place was a very hard task, but in the end, a decision could be made.
AND THE WINNER IS.....

Congratulations, DR-Fluffy, you are the shining winner of our third Cutie Mark(ed) Crusaders group contest! For your deserved victory, you will receive the following prizes:

+ Contributor status

+ A special mention on the group page alongside your winning story

+ A honest review of any one of your stories by Frost Vortex

And to give you some feedback, here are the reviews with the reasons for your nomination for 1st Place:

Frost Vortex - For me, I believe Cutie Mark Murder Mystery by DR-Fluffy should be first. He handled the concept of murder mystery (or more like murder mysteries) very well, and wrote the characters almost perfectly too. The only thing that really takes away from the overall story is the various amount of grammar mistakes he had all over the place, but otherwise everything else was pretty fine.
I especially loved that little twist at the end with Sweetie Belle and Button Mash, and although I feel like her reason for everything was a bit bland and should be improved upon, I nominate this story for 1st place.

Fluttercheer - I loved "Cutie Mark Murder Mystery". The suspense built up greatly, making you more tense with every major event.
The length of the fic is fitting and there was enough time for every event and for the most part, the fic is definitely not rushed. I enjoyed the very unexpected plottwist and the hints throughout the story for who could have been the murderer, what his motive could be and which victims he chooses. There were also some nice tidbits of humor sprinkled over the plot that were placed just right and provided a very nice contrast to the serious plot.
For the cons of the story, Sweetie Belle's motivation could have been handled better.
By what we've seen in the show, neither Tender Taps, nor Bulk Biceps nor Diamond Tiara ever did anything that seemed like they only tried to become their friends to get help with their cutie mark. It does not make Sweetie's motive completely invalid, things like this could have happened off-screen, after all, but the story would have profited from more explanation about this and from fleshing out her motive better.
A second con were a lot of grammatical mistakes, misplaced words, words in wrong order, ect., which seems like the story misses a thorough proof-reading process.
Overall, "Cutie Mark Murder Mystery" is a very enjoyable story with an intriguing plot that keeps you on the edge of your seat, with only some pacing issues towards the end that could have been avoided by taking more time in detailing Sweetie Belle's motive for the murders, and therefore a very well-deserved first place.

The second place in the contest goes to Rubahhitam with his story [url=http://www.fimfiction.net/story/340835/detective-bloom-the-discarded-diamondDetective Bloom & the Discarded Diamond.

Congratulations for making it on second place, Rubahhitam, and while it wasn't enough for winning the first place this time, you still receive the following prizes:

+ A special mention on the group page alongside your winning story

+ A honest review of any one of your stories by Frost Vortex

And, last but not least, we come to the third place!
Our third contestant delivered a respectable story as well, but was unfortunately hit by a major fever which prevented him from finishing the story. For the sake of the fairness towards the other contestants, as well as towards him by not letting him compete with an unfinished story against two finished stories, the jury collectively decided to give a honorary, third place to Short Stories with his story Philidelphia!
Even though you couldn't finish your story, you will still receive a special mention on the group page alongside your winning story together with the other two contestants!

And these are our winners! And even though not every story could get on first place, obviously, we still want to give every author some feedback, which is why we provide the reviews written during the nomination process for the second and third place winners as well:

REVIEWS

Detective Bloom & the Discarded Diamond by Rubahhitam

Frost Vortex - And like you should have guessed, Detective Bloom & the Discarded Diamond by Rubahhitam should be second. First off, the pros: the grammar was perfect, Apple Bloom's characterization was spot-on, and that narrating of hers was pretty cute too.
Cons: besides that little problem with the formatting at the end, I feel like the murder mystery here just... didn't feel like one. The atmosphere was almost too cheery and upbeat (although it might just be me) instead of sad and gloomy like Apple Bloom should feel after knowing one of her friends had just died. She didn't even had that much of reaction with the initial death; it was like "Oh look, DT died, guess I'll just go solve her murder then". Also, the clues provided were a bit confusing and really ruined the thrill of a good murder mystery for me.
The revelation at the end didn't even get that much of a reaction from me; the best I can say is that I felt really bored as the story drew to an end. There's also the occasional sentence that sounds weird and makes me think of something the complete opposite, but overall this story deserves 2nd.

Fluttercheer - "Detective Bloom & the Discarded Diamond" has a very interesting narrative, with Applebloom re-telling the events in Film Noir style. This also justifies the short length of the story and the fact that Applebloom reacts rather coldly in regards to Diamond Tiara's death.
The story does well with the typical, dry humor the genre is known for and the way all who were involved acted was fitting and in-character.
The murderer was not a very big surprise, but the motive fitting, and there was still a noticeable plottwist in that regards that Diamond Tiara was still alive after having been dumped in the Everfree Forest, making it attempted murder rather than actual murder.
The way the murderer was revealed was also very original and the story has much less grammar mistakes and typos than its competitor on the first place.
The cons: It does not have such a great build-up of suspense like DR-Fluffy's story, with a less surprising plottwist, and even though it was a re-telling of the events, there could have been more difficulties for Applebloom in finding the murderer to make the story more exciting and draw it out a bit. Despite the form of a re-telling, it is a little rushed and could use its potential more.
Overall, the basic idea was still good and some parts of it very creative and original, especially the rather detailed description of what Diamond Tiara did after waking up in the Everfree Forest, only the execution could need some improvement, which makes "Detective Bloom & the Discarded Diamond" a very good, second place.

Philidelphia by Short Stories

Frost Vortex - There really is no argument here; Phillidelphia by Short Stories is third. The main reason is that the story wasn't even finished in time for the deadline because of how Short Stories got a major fever beforehand, and it wouldn't be fair letting an unfinished story win 1st or 2nd.
Next of all, pros: I loved how Short Stories presented the initial "suicide" at first; it was very mysterious and just like how a murder mystery should be.
Cons: there were a few grammar mistakes, the sentence structure was kinda weird, and the CMC were a bit OOC at times (but I guess that could be accepted, since it is an AU after all). Thus, this story earns 3rd place in my book. I only wish that Short Stories was able to finish it before he got a fever.

And that wraps up this contest! If you won a review of one of your fics by Frost Vortex, hit him up with a message to tell him the fic of your choice.
The winners are already listed on the group page and the first place winner will be placed in the "Contest Winners" folder shortly, the contributor status will be given to DR-Fluffy right after this thread is published.

I apologize again for the delay and we hope you enjoyed our third contest nonetheless! Keep an eye on the forum of our group in the next weeks, cause it won't be long until our fourth contest happens!
The Cutie Mark(ed) Crusaders hope to see you all next time!

5464769 Thank you everyone it was fun, a lot of hard work, but fun. I honestly wasn't sure if I would win because of how rushed to story seemed to me. I understand what you mean by Sweetie Belle's motivations, the problem was I had an idea for what I wanted to write but no idea how to justify it in the time frame I had. See you at the next contest.

Oh, and one question is their a limit on the size of the review story?

5464878

The winner's here! Congratulations again!
No, Frost Vortex did never name any restrictions in length for the story he offers to review, so just send him what seems the best to you!

5464769 Cool! I figured I wasn't going to win first place, but nice to know I got second. Murder mysteries aren't exactly my cup of tea or in my area of expertise, but it's nice to know my story wasn't a total failure. I'll see what I can do about editing it and making it a better story. Maybe I should re-write it with the ending I had originally planned. Hmm...

I think it was really nice of you guys to give Short Stories a spot in here. You guys rock!

By the way, wasn't PrinceUniversa a judge as well? If so, why did he elect not to give his opinion(s), if I might be so bold?

5464878 Congrats on first place, DR-Fluffy! Hope we get to go head-to-head again in the next contest.

-Ru

5465538 Looking forward to it.

5465543 Okay then. That being said...

-Ru

5465538

but it's nice to know my story wasn't a total failure.

It wasn't a failure at all! It would just need some more polishing, making it a bit more exciting and a bit longer and it would be a little jewel.

By the way, wasn't PrinceUniversa a judge as well? If so, why did he elect not to give his opinion(s), if I might be so bold?

Yes, PrinceUniversa was a judge as well, but his thoughts about the stories matched up exactly with the ones of Frost Vortex, so he didn't write a review in his own words and only dropped a little note in the thread in our admin group, so there was nothing to include for him.

5465595 Huh. Good to know on all fronts. Thanks, Fluttercheer!

-Ru

P.S.
Sorry, I tend to be my own worst critic.

5465609

That's better than others' being your worst critics.