Howdy y'all!
Now you fine folk might remember this thread here.
Th'plan was that Rated Ponystarand bahatumay would each write a fic, as a challenge to each other.
And the readers would determine who wins!
They'd also planned to be done by October 29th, so they're a wee bit late.
Slackers.
But they're done!
So now-
Now everyone's gonna vote on who's the best!
Hey!
Tcher here will be posting a separate post in this thread, one for Rated Ponystar, one for bahatumay, each with the fic in it.
Dangit Rainbow!
And all you gotta do is upvote whichever post you want!

Two weeks to tell us who's best!
Y'done?
Yup!

Just gimme a second to put the threads up!
And may the odds be ever in your favor~


She means, good luck to the writers, and may the best fic win!

Epub if anyone wants it. I <3 my ereader.

Why are they on Google Docs and not uploaded here on FiMFic? o_0 G-docs tends to give me problems, for whatever reason. ><

2328710
Mostly so only AppleDash people can vote for this. I have over 964 watchers, much more compared to bahatumay. I don't want non-AppleDash people to vote for me and give me an unfair advantage so it's just google docs for the AppleDashers only, who I'm hoping will be fair.

2328710

I <3 my ereader (epub)

I even fixed those broken italics tags.
Also -->

2328482 howdy

2328720

Ah... but we're using the voting in this thread anyway, right? Can't only members vote on these posts anyway? o.O

2328731

Heh... sadly I have no such thing... ^^;

Can I vote for the 2?
Both make me cry
-but thats easy to to.
Only when I get in the reading.
-if you say so.
Applejack, don't be so bad. I like both stories. I can't posible choose just one.
-and then you ask why they load you with work at the hospital...
... :snif:
just don't cry!
Too late for that!
why?
I already read the stories again!
You didn'd even pay atention to what I say.
Did you say something?
never mind, sugarcube.
Ok! :keep crying:

I'm sorry bahatumay, your story was good and all...

But The Rated Ponystar's was just that much better.

that was probably the most difficult thing I have ever done.

Both of your stories were well done and you both should be proud.

I will keep my decision anonymous. Good luck to both of you!

2328482
Do we really need two weeks for the voting? I'd say one week is more than enough.
The thread's going to get buried anyway.

2330044

Sticky it.

2330068
As if anyone ever clicks on the forum button instead of simply group notifications

Finally!!!! The battle begins!!!!!!!
*Starting to throw chairs to the ring*
Ok, prepared to read the two works

Thread has been sticked.

Also, note:

THUMBS DOWN WILL NOT BE COUNTED.

If you don't like the story, then either vote for the other, or don't vote at all. Any downvote will be ignored.

2330411
Well said, Tcherno.
2328525>>2328523
To the two of you, the first thing I must say:

You made an AWESOME work, each of you in your way. But this is a battle and we have to vote only one of you. Anyway, congratulations for the two.

2330411
what does sticked mean?

Buhatumay... well-done. I was very impressed by the story, and loved every moment of it. The ending felt a little rushed to me, but I love how you ended it on a positive note. I'm grateful that you stuck with what you had given to Rainbow, and didn't retract it. The character-building was phenomenal, if a bit off in some spots, but otherwise, I really can't think of much to complain about at all. I left a few notes on the page with a suggestion here and there, but otherwise, I loved it. I give it an A for "Awesome". Go submit that shit to EQD!

Now for PonyStar's work...

2330938
Good analysis

There was one minor plot hole in True Beauty, but other than that it was the more interesting of the two. As I am a strange individual I rarely get motivated to read stories that share a focus with The Question. Even though True Beauty was over twice as long I finished it 100% without pauses. I may have started rapidly paging through The Question trying to find anything to peak my interest.

That said The Question will play better to the feels audience due to both subject matter and length.

2330731
Stickied. Stays at the top of the forum and doesn't get pushed off the front page.

so here's my review/impressions/thought
rated pony star's the question
I liked it. between the sweet flashbacks and heart felt moments. one of my favorite aspects was how is was written, feeling like a private eye type story. However, this is a double-edged sword, as it essentially felt more like a detective novel (without much of the connecting-the- dots moments) rather than a romance. I did like the tribalist backstory, but there was little done with it
bahatumay's true beauty
this story really captured the feels that I like from a dramatic appledash. everything about it was gripping, which say a lot considering my almost non-existent attention span. I also really liked the gist of the story, giving a good twist to the applejack-takes-care-of-a-broken- rainbow-dash. the imagery was great, in fact almost too great in some parts were I couldn't get a certain image out of my head. the subplot involving the dragons in court was a little dumb in my opinion, but it doesn't take away from the story.
----
and to both of the writers, remember that no matter who wins, there are still several readers that believe your story was better than the other's.

Well shit. I can't upvote my own posts.
I'll just tack one extra when we count, then.

and to both of the writers, remember that no matter who wins, there are still several readers that believe your story was better than the others.

What she/he says!

2332363

A truly missed opportunity.

What They said.

I know I had something planned for today, then someone shoved two very enjoyable Appledash stories in my face not too easy to pick one of those two.

The Question hit the feels in all kinds of right ways. I was slightly dissatisfied with the somewhat formulaic approach of having AJ talk to all four of her friends.

As for True Beauty, the way AJ took care for RD was very nicely done with all the tiny steps and the repeated setbacks. I admit I was a bit "meh" at the old crippled Rainbow-premise, but I got over it. Not sure about the comic relief Twilight / drafons arc, but it made me laugh and wasn't overly distracting.

Good job, both of you.

2332410 I don't get it. I was quoting... ok I get it. The name is They isn't it.

I liked rated ponystar's story better. I could have liked the second one better if baha didn't make pinkie out to be an insensitive asshole who hurts her friends. so that ruined the story for me I can't stand characters being jerks when they aren't like that on the show.

2332457
U wot m8

2332510
You heard me. I liked ponystar's story better at least he didn't write pinkie off as an asshole.

2332549
I'm sorry you feel that way, but I assure you that that was not my intention. After all, it was Pinkie who set in motion the service idea that turned Applejack around and helped them get back together. Pinkie respected Rainbow's desire for no party and only provided cake when specifically given permission. Pinkie wanted to throw Twilight a party for the sole purpose of helping her relax but when she found that Twilight had left for the Crystal Empire she didn't push it; and even was observant enough to note that Twilight was stressed due to the lack of grammar on her sign. The worst thing Pinkie did was attempt to swipe the filly scout cookies and leave her mental filter off when Rainbow asked for clarification on what had happened and I'm not entirely sure she has one

2332457
Me thinks you have a 1-dimensional view of Pinkie and anything straying from that is really bad in your opinion.

2332710
Well heh when you put it that way it makes a whole lot of sense. True she does have a problem her filter....

2333525 how come I did get it bahatamay's idea of Pinkie?

2332455
yup
that's me

2333784 ok, I will never refer to you again as a he or a she.

2333797
thank you
I am actually a pronoun

2332457

Well, I see you're back to using your normal account to attack authors for their interpretation of a freely-interpretable character because it happens to be different from your own. Wonderful.

2333525>>2333935

Enough. This is not the thread to do this in.

Well, just finished The Question, and had a looooong and healthy think about both fics.

Neither of them were perfect (what work of fiction is?). Like True Beauty, I felt it was rushed near the end, like PonyStar just wanted to be finished. In truth, I feel like Applejack would've dragged it out a bit more, if nothing more than for her own ego. I feel like she would have teased, played games with Rainbow, danced around the issue a bit more as it were. She's basically had time to prepare and formulate her stance, and I think she would have gotten the most out of it that she could get. She would have flicked Rainbow's nose with her tail, made her chase her through the orchards, laugh at her in that playful manner that expresses that she's twitterpated, and athrill with her newly-discovered affections. Rainbow would gradually come to that realization, and the laughter would be doubled.

In other words, Applejack and Rainbow Dash are happiest at play with each other. I think Applejack's forthcoming acquiescence should center around that play, that familiarity that they share, to help her ease through any lingering discomfort.

All that being said, I've made my decision. bahatumay and Rated PonyStar, you two have made this a very difficult decision for me. Both fics are entertaining and outstanding in their own right. If one asked me why I'm making the choice I am, I'd have a really hard time describing my process to them. It's a gut thing in this case, as there is literally no logical reason why I should be able to choose one over the other. Congratulations to the both of you for stories well-written, and hopefully you both take some form of satisfaction from this. Good luck.

Happy writing!
-TUC

2334092
I'll remember the playing part in the future. Thanks

2334149

Cool story, brah.

(Don't know how I double-clicked...)

2333805 I knew, it is a pun! Damn it!

2328493

Ta much, Posted. Was useful to have an offline copy/portable format.

Well that was awesome. Two wonderful stories in one thread! Much obliged to you both, Rated Ponystar and bahatumay.

Both felt a little rushed toward the end, like a deadline was coming up, but neither story was hurt much by it. I thought voting might be difficult but not this difficult! I liked the setup of both stories but felt The Question was a little steadier and well-paced, even if it was maybe a more typical (to me) AppleDash fic in the theme it used, bit more predictable? True Beauty was a riskier slant to take but it appealed to me more: Applejack taking care of broken Dash has plenty of potential both to happen and to need to happen, with how much Dash pushes herself. I don't know, maybe I've still not read enough but something a little different helped sway me in this case.

While both stories turned up the feels in many places, True Beauty had more elements that I liked than The Question, and that's about all it took to (eventually) choose between them. Both almost moved me to tears, I got so deep into them, and that's a big plus.

Sterling effort. If this is the sort of output a contest can generate, I need to read entries more often

Is it odd that I only liked one of these stories better because I felt like the other just hadn't reached its full potential? Both tales are stellar ideas and were executed quite well (aside from the endings), but I feel like one of them wasn't as good as it could've been and it could've been just downright spectacular. The other one was very good in its own right, but didn't have nearly as much to go before it was as good as it could be without making it a different kind of story. So is it odd that I only voted for one story because I thought that there was sooo much more that could've been done with the other?