Hello everyone and welcome to the second Cyberpunk Equestria Story Contest. 

I started this contest with the desire to bring life to the Cyberpunk Equestria group as well as encouraging the creation of more cyberpunk stories here on FiMFiction. 

This time, I thought it would be fun if we tried working some Halloween/Nightmare Night themes into the stories as well. 🔪

Now onto the rules.

Rules

• Your story must possess cyberpunk elements. These can include: cybernetics, dystopian cityscapes, hacking, cyberspace, corporations controlling almost everything, robots, hovering vehicles, etc…
• It must also include Halloween/Nightmare Night elements and must take place either during or around Nightmare Night/Halloween (or the AU equivalent of).
• The story can be either a future or alternate universe of either Gen4, Gen5, or even EqG but must take place in Equestria. 
• AUs and OCs are allowed, just be aware that the judges might not be aware of any worldbuilding/lore outside of what's in MLP.
• The story must be SFW (Safe for Work). It can have implied sex, but no actual clop. Also NO foalcon and no incestuous pairings. 
• Aside from the Fetish tag, all tags are acceptable.
• Must have at least 2,500 words with the upper limit being 20,000 words.
• It MUST be a new story and can't be one that you've already published.
• When submitting your story, make sure you put it in the 2023 Cyberpunk Nightmare Night Story Contest by midnight on November 3rd December 1st 2023 and the story must be complete at that date.
• You are allowed to post multiple entries, however only one may win a prize.
• Have fun. 

The contest deadline is November 3rd (that way it doesn't interfere with work) at midnight (PST).

Feel free to ask any questions if you have any. 

The judges are: Calmflame, Moproblems Moharmony, Short-tale.

They will be judging the story on:

• How well the story portrays the cyberpunk setting/elements and Halloween elements.
• How good the story is and how well the characters are depicted. 
• How well the story is written.

There prizes are as follows:

• 1st Place: An art piece by Spectra_Sus, Flat Full Body image.
• 2nd Place: A Half Body Full Shading art piece by Spectra_Sus.
• 3rd Place: A Headshot Full Shading art piece by Spectra_Sus.

Here’s an example of Spectra_Sus’s artwork:

Prompts
Here are just a couple fun prompt ideas that you could use if you're interested:

• The main character get's a new cybernetic limb only to discover that it is possessed by the ghost of it's previous owner.
• The main character goes out for Nightmare Night and discovers that they are being stalked by someone... or something.
• The main character learns that their friend is actually a vampony (either naturally or maybe the accidental results of cybernetics).

Also feel free to take a look at these as well.

And there you have it. Thank you all for reading the information on this contest. I look forward to seeing your entries. 

Looking forward to see how it turns out for this contest, I wish you all the best of luck on this project.

7867029 Thank you. I'm looking forward to seeing the stories as well.

Are you interested in participating?

7867034
I am currently not skilled enough to write a sci-fi story, but if it was for Sci-Fi Art I would certainly be down for it.

7866982

Your story must possess cyberpunk elements. These can include: cybernetics, dystopian cityscapes, hacking, cyberspace, corporations controlling almost everything, robots, hovering vehicles, etc…

Do post-cyberpunk elements not count for this? Or will they satisfy the requirement 'closely enough?'

7867085 Hmm... Well, post-cyberpunk does contain many cyberpunk elements, so I'd say that I'd allow it.

7866982

must take place either during or around Nightmare Night.

This is a bit restrictive. I think it's enough that the stories have some horror/halloween elements. If you're writing an AU (which most cyberpunk stories are), Nightmare Night may not be a thing or even make sense in the setting.

7867253 I don't think so. I think it's reasonable to have the story take place either during a Nightmare Night/Halloween holiday or in the days leading up to the event and perhaps a day or two after.

Who want's to call dibs on a ponyfied Nightmare on Elm St? Or is that too obvious?

Horror isn't a genre I've sought out to write much of, so this will be an interesting departure from my norm; but it should prove a nice stretching of the creative muscles! Looking forward to seeing what gets submitted!

7867705
7867253 to be clear it doesn't have to be horror. It just has to also have a Nightmare Night/Halloween feel in addition to the cyberpunk elements.

Hello there!

-The story must be SFW (Safe for Work). It can have implied sex, but no actual clop. Also NO foalcon and no incestuous pairings.

-Aside from the Fetish tag, all tags are acceptable.

1. SFW usually implies no 'Porn' tag.
2. These rules talk about sex, but don't cover other concerns about the story's rating. SFW often (but not always) implies no 'Gore' tag. When we talk about cyberbetic limbs we are often have to discuss topics like, ahem, dismemberment. Can we write 'Mature', or 'Teen' is the limit?

Asking just to be sure.

7876473 I would say just don't go over the top with it. Like obviously going into deep detail about it so that it makes viewers (including the judges) squeamish it might be a bit of an issue.

So, on the off-chance I'm an idiot: is there a step I'm missing when it comes to dropping a story in the contest folder? Because I'm not seeing an option to add a story to it. I'm in the group and I have the option to add stories to all the other folders...?

All hail the bug where if no stories are in a folder, no new ones can be added. Group mod has to add one per hand

At least I heard of this bug, could have been also a potential missing of permissions

7879176 It's a weird glitch with FiMFiction, if there is no story in the folder, then the option isn't available in the group, you can add it through the story.

If need be, you could post a link to your story here and I will add it to the group to alleviate the problem.

7879246
Thank you!

7879248 In the situation that you want me to add the story to the folder, I need to know what story it is.

*Looking about nervously. Hoping that more people will join.*

Damnit, now I have an idea. And seeing this post is to blame.
...
Well played.

7889833 Well, I hope to see your story then.

---

The deadline has been extended to December 1st, in the hopes of acquiring more entries.

cybernetics

In this context, what exactly is cybernetics? I don't think https://www.britannica.com/science/cybernetics is all quite what you mean, maybe?

7899409 so in this case we are referring to cybernetic organs, like robotic legs, wings, eyes, etc...

7899423
Ah! My bionic pancreas thanks you.

7899431 I look forward to seeing your entry.

7903531

Mockingbirb I look forward to seeing your entry.

Thank you! I have no idea whether I will be able to write one during the contest, though!
It really seems like my most cyberpunkish story thoughts generally aren't in a pony universe.

I keep hearing about this contest, and I do need to get up to speed with my writing practice...
I don't know if I'll enter or not, but I'll try to start thinking of possible ideas.

7903620
7907222 Well, I did create some OTP+ prompts that you can feel free to adjust and modify if it will help.

I can't guarantee I will be able to finish it in time for the deadline since I've been struggling to write for quite a number of months now, but since this was mentioned in the FIMFic discord's #writing-chat channel, I got a little inspired, thought of an idea, and put about 2,200 words into a story so far.

It'll probably be on the shorter side.

Got in just before the buzzer! https://www.fimfiction.net/story/546779/youlovemevbs-a-cyberpunk-short

It is now 12:01 and thus this contest has come to a close and the contest folder is sealed. Thank you all for participating.

7911116

So...uh...how's that contest going?

Also, I just reread the rules, and I notice what I guess is an important AND.

It must also include Halloween/Nightmare Night elements and must take place either during or around Nightmare Night/Halloween (or the AU equivalent of).

I guess that 'AND' might disqualify my own entry, since while my story includes a suspected ghost (and possibly at least one other spooky thing, depending on how you look at it), my story does NOT say anything about the time of year being Nightmare Night / Halloween.

But maybe that will make judging even easier? idk

7944583 I don't think it will be an issue. Right now I'm just waiting on the judges.

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7879190
7907639 Well, I have great news. The judging is finished, and the results are here.