Competition » Cozy Glow Short Story Contest #4 · 1:00am Aug 2nd, 2023
⬇⬇⬇THIS COULD BE YOU!!⬇⬇⬇
They said* it couldn’t be done. They said* the child was dealt with, problem solved, nothing more to see here. Rendered completely harmless as a statue. A grotesque chunk of frieze in the old gothic style, fallen from the ramparts of Canterlot Castle. A lawn gnome set in ambush to bemuse wanderers in Celestia and Luna’s precious hedge maze. No way could she inspire a single expression of overwhelming support, let alone three.
But look how wrong they were, dear friends. Observe the joyous adulations she’s received over the past conflicts literary disputes. All is documented and irrefutable. Rest assured, therefore, in the knowledge that she still roams free, fully empowered to command your devotion, sympathy, and undying loyalty. The Cozy Glow Group welcomes you to the 4th annual Cozy Glow Short Story Contest!
Guidelines
All stories must:
-Adhere to the site rules
-Be between 2.5k and 15k words in length
-Contain Cozy Glow as a central character and be classifiable under one of the prompts.
-Be written in English
-Be written between 25 Jul 2023 12:00 PM EDT and 25 Sep 2023 12:00 PM EDT. No exceptions. Post up to three entries in this folder. Stories may be sequels, but must be able to be read without knowledge of prior works.
-Entrants must be willing to reveal their country of residence (which must have an amazon website) if they win a monetary prize. If a monetary prize is not possible, an alternative prize will be offered.
-“Genre” refers to narrative type of story (e.g. adventure, mystery, etc.); “category” refers to tone (e.g. sad, comedy, dark, etc.).
Otherwise, there are no restrictions on content or maturity level. Stories will be assigned points based on the following:
-Narrative flow and cohesiveness – does it all work together as an organic whole?
-Quality of spelling and grammar – typos and copy/paste errors can ruin the most carefully engineered mood.
-Emotional impact – make the reader feel it.
-Relevance to the MLP universe – is there a connection to the characters, lore, and storyline portrayed in the show?
-Originality – take an old premise and add a new spin, or venture into the unknown.
-Style – speak to the reader in your own unique voice.
-X-factor – how sharp are the teeth?
Prizes
Monetary prize amounts will vary depending on the number of entrants. Winners are guaranteed the following:
1st place: an amazon gift code worth at least $50, posting with link to story on the Cozy Glow group front page, and brief review.
2nd place: an amazon gift code worth at least $40, posting with link to story on the Cozy Glow group front page, and brief review.
3rd place: an amazon gift code worth at least $30, posting with link to story on the Cozy Glow group front page, and brief review.
Runner-up: posting with link to story on the Cozy Glow group front page and brief review.
At 20 entrants, the monetary prizes increase by $15; at 30 entrants, they increase by an additional $15, and so on at each tier of 10 up to 4 total tiers.
Prompts
Any genre, any category
-Cozy writes a short story!
-Cozy Glow vs. …
-Gap story (fits with canon but not shown in an episode).
-Cozy’s got a secret.
-From the ruins of Canterlot slunk Cozy Glow...
-It wasn't a problem until...
-Possessions
-Sprout discovers the ancient legend of Cozy Glow, which inspires him to go on a quest.
Adventure, any category
-As Princess Luna is delivering Cozy to Tartarus, they have an adventure.
-Cozy had never heard of (Maretime Bay/Zephyr Heights/Bridlewood) before.
Slice of Life, Sad
-Cozy was a straight-A student at the School of Friendship, on her way to becoming an Element of Harmony. Then there came a lesson set her on a different path.
-Life was great until mom started barking like a dog.
-How can I make them be quiet when they’re already dead?
-And that was when she realized it had all gone wrong.
Grimdark/horror
-They showed her how to harvest the skulls, after she’d finished playing.
-Flurry Heart and Cozy Glow develop a strong friendship that turns into something more.
-Of all things, it was love that Cozy needed.
-Cozy and the house of horror.
Judges
the dobermans
Anonymous Judge #1
*All persons who said this are purely imaginary. Obnoxious, but imaginary.
I wonder if a contest entry HAS to be set in FiM? Would one with Equestria Girls as a setting be valid or no?
Hmm...
Okay, I'm not gonna lie, the horror prompts are giving me some interesting ideas...
Dang it, I JUST did this...
Oh well, always room for more Cozy.
i must write about the sociopathic child
Another contest for me to write one week prior and submit hours prior to the deadline. Well, actually, I hope not that late this time. So, with the story length, are we talking about per story or every entry combined? And can each of the up to 3 entries be a different prompt? If so, I might be able to form some ideas for a trilogy. I'll likely have to catch up on G5 since late last year.
The only problem I'd have is, my stories are never that short...
Looks fun.
5740358
Heh. What if Cozy was using the mirror to coordinate with her human self? I mean, if she got one of those books to EqG Cozy, they could have been planning their takeover of the whole universe from the get-go. And what might happen if pony-Cozy stops writing?
Okay, imagination got the better of me there...
They said I could become a psychopathic pony child? I believe that would be false advertisement. Shame on you. :p
5740358
Dobes, a ruling on this please?
I love the annual Cozy Glow contest! I hope they're some great stories this year like there has been in the past!
Thanks everyone for your interest!
5740358
Stories can be set in the EqG framework as long as the prompt, genre and category requirements are followed (for example, G5 + EqG probably won't work).
5740364
The story length requirement is per story. Each entry can be submitted under any prompt, including repeats.
I have to admit, Cozy holding that crown does look like me on a daily basis.
I have a great idea for a gap story if someone would be willing to spitball with me.
I just joined this site only two years ago. How traditional are these Cozy Glow story contests?
5742594
This one started in 2020 and goes once per year.
5742981
There must be solid gold potential for these Cozy stories if this is a yearly thing.
Yeaaaaaaah BOIIIIIIIIIIIIII! I'll be back with more Cozy Glow!
5742984
Indeed. There are so many premises, that haven't been fully explored yet. For example, the op goddess of chaos folder has still just a single entry in it.
I've posted a Story idea a while ago, but so far no takers.
From grim dark end of the world scenario to a comedic story about Cozy punching herself in the face with chaos magic, as well as anything in between, that single premise can be taken into many different directions.
And there are many other premises with just as much potential. Like what if Cozycorn used time travel magic instead, and calls dibs on equestria before it's founding? Becomes the greatest wizard, by copying starswirls work, before he even wrote it? Or invades another timeline from the season 5 finale, to "save" the day?
The possibilities are endless.
cozy Darla Dimple Glow Star is my fanon name for her don't have much aside from the fact she is not even a pegasus but a equestrian girls runaway who hopped through the mirror
I don't think I'll be able to patriate this year but I'll be sure to next year!
Friendly PSA: 12 PM is noon, not midnight!
5747866
Ahhh, oh nooo! I'll do my best to finish!
5747866
When will the stories be judged?
Thanks everyone for your submissions!
5747921
The goal is to have the judging completed within 2 weeks.
I had so much time to enter this contest and I didn't. But the time I seriously thought about it, there was like 4-5 days left and I really didn't feel like rushing an entry. Did that once for a shipping contest last year, hopefully never again. It's tempted to write her as reforming like Flurry Heart releasing her from her stone prison (but not the other two) when she would have been around the same age physically as Cozy and then Flurry's love for Cozy reforming her. I did noticed their friendship becoming something more was listed under grimdark/horror which kinda gave me ideas.
5748084
cool ideas, and I almost never finished my fic as well
5747930
Thanks!
Quick update: story evaluation is 99.9% complete. Looks like it's going to be another tough one as far as determining the top spots!
5749636
Wooo! I'm excited! I didn't have time to participate but I'm interested to see who will win! All the stories are really good! <3
After much painful, but fulfilling deliberation, I'm excited to announce the winners of this year's contest:
Tied for 3rd place: Life on Equus and The Angel with One Wing by AlwaysDressesInStyle and Fluttercheer, respectively (this eliminates the runner up spot)
2nd place: The Roles We (Are Fated to) Play by AltruistArtist
1st place: Doubt Itself by Casketbase77
I'd like to offer a sincere thank you to all of the authors for your interest and time, and for making this the most successful contest yet! Monetary prizes will be purchased shortly and sent to the authors via PM.
As always, the contest attracted many excellent stories that are well worthy of your attention. Please consider heading over to the Contest Folder to read them, and joining me in congratulating the winners!