Well everyone after some great stories written this year we have our winners. The prizes were judged by three judges and points were awarded to each story. There are five categories: Everyone, Teen, Mature, Staff Pick, Fan Pick. Originally there was going to be 1 winner per category to win a $50 gift card to amazon. However, for the Staff Pick the judges picked different stories and all had valid reasons why we chose them over the others. So instead of axing the staff pick all together we added $10 to the prize pool and will split it 3 ways.

So now lets get to what everyone is waiting to see....The Results!!

Everyone
Winner:
To Be A Thestralian
Runner Up:
Blooming Romance

Teen
Winner:
The Sun's Descent
Runner Up:
Child of Nighmares and Everfree

Mature (NSFW)
Winner:
Stand at Attention, Corporal!
Runner Up:
Finding Warmth in All the Cold Places

Staff Picks
Winners:

The Sun's Descent

Child of Nighmares and Everfree

Blooming Romance

And now the one that you the fans of Bat Ponies picked.
Winner:
Stand at Attention, Corporal!
Runner up:
Top Edge

Stand at Attention, Corporal! - 7
Top Edge - 4
Child of Nightmares and Everfree - 3
Finding Warmth in All the Cold Places - 2
The Sugar on Her Fangs - 1
Soliders of the Night - 1
The Sun's Descent - 1
After the Thousand Years Change: Color Scheme - 1
A Shiver of Sympathy - 1
Meadowbrook - 1

awesome

Good stories overall! Good competition!

Congratulations to the winners!

Congrats. Wish I could say it was fun writing for this, but unfortunately, I think I failed in my own pursuits...

Woo hoo! Thanks, guys. Nice bunch of stories.

Tough competition, good stories. Had a blast, can't wait for the next contest. ^^

Congratulations to everyone who won!

5666537 Do not be discouraged the teen category was extremely competitive.
What matters is that you know you did your best and next year you will have learned from this and will continue to improve as an author.

5667818
I learned that if I want to win the popular vote, I need to add a sex scene.

But seriously, were there any rating cards / scales / feedback (even just one sentence) for improvement; or is it just 'judges liked this one better because reasons'?

5668249
Each of the judges were free to use their own methods on determining how to rank a story.
Personally I used my college English lit class rubrics to judge mine.
If anyone is interested in receiving feed back then reach out to the judges: reprovedhawk, sixkiller5, the abyss and ask for their feedback. I know I'm willing to give honest feedback.

5667818 Yeah... I hope you're right. It's just frustrating having such little feedback or even views...

5669285
Ask the judges for their thoughts and improvements. I'll be happy to tell my impressions on it.

5669287 Modesty would normally prevent me from doing so, but... hmm, I like the idea. Should I make a thread just for my own story, or just have a general "impressions of the judges" thread?

5669420 I would message them

5669961 Very well. Where can I find a list of the judges, again?

5670536
It's me, the other group admin sixkiller5, and The Abyss a member of the group.