Hey FIMFiction, RBDash47 here with something a little different than my usual blogpost fare.

I was hoping I could impose upon your time to take a few moments and respond to a quick survey regarding your favorite episodes of the show about small candy-colored horses we all know and love.

EDIT (thanks Zontargs!): If you can't remember episodes by title, here's a list of them.

Thank you, and keep writing! We all need something to do now that the season's over.

NOTE: Please don't reply in the comments, though of course feel free to discuss your favorite episodes there. I really need the specific answers in the poll itself!

I've been debating this in my head over the past week but I can't come to a satisfactory conclusion, so I'd like some input on this.

The way I see it, if I add a new tag it could cause issues, say, a year down the line when we're all accustomed to Twilicorn and people just want to search for Twilight stories full stop. This is what has stopped me creating the tag for now, but I'd like to know if people consider this an issue too.

edit: Decided to go ahead and add the new character tag. Feel free to continue discussion though.

Originally posted to the Vault on 2/1/13.

I feel strongly that today's story should be required reading for any aspiring author. It has a powerful message, about what writing is and why you should keep at it and the idea of perfection.

[Slice-of-Life] • 2,600 words

Princess Celestia helps to banish a hoofful of inner demons lurking deep in the heart of a troubled author. Metafiction, again, ensues.

Hit the break for a few words from Skywriter, and a link to A Short Story by Twilight Sparkle online. Don't forget to grab your own ebook copies over at the Downloads page!

How do you deal with your vibrant, full-of-life best friend dying?

[Tragedy] • 4,100 words

Pinkie Pie stands vigil over a dying Rainbow Dash.

Hit the break for a delightfully rambling chat, or perhaps monologue would be slightly more appropriate, with Amit, and a link to Solace. Don't forget to download your own copy over at the aptly-named Downloads page!

各位先生小姐老妈老爸弟妹们，大家好！！！ 逢着这农历新年，我们有意向大家祝福，祝你新年快乐，万事如意，龙马精神等之类的。那么各位当中有可能有几位发现我们少了一轮 - 第十三 - 原因很间单。十三毕竟是不吉利的,而西亚德天使从不会渺视对风水幸运。想这上次我们受养一只街边带回的黑猫，它第二天逃走，还把厨房和垃圾桶翻得天地不别。。。凶运真可怕。

为各位不是什么庆祝农历的，我们在这儿又有佳选读物，希望大家都能支持支持，享受此故事！

Welcome all to the latest Groups Post!

Below are several Groups, old and new, that have things going on for all of you interested in joining and participating!

In A Little Town Called Ponyville

Inspired by such shows like 'Tales of the Crypt' and 'The Twilight Zone', The Little Town project was launched early this month to gather writers and readers from all over FimFic who enjoy, appreciate, and like fics of the dark.

Now, now, now. Wait. Dark? Doesn't that mean gore and blood and death and horrible things?

Absolutely not. What our project is about is the true meaning of dark, a meaning that we all have felt was wrongfully attributed to popular gorefics such as Cupcakes or the Rainbow Factory and nothing else. Dark is about so much more. It is about the sinister, the creepy ,the weird and wonderful. It is about the funny and delightful, the spine-tingling and the chilling. It is about things that span the breadth of the things that everyone else enjoys, from ponies in bikinis shooting up zombies with automatic weapons, to the mind games played by two geniuses against each other with a whole town at stake. From the torment of the single pony as he or she has to make a choice that most are unwilling, to the mystery of a pony who one day wakes up to find that he is alone in the world without another soul.

For dark is something a little bit more than just blood and guts, and this project was launched to bring the meaning and spirit of the dark back.

With a friendly community and real-time workshopping, we seek to gather people of all kinds under this banner. The readers, the writers, the curious and the dedicated, and we hope to grow this series title into something where high-quality, peer-reviewed and well-written dark fics can be found of a specific kind.

Come check us out today!

Baddass Twilight - Total Domination

Is looking for new blood to join our ranks. Our group stories are made up from action to cunning political deceit. One of our highlights is our monthly and bimonthly contests.

Battles of total domination Is here once again.For those new to the contest you write a one shot or a chapter in your story that is dedicated to fighting centers around twilight. anyone may participate in this contest.There are three categories in which you can win.

1green thumbs: Have the most green thumbs at the end of the month. To win this you cannot post before the first

2ranked votes: The favourite of our ranked members.

3members earned: Only members can win this category

For your story to be valid someone must add it to our contest story folder.

Completed Story Compendium

the completed story compendium is a group I made in order to make it easier for readers to find completed stories, and hopefully bring more attention to those stories in the process. anyone can join or submit. the only stories we will not accept are ones that are not complete. this includes stories that have been canceled or are on hiatus. Also every (completed) story on EQD that's available on fimfiction can be found in our EQD featured folder.

The Octavia Fans Group is celebrating their One Year Anniversary Contest!

Check out the link for details on how to participate.

At SECRET SUNDAY, we get a prompt on Thursday.

Then, on SUNDAY, our stories go up.

The winner is the one with the most likes and favorites; it helps that the losers have to like and favorite your prompt as well.

If it's a tie, it's FINAL SHOWDOWN time, and a random member will choose the prompt.

Prompts are based on the viewers choice. They're very loose prompts, and can be written however you wish. No mature, please.

We hope you will join!

The World-Building Alliance offers it's second contest: Welcome to the February World-Building Alliance prompt!

Now that you've gotten your feet wet, it’s time for the next prompt. This time around, you’ll be limited to one of four races: Dragons, Minotaurs, Reindeer, and Sea Ponies. Additionally, the prompt is as follows:

Every race has its heroes. Some fade away with the passing of time while others become legendary embodiments of greatness. Pick a hero from among those four races that has reached such legendary status. Tell his/her tale.

Apple Pie is a group aimed at the regrettably obscure ship of Applejack and Pinkie Pie. We intend to make up for our small size with sheer pluckiness. There will be games, fanart-sharing, contests and the like, as well as being a hub for Apple Pie fanfiction, of course. Anyone and everyone is welcome to a slice of sweet, delicious Apple Pie!

Selfcest is the Best Cest (NSFW)

Feeling depressed? Need something off your chest? Come, one and all, to Selfcest is the Best Cest's Love Thyself Contest! Your friends will be impressed!

That's right, break out the typewriters and mirrors, folks, it's time to start writing some selfcest! Shipping ponies with each other is fun and all, but it's so much better to ship them with themselves! Give us a story about some more creative uses for time travel, or some other kinds of fun that can come from using the Mirror Pool. Maybe a changeling that enjoys being a copycat, or somepony meets a version of themselves from a parallel dimension. It's up to you, just so long as somepony ends up smooching themselves!

Head on over here for the official contest rules, or PM Esle Ynopemos for more information!

The Author Support prompt is a simple, bi-weekly event in which us admins have designed a simple "prompt" that members and anyone who wants to join must write at least a 1k word response to. They are given 2 weeks for each entry to be written, and prompts can be no longer than 7.5k words. (This is slightly variable, as we don't mind you going over the limit just a bit. Will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis if so.)

At the end of this two week period, five pre-determined judges give a score out of 50 on how well the fic scored in various areas (Areas: Professionality, Creativity, Characterization, Impact, and Entertainment). Five judges are Bronymaster, Peregrine Caged, Not Worthy, Sunnydaze, and Tricondon. These five judges will also write a short review of the fic, giving their reasoning for the scores they give, and giving commentary on how they think an author can improve their writing in the future based on what was given.

Once all the prompts are judged, a winner is announced on the front page. Scores and reviews are sent out privately via PMs, and no one’s score is revealed publicly unless that person chooses to reveal it him/herself.

The Prompts themselves take place in a thread, and the thread links to a series of rules that should be read before deciding to enter the prompt as well as an FAQ. The link to the current prompt is always listed at the very top of the group’s main front page.

NSFW Warning: The following group is not necessarily NSFW, but some of their content is not for everyone.

A long time ago, in a chat room far, far way, three less-than-sane members of society got together to share a few laughs and discuss ponies.

This idea became something more: the Mentally Deficient Authors.

We're a group that really just likes to kick back and crack jokes, talk about fanfiction, make horrible pop culture references, and discuss philosophical conundrums in the comfortable glow of our computer screen. Our members may not be at their sanest, but we're loyal and headstrong.

If you're wondering 'what can this group do for me,' we have a fairly active forum with all sorts of crazy threads, and members who will edit and preread for you if you're too lazy to try to find one yourself! Everyone is accepted as well, so long as you are somewhat less than sane, and carry yourself with a modicum of respect.

So what's stopping you? I'll tell you what: absolutely bugger-all. Now come on in and join! Sit by our metaphorical campfire, crack open a cool drink, and join the discussions. Welcome to the MDA; leave your sanity at the door.

~CookieMonstar, the official Muppet, Time Lord, and Chef of the MDA

Originally posted to the Vault on 1/18/13.

Today's addition is here because it manages to realistically and believably ship an adult Scootaloo with her childhood idol, no small feat.

[Shipping][Comedy] • 32,800 words

Scootaloo has a job as a flight instructor in Cloudsdale and a cloud house of her own. She doesn't have a special somepony, but she's cool with that. Just a normal life for a normal young pegasus, until a streak of rainbow turns her life upside-down.

After all, could she really resist the chance to train for the Best Young Flyers competition with a Wonderbolt? Could she turn down an offer of no-strings-attached passion with the most awesome pegasus in Equestria? Is there any way she could not fall in love with the shining idol of her foalhood?

Could Scootaloo ever say no to Rainbow Dash?

Hit the break for a chat with bookplayer, and links to Best Young Flyer out on the ponynet. Don't forget to grab your own copy at the Downloads page!

Originally posted to the Vault on 1/11/13.

Presumably, war must come to Equestria at some point, as it's come to our own world time and time again. No race or species is perfect, and it's practically guaranteed that any time two different ones interact, there will be friction – sometimes deadly.

[Tragedy] • 3,500 words

Mom says that families who work really hard get to put a gold star on the inside of their windows.

Hit the break for a few words from Mindblower, and links to Gold Star out on the ponynet. The Downloads page awaits, as always, if you're interested in your own ebook copies!

Originally posted to the Vault on 1/4/13.

Since season two, my girlfriend has decided that Rarity is, in fact, best pony. While she's obviously wrong – note the distinct lack of speed, awesomeness, etc. – it's not difficult to see why Rarity could be considered such... and then along comes a story like this, thrusting Rarity into a world-spanning adventure with lasting geopolitical consequences, and I'm forced to admit there might be something to the fussy white unicorn after all.

[Adventure][Shipping] • 224,300 words

Rarity's exploits in "Sweet and Elite" set in motion a chain of events that will find the unicorn dressmaker taking part in the greatest airship race in the world, the Alicorn's Cup. Excitement will give way to terror, as Rarity soon finds herself the victim of a plot against Equestria, and shipwrecked far from home with her least favorite stallion, the boorish Prince Blueblood. Rarity will learn of treachery in Canterlot and abroad, and will have search for something of substance beneath the prince's obnoxious veneer as she struggles to not only save herself, but her entire nation.

Hit the break for a wonderful chat with the good Mr. Prancypants, and links to Flight of the Alicorn out on the ponynet. Don't forget to grab your own copy in your favorite ebook format over at the Downloads page, and consider checking out the sequel to the story!