Welcome to the March World-Building Alliance prompt!

Now we're really getting into things! Last months was a little dry, but we really should've expected that, seeing as we set a particularly hard prompt in the shortest month of the year. Oops.

Now on to the fun part. This months prompt is:

Death

...and that's it! The rest is for you to decide! Is it what happens after death? How loved ones cope with a death? The death of a leader? A nation? Or perhaps you want to go philosophical on us and deal with the deaths of ideas or religions. It's completely up to you

Once you’ve finished your story and submitted it to FimFic, post here in this thread the following information:
Name:
Title:
Genre Tags:
Race:
Please provide links where necessary.

Same rules as before:
- 5k word target. We'll stretch to 5.5k, but any longer than that and the fic will be shunted over to the "longfic" category, with seperate judging, etc.
- No rating restrictions, but bear in mind that excessive gore/sex/whatever might not be to everyone's tastes, least of all the judges.
- Deadline is the last day of the month. That will be the final day for submissions. For those of you in different timezones, if it’s the final day, make sure to also post what time it is in your time zone.
- Only stories submitted to the site during this month will be accepted. That means your story from August of 2012 won’t be accepted.
- Judging will be finished by the end of the first week of the next month. So on the 7th, the judging thread will be up, complete with the final scores for each story. It will also have a description of how the judging works and how the winner is selected. Important stuff for you to know beforehand is that we look at five categories: Plot, Characterization, Mechanics, World-Building and how well it fits with the FiM universe.
- And finally, all site rules are in effect. If you’re not quite sure what they are, see link.
Cheers and happy writing!
~ The World-Building Alliance Admin Team

Oh, and it's time for a new pony too! Can't forget about that now, can we?

Hmm, Death, a rather grim topic no matter how one spins it (Though i wouldn't put it past some of our amazing writers to figure out a positive way to use this story). Unfortunately, I've been neglecting my own narratives for quite some time now and will not be setting hoof in on this contest. Its an interesting theme, but Death has too many negative connotations for me, plus I sorta used up all my sad for February's contest entry.

Best of luck to those who enter!

Perfect, already had a death related story bouncing around in the big noggin 'o mine. Almost had one for Feb but decided to scrap it because my 'hero' was a bit lacking. Oh well

New pony? Could it be my fav orange coat farmer? XD

Huh. Death doesn't seem a particularly worldbuildy prompt. But with that said, it's all in how the author spins the prompt. Should generate some interesting stories, either way.

Coincidentally, I'm working on a story where death and how others cope with it is the main theme of the story. But I guess you don't accept stories with clop, do you?

750728

Now we're really getting into things! Last months was a little dry, but we really should've expected that, seeing as we set a particularly hard prompt in the shortest month of the year. Oops.

Would a couple of days have really mattered to that contest? If I struggle to get something down after four weeks, a couple of days extra isn't exactly going to save my bacon.

That said, I agree that the species limitation was a bit much. I prefer being allowed to choose.

Now on to the fun part. This months prompt is:

Death

Something tells me we're going to be seeing a lot of low scores for the "fit with the MLPverse" category. In all seriousness, though, this is a bit on the dark side for our stories to fit well with canon, isn't it? Will there be more like this in the coming months?

...and that's it! The rest is for you to decide!

Well, I can't think of any questions right now that I haven't asked before, and I don't want to be lazy and simply copy-and-paste the set. I suppose the most obvious ones with the death category are how "dark" the story can get before it's deemed unlikely or unacceptable, as per the "fit with the MLPverse" criterion, and how tangential the death can be to the story before it's considered irrelevant to the contest. For instance, a one-sentence mention of the death of an old historical figure who otherwise doesn't feature in the story is probably pushing the boundary a bit far, so is this at the judges' discretion?

Now, I'm off to do some brainstorming. I'm disappointed I didn't get around to finishing my story in time for February, but on the other hand, these contests are a lot of fun! Hopefully, this time I can meet the contest deadline, and make up somewhat for losing the opportunity last month.

750758
Maybe not death itself... unless its Death with a capital "D" who happens to speak in ALL CAPS and is quite a nice chap when you meet him. But the afterlife maybe

750953

The scores are weighted, so the "Fits with the FiMverse" category is one of the less important ones.

And to be quite frank, there's an awful lot of reality that's necessary to keep the world spinning that wouldn't fit in an episode of MLP. Pinkie going on a killing spree wouldn't score well, but Celestia attempting to deal with the death of her previous students would do alright.

so is this at the judge's discretion

Pretty much.

750962

750985
Or the death of a leader they thought was immortal...

And I do believe any argument I may have has been rendered invaild..

751004

751008
Bueno for first line, or bueno for second?

751014

751028
Very well you win this round Professor... now what to write?

So is it free reign with species? Ponies included? Just curious is all. Also can you say, make a comedy about the other side, not everything based around death needs to bring tears amirite?

Here have some uber cuteness

751102

Also can you say, make a comedy about the other side, not everything based around death needs to bring tears amirite?

The ending to Life of Brian comes to mind.

751102

Ponies included?

Same as the January prompt. The story can include ponies, but shouldn't be focussed on them. That's not what we're here for.

Also can you say, make a comedy about the other side, not everything based around death needs to bring tears amirite?

751135
Well... crap there goes that idea...

751140
Wild stab in the dark: A story about Celestia?

751153
Or Twilight...

751157

751194
CP: 1 PP: 1

751203
I think you'll find that Applejack always wins

CP: 1 PP: Apples

750953

That said, I agree that the species limitation was a bit much. I prefer being allowed to choose.

Ah, but a challenge is fun sometimes!

What is the "Race:" item for? Do we really care what the genetics of the writer are?

I am confused. It probably means something completely different.

Hmm, I think I have something to work with. Hopefully it passes the "no ponies" requirement.

751799
The race of the creatures in the story. Ya know, Minotaur, Dragon, Zebra, etc.

751799
It's for what species you're writing about. Just helps us sort the fics for judging

So no, we don't care about the colour of the authors skin or any such nonsense.

751820
751822

Thanks. I knew I was missing something, I just wasn't sure what. Obvious in retrospect.

I was so stocked for March, just waiting to join.

*Reads theme*

Well, another month I can't join. Best of luck to those that join.

Oh... Hmm... I guess I should do a quote.

"Death is something we can't see. It is the end that always comes. Death, the saddest emotion. Yet, it also frees us from this realm of misery."

Something like that. Challenge accepted!

After a nice long day of doing nothing, I find myself reflecting on my earlier comment and deciding that there is a very slight possibility that I may actually attempt to enter this contest; my last story about Dune Sea didn't go over well, but since the theme is Death and there is a lot of Death about Dune Sea, I may be able to 'expand' upon her some more, as the judges of the last contest so desired.

Consider this a tentative "Challenge Accepted" with no real ambition to accept any challenges.

Well, this ought to be interesting. I think I might just enter this.

Name: Sendor

Title: A Brother's Love

Genre Tags: Adventure

Race: Griffins

I really hope everyone likes this one.

UPDATE FROM THE ADMINS: We derp'd slightly and assumed that people in this month's competition knew the rules from the January one. The main post has been updated to reflect them.

Of particular note is the 5k word limit. We're allowing 757178 through because this was our fault for not making it clear, but in future all entrants should stick to this word limit, or enter them for the dedicated longfic category.

We sowwy

757265
All is forgiven. One cannot stay mad at a sad Applejack

Hmmm... death, you say? I think I can do this. Yes... yes that sounds perfect. Are we allowed to have a pony as the protagonist, but they are spending their time with another race? I.e. foreign exchange student?

I could make it work without it, but it would be amazingly helpful and less forced if a pony protagonist is fine.

758261
Yep

759298
I can't tell what disturbs me most in that picture, the smile, the eyes, or the friggin' human hand.

But seriously, where are you getting all these perfectly pony-specific pictures? (Accidental alliteration aversion)

760695
Earth-pony magic

Got an idea for this one, will try to start it with more than ten days to go

Gonna have to pass on this one due to personal stuff, but good luck to those writers who participate.

Getting death to fit in with the FiMverse is like getting pinkie-pie to start obeying physics!
But there are disney examples how to handle death in a kids show, so I may need to take some notes!

Regarding the topic, would it be okay if I write an informative piece instead of an actual story? It's framed by a story but the actual meat of the topic is actually presented as a report. Would it violate the contest rules?

Challenge accepted!

Oh and I have such a fun idea to work with.

Hey, I am new to ths group, and I have a question.
Can the story me multiple chapters?

776203
From January Writing Contest:

Now, we are a world-building group, so many of the ideas sprung by these prompts can easily turn into quite the long story. However, that said, for the purposes of judging, we’ll only be looking at the chapter(s) that total up to 5000 words. But, if enough of you write those long stories, and then finish them, we just might be willing to look over those finished products and come up with a new results post.

So, I'll say yes as long as your chapters total add up to around 5k (5.5k max).

771551
So... like a newspaper article or something?
Sure, I don't see a problem with it.

776203
What 776343 said.

776646
Not a newspaper report but a report from Twilight to Celestia about other races. Exactly about what topic (having to do with death), you'll have to read it when it comes out.

776880
Sounds fine to me either way

776882
Awesome, thanks.