Spring Fling Contest Results! · 11:40pm May 20th, 2023
The following a duplicate of the main results post from the Spring Fling group, plus a few extra personal recommendations at the end. Leaving comments on that page instead of here is suggested.
Yes, the big night is finally here! It's time to see the results of the Spring Fling!
This contest has been an outstanding experience and amazing way to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of our favorite technicolor humans. The judges and I have all had a great time reading the myriad of stories you've sent us, which featured pairings that ranged from iconic to unheard-of and spanned genres from comedy to drama to horror. New authors, returning authors, and veteran authors alike joined in the fun, and we ended up with a grand total of 31 stories, totaling nearly 190,000 words. That is a lot of metaphorical ink spilled for a brand-new contest, and we're grateful to everyone who chose to participate.
The original intent was to post the results for this contest on June 16th, the exact tenth anniversary of My Little Pony: Equestria Girls. But we couldn't help ourselves; we just had to read right through all of this awesome collection of romances, and then talk about this awesome collection of romances, and then figure out how on earth we'd decide which among them is the best...
Sadly, we can't honor every story in the group, but you indeed gave us a bounty to choose from. There are more than a few fics we greatly enjoyed that didn't make the cut, but are definitely worthy of a read anyway. (And Fimfic readers seem to agree, given all of them have majority-green user ratings!) Check out all the stories here!
But before we get to the stories (or after, if you scrolled down immediately to see who won), let's see just which characters got the most appreciation from our contestants:
Prince of the Spring Fling: Flash Sentry!
Despite what you might think, there were a good number of the boys showing up for this contest, with Sandalwood, Micro Chips, and Timber Spruce making multiple appearances each. But in the end, it was guitar hero Flash Sentry who took top honors with 5 stories to his name. He was selective in his partners, though, with only 3—Sunset Shimmer, Princess Twilight Sparkle, and Timber Spruce—accompanying him to the dance floor.
Princess of the Spring Fling: Sunset Shimmer!
Well, obviously you all voted for Sunset. Sunset always wins. Or else.
But seriously, when it came to sheer volume of entries, Sunset crushed the competition with a whopping 16 stories—over half of the entire contest—in which she was part of the central pairing. Sunset got to attend the Spring Fling with many, many people at her side, including Sci-Twi, Rarity, Flash Sentry, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Trixie, Wallflower Blush, Starlight Glimmer, Adagio Dazzle, Sonata Dusk, a whole polycule, and, as her demon self, Midnight Sparkle.
Now that's quite a crowd. But if anyone can handle it, it's our Shimmy-Sham. All hail Princess Sunset! (But maybe don't let her put on the crown.)
Most Popular Lead Couple: SunsaRity!
Sunset and Rarity might have some bad blood from Spring Flings past, but that wasn't going to stop them from being the talk of the evening tonight! Who doesn't love two girls with a sense of style, after all?
This was an extremely close fight, which was good as it meant we had a lot of variety in the pairings people chose to feature. The maximum number of stories-per-pairing we saw was three, shared between Sunset/Rarity, Applejack/Rainbow Dash, and Applejack/Rarity. As a tiebreaker measure, we checked the total word count for each of the three pairings, and SunsaRity came out on top with 22,778 words, around ~2,500 above runner-up AppleDash.
As it turns out, the highest wordcount for a pairing actually went to Flash Sentry/Timber Spruce with 24,225 words. However, that was over just two stories rather than three, so, as much as we appreciate the TimberFlash love, we're handing this one to the ladies.
Most Popular Background Couple: SciSet!
Okay, this probably shouldn't be a category, but I couldn't help but notice something when reading these. Sunset and Sci-Twi might be one of the most popular pairings in Equestria Girls, but, given the emphasis on characters from the first movie (which Sci-Twi wasn't in), the pairing was only featured as the definite lead couple in 1 contest story (Plug at First Sight). But they did make a surprising number of smaller appearances as a couple or soon-to-be couple, with the pairing referenced in 7 stories aside from Plug—including one story where their relationship gets upstaged by their own demon/monster forms! It seems even if people aren't writing about these two science dorks, they can't help but give them a little shout-out.
Most Obscure Character Shipped: Sweet Leaf!
This isn't May Pairings, so we're not awarding based on how unusual the couple is, but it can always be interesting to see stories that step a bit off the beaten path regarding character choices. And we had a few smaller EqG names pop up in stories, with Micro Chips, Lyra, Derpy Hooves, Maud Pie, and Sandalwood getting a chance to shine—the former and the latter even did so twice! But those characters at least managed to get some amount of spotlighting by the show, whether through appearing as a lead in a short or by getting a lot of scene-stealing moments throughout. By contrast, Sweet Leaf, a perennial background character who only ever got one line in Friendship Games, was never more than a face in the crowd; she has no tag on Fimfiction, and Derpibooru and the MLP wiki even disagree on her name (the latter calls her "Sweet Leaves"). Thus, her appearance in Weed Packing Conversations, as part of a throuple with Sandalwood and Wallflower Blush, makes her the clear winner here.
Anyway, for all 2 of you who read through that without skimming straight down to the actual contest results (thank you both!), I've been testing your patience long enough. You're here for stories, so let's go ahead and talk the eight prizewinning stories (and two honorable mentions)!
Huge thanks to my fellow judges and EqG authors Avery Day, Dewdrops on the Grass, The Sleepless Beholder, and TCC56 for all their input and effort!
So, without further ado...
Honorable Mention
Give Me Anything But Blue by Summer Solstice
Having gone through a bad breakup myself, I know how devastating they can be for all involved. And this story captures that pain perfectly. Even with a relatively short word count, and the fact that it starts after the breakup, the story lets you know how much it meant to Sonata and Sunset so you can truly feel the heartbreak of their situation. That kind of talent is what awards this honorable mention.
Honorable Mention
Penance by Bicyclette
Penance is dark, dismal, and bleak, all the more so for taking one of the most upbeat, least threatening villains FIM ever saw in either its pony or EQG incarnations, and turning her into a world-conquering, universe-destroying monster. The harshness of the reality they’re consigned to, one that keeps them alive effectively for eternity, manifests in a myriad of awful ways, but especially in the connections that Starlight and Sunset form, or fail to form, in Starlight’s case. Without spoilers, all I can say is that this story really reaches in there and crushes your heart, and it leaves naught but detritus behind.
Avery Day's Judge Prize
Honey by RubyDubious
Much like its namesake, Honey is thick. It’s cute, but it’s ugly. It’s charming, yet it’s unsettling. More than any of that, though, it’s daring. Out of all the entries, it’s the only one tagged as horror, and yet it manages to stand out to me for reasons that go further beyond that. This story gave me a variety of different feelings, and it balances everything it sets out to do within its word count in a genuinely impressive way.
-- Avery Day
Dewdrops on the Grass' Judge Prize
Sentry for Hire by daOtterGuy
Sentry for Hire is that rare bit of writing that manages to evoke some truly fantastic world-building in as few words as possible, while simultaneously delivering a comedic, heartstrong character whose own confidence and conviction leads him to make mistakes in understanding his newest, and last, boss, and almost wreck everything in the process. And yet the actual relationship here feels perfectly natural, coming to life like it was practically meant to be, like a puzzle meant to be solved, and we’re just here to solve it. Everyone knows I’m not a big fan of Timber Spruce, but when written like this, he turns into a great character, especially in the skilled hands of DaOtterGuy. My only critique is that there wasn’t enough of this world. I want to see more, much more.
EileenSaysHi's Judge Prize
Plug at First Sight by FanOfMostEverything
This is a gloriously goofy romp showcasing the love that only two teenage mad scientists with deeply questionable ideas regarding ethical use of magitech can share. Between an incredibly well-written comedic take on pre-reform Sunset, a proudly neurodivergent and hilariously snarky Sci-Twi, a scene-stealing Twilight Velvet, and all the fun of science(!!), this is an absolute delight.
-- EileenSaysHi
The Sleepless Beholder's Judge Prize
No, Maybe, Yes by Uz Naimat
When I read this story, I knew this would be a big contender for my judge’s pick. Flash and Sunset’s relationship before the movie was a popular choice in the contest, and while this story couldn’t reach the top it wasn’t for lack of quality. Being from Sunset’s point of view, you can really see and feel her inner conflict as her relationship with Flash evolves. It makes you want to see them actually become a regular couple instead of the canon events.
TCC56's Judge Prize
Operation I'M NOT GAY by Dubs Rewatcher
I love a good farce comedy, and this is a great farce comedy. The situation is sensible and serious when taken from a grounded perspective - but this isn't that. All the characters are turned up to 11, causing things to wildly spiral out of control in a hilarious sequence of mad choices. Plus it helps that there's legit great chemistry between Twilight and Micro - as friends rather than romantic partners, but that's damn important too. They feel like a good match that way and that grounds the situation just enough.
Plus this story has what I think is the best single comedic line in this entire contest.
-- TCC56
And now we reach the TOP PRIZES...
Third Place
Doused Flame by heartlessons
It’s not uncommon to see fics reference Sunset and Flash’s canon relationship as pure manipulation on Sunset’s part. What this story does is instead present it as something deeply raw and real; a Flash who cares deeply for Sunset and is trying at every turn to help this girl who is so clearly struggling with the world, and a Sunset who clearly likes him in return. It uses our foreknowledge of how this ends to deepen the tragedy of their doomed romance, and I have an easy time imagining many readers adopting it as headcanon.
-- EileenSaysHi
There’s a lot to love in this story. Flash’s evolution from the first sentence to the last. Sunset’s unique perspective of this strange world she stumbled into. And some of the moments where her human mask drops and she’s a curious pony trying to understand the new world. But most of all, the feelings that each of them have for each other is what is gonna grip you through it. Because they feel so real. Nervousness and fear of saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, all the way to the moment the flame douses.
It's easy for a story (romances in particular) to focus on the big climax scenes rather than the relatively quiet parts. How many romantic stories are just the build-up to one character asking another out on a date? It's frequently left there, as if the parts after don't really matter.
This isn't a story about a romance, it's about a relationship. And why that works comes down to the little details. This story revels in them that make the relationship feel genuine and lived-in. It's not grand gestures or flashy speeches; it's what establishes their relationship and who they are together. It makes the grander story work and sets it apart from the pack.
-- TCC56
Second Place
For Your Consideration by Oroboro
From the very beginning, this story tugged at my heart, and throughout reading, the intensity of that tugging only ever increased until I was actually sobbing by the end. Rarity reminisces on her life with Sunset through the closest thing to a tangible memory palace, viewing the peaks and valleys of her relationship with her wife—right before everything they had is tragically, abruptly, and anticlimactically snuffed out. There’s so much more I could say, but this story deserves to speak for itself.
-- Avery Day
While losing a loved one always hurts, losing someone whom you’ve spent the greater part of your life with, devoted yourself in every way to, that hurts like nothing else. A part of you is just gone. FYC goes a step beyond this, and allows Rarity to experience her beloved’s memories, guided by someone who looks like Sunset… but isn’t. That fact alone hurts more than almost anything else in the story, and really binds it all together with the skillful writing. A most worthy tale and well worth coming out of pony retirement for.
In the very best of ways, the way that only something great can, this story hurts. I cried reading it, I cried talking about it with the judges, I’m misty-eyed typing about it now… gaahhh. It’s a beautiful portrait of a life spent together, wondrously and happily, and yet cut so painfully short all the same. It captures that desperation to find closure, even when none may truly exist, in a heartachingly lovely way, one that I won’t soon forget.
-- EileenSaysHi
First Place
Heartstrings by evelili
There are many aspects of Heartstrings I loved. It tells the story of a relationship that feels as impossible to maintain as it is doomed to fail, and someone who blames not his actions, but himself for it. Flash and Twilight are both worlds apart—in more ways than one, and both in literal and figurative senses. Yet, no matter how hopeless their relationship seems, no matter how inevitable the end may look, Flash carries on.
With all its dissonance, this story is not without its consonance. The outlook is bleak, but it still manages to be hopeful. Even if the future of their romance is unclear, that doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy what they have, and what time they have together. This story is incredibly heartfelt, and a well deserved first prize winner.
-- Avery Day
The visceral core of this story pulses with as much pain and care as the character’s relationship. Long distance relationships are never easy, even ones where the people are able to see each other now and again, and here, with Flash and Twilight, this story managed to take one of the most hated ships of the fandom and turn it on its head. Every word oozes with the heart-tugging notion that this relationship cannot last, will not last, and Flash blaming himself for it the whole time is something I think we can all identify with, in one way or another. I know I did.
This is a story that’s so impressive in the way it characterizes Flash and (Pony) Twilight that I genuinely think it will redefine the way many of its readers see the pairing in general. There’s just such a potent richness to the way this pair is written, the way they adore each other for reasons that are almost in opposition to each other… it’s phenomenal work. It’s a story that pulses with deep emotion and I loved every moment of it.
-- EileenSaysHi
This story, to me at least, feels like an amalgamation of what I liked the most of all the other stories in the contest. A true to life relationship. Gripping emotions. A great use of Sunset’s character. Amazing internal conflict. And even if this is a story dealing with a problem in the relationship that seems impossible to ever overcome, you read the end feeling hopeful. Which for me, is a great show of the author’s writing skills, and why I chose it for the top spot of the contest.
One thing that a lot of readers (and writers!) don't get is that there's a difference between romance and being romantic. And while that's a very Rarity thing to say, it's still true. This story captures the difference: a romance between Flash and the Princess is impossible to sustain, but they both do their best to be romantic in spite of it.
This story captures that feeling dead on, particularly the beautiful last scene. The earnest push by Flash to make the most of what they have and find the joy in the now really cemented this story to me from being just a contender to the hands-down winner.
-- TCC56
And with that, the Spring Fling contest has come to a close! Winners will be contacted over the coming days to arrange payments.
Thank you for reading through this results page, and I implore you to check out these wonderful stories, along with those that didn't make this list (again, we were blessed with a bounty of EqG shipping goodness). Thanks to all who participated, all who've read, and all who've enjoyed Equestria Girls over these past ten years.
Other Ongoing Contests Worth Joining
- The Polyship Contest, running through May 21st.
- The Cyberpunk Equestria Story Contest, running through June 1st.
- The May Pairings Contest, running through May 31st.
- The Sunset x Villain Period Piece contest, running through June 11th.
Which stories from this contest did you read and really enjoy? Feel free to tell us on the main results page here!
Speaking personally, I was also notably fond of Calypso's RDnA...J?, Moproblems Moharmoney's Gone Fishing, and SilverNotes' And She Captivates, among others. Give them a read!
Awesome results!! I read most of the submissions out of curiosity and I loved them. I’m also happy to see Sweet Leaf get some love. She’s my favorite Equestria Girls background human. I wish I could’ve entered, but school got in the way, unfortunately. Hopefully, there will be another opportunity for me to join a contest at some point. These were some great stories!
Crazy Dave's Plug Emporium rides eternal!
Thanks for the plug Eileen! Both for my fic and my two contests (well, one I suggested and one I'm judging).
I was blown away by the quality on show.