Contest update and FAQ · 5:54am Sep 21st, 2015
We're about halfway through the writing period for the "Dream A Little Dream Of Me" contest I'm running! Entry deadline is about 84 hours from now (three days, plus until I go to sleep and wake up on Pacific Daylight Time), and the entries have kept trickling in.
Just to give you some sense of the amazing variety of interpretations everyone has brought to the table:
Number of entries so far: 7 [1]
Number of entries written as poetry: 6
Number of different narrators used: 6
Number of different characters labeled as having the greatest responsibility for Peridot's death: 4
Number of entries where the Nightmare claims at least partial responsibility for her death: 4
Number of entries that have significantly used a clue I myself didn't realize was there: 2
[1] Not counting the submission from Zergling Drone #4853, who I may or may not disqualify for repeatedly biting my neck.
If you've been holding back on entering because you feel like you're the only reader not understanding the mystery — take a look at those statistics. Folks are interpreting the death in lots of different ways! While The Last Dreams Of Pony Island is a logic puzzle, it doesn't have just one correct answer: as long as you explain all the mysteries you discover, in a way that doesn't contradict any of the facts you read, you've got a good shot. If you feel like there are too many right answers you have to choose between ... you're probably right 
Below the fold, I'm going to cover some of the questions that I've had entrants and/or readers ask me.
Do I need to write my entry as poetry?
The only-prose-entry-thus-far is one of the stronger contenders, so no. 
Good poetry gets coolness points with me, but "cool" covers a lot!
Can I change my entry after submitting it?
Absolutely! Anything you send me before the September 24 deadline will replace your current entry, so feel free to edit (and if a fact you missed hits you between the eyes later on, work it on in).
A number of submitters have sent me a Google Docs link. If do you, I'll skim through the current version, but the official entry will be what I copy from that link on the morning of the 24th.
Can I run my entry by a prereader?
Qualified yes. I'm going by a Writeoff-style honor system on this one. Where I'm drawing the line is, getting feedback from other people on your entry is fine, but having someone else help you write it is unfair to the people who are entering as solo efforts. Prereading is basically about pointing you to holes in your text for you to patch up; just don't use someone else's work, and it's up to your own judgment how literally to take that.
Should I consider "meta-clues" when doing my analysis of the story?
By "meta-clues" I mean something that's not a feature of the story text in isolation (*edit: plus MLP canon). For example, the translations of the names and foreign vocabulary, which would require you to do outside research. Or clues pulled from the story title, cover art, description, or tags.
The short answer is, you will not be penalized for ignoring meta-clues (if any exist). If you work in meta-clues (to the extent that they exist) in a creative way, I will look quite favorably on that in the creativity judging (but that's certainly NOT the only way to earn creativity points). If you want to know whether something was intended as a meta-clue or not, you may ask me privately and I'll give you a direct answer. (That answer is most likely no.)
What about the clues you've given out in the previous contest post or in comments to the story?
Those, you should pay attention to.
(Aside from the bonus clue in the contest post, this is mostly clarifications of story headcanon and terminology: for example, this definition of Nocturnes vs. Nightmares, and a direct explanation of the Night With No Moon. I've also made the suggestion that entrants should privately write up a who's-who to help them organize their thoughts.)
Now, I've got one question for those of you who made it this far.
I'm definitely planning on making the entries publically accessible, if I'm given permission by everyone to do so. There's too much cool work to bury! The question is, would there be any interest in a "Reader's Choice" award voted on by contestants and/or interested readers, given in addition to (or separately from) the top three? If so, any suggestions for prizes?
I'm happy to handle further questions in comments, and if you're still working on your entry, I look forward to seeing it!
Bacon.
I am honestly trying to think of six different mentioned characters that do not already have an entry in the first place, so seeing what people homed in on should be neat.
No idea what an appropriate prize would be, even though a "people's winner" is a fun concept.
I have the feeling I should revise my entry, but I'm not sure if I'm going to have the time. We'll see what happens...
I'm having some real issues figuring this one out. There's just too many pieces, and I can't get them all to fit.
Hmm, a reader's choice one would be fun.
As for prizes, if you felt up to it, you could offer them the pick of the remaining on your list. Or, if you want the readers to offer prizes as well, I think I've got a few duplicate Humble Bundle games... lesse, Yeah, I've got some Steam codes I think I could gift, if the system works like I imagine. Want one of those to add to your list?
Ok, this is going to sound like a dumb question, but can someone clarify "who" we need to write this from?
The original entry said that we haven't yet heard from "the nightmare", but then went on to say we could use any character. So, what does that mean? We can use any character from the story? Or is the only character the Nightmare, and we simply write what we think it concludes about the culprit?
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Re prizes: yeah, I probably could, either way. Drop me a PM if you want to chip in, although as a contestant it might be a little weird.
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No worries. Let me try stating it from a different angle:
Where Pony Island's 16 chapters came from is that an individual in (or near, or with some link to) Myinnkyun is sifting through all of these ponies' dreams, and those chapters are what they saw. They are "a Nightmare": that's a job description, meaning they're basically a Lunar secret agent with dream-infiltration powers. Your job is to write the final chapter from the perspective of that dream-snooper, so you're "locked in" to using that Nightmare's POV. However, the story hasn't stated who that Nightmare is, so you have a lot of latitude in deciding who's doing the snooping and why. Does that answer your question?
3411415 Yep, got it now. :) Thanks!
Does this mean you unintentionally included a detail that further confirmed your personal narrative? Or does it mean you unintentionally included something that undermined it?
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Which answer makes me look smarter?
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Whichever one means I win?