Hello, hello, hello everypony, it's me! Oh man, this took forever, didn't it? First of all, to everyone who participated or has just been waiting to hear the results, I want to apologize for the judging taking so long. The holidays and start of the new semester were just super crazy, and I appreciate how patient you all have been. Second, a huge shoutout to everyone who participated in this contest!!! We had a total of 13 entries, and let me tell you they were all wonderful to read through! Ya'll did a great job of getting all of us into the holiday spirit, I can tell you that much.

Without further ado, here are the winners of the Poniverse Hearth's Warming Eve Contest!!!

Winners

First Place: A Critique's Hearth's Warming by spideremblembrony

Of all the entries that we got, this felt the most like a quintessential holiday fic. It reminded me in many ways of two of my favorite Christmas films, A Christmas Story and Christmas Vacation. It starts with everything that most folks, especially the most cynical people, can at times hate about the holidays; the crazy crowds, the materialism, the non-stop frenzy of the season. In many instances this could come across as painfully preachy, but here it's actually humorous to read about because we're seeing it all through the eyes of the ultimate cynic and killjoy, a grouchy OC who goes by the name The Critique. He's a character this author has utilized before, but don't worry, you don't have to be familiar with him to enjoy this story.

Anyways, obviously the whole fic is not simply the rambling ruminations of a somewhat snobby, rude, and at times unbearable character. No, what made this fic standout is that, without explicitly stating what it is, it captures the best of the season as well, what simply makes the holiday season around this time of the year special for so many people. For whatever reason, so many people around the Christmas season all over the world feel inclined, no matter what their means may be or their beliefs, to do what they can to spread joy, cheer, and goodwill to their fellow man. This fic is very self conscious of the fact that that phenomenon is unexplainable in so many ways, but also masterfully shows how wonderful it is as well. I myself have a somewhat hard time explaining what made this fic work so well, but take my word for it, you won't be disappointed giving it a read and seeing for yourself how good it is. It's funny, touching, has some well-written, unique, and at times quirky characters, and just brings to the table everything you'd want in a quintessential Hearth's Warming Eve story. Congratulations on your winning entry, spideremblembrony, you most certainly earned it!

Second Place: Hearth's Warming Eve in Ponyville by EloquenceInkwell

Our second place winner is the lovely EloquenceInkwell's first MLP fanfic ever written, which makes its quality all the more remarkable! This fic has the distinction of being without a doubt the finest Fluttershy fanfic I have ever read. It follows everyone's favorite butter-colored pony during her first Hearth's Warming Eve in Ponyville (you never would have known it from the title!), and boy howdy is this story a treat. We get cameos and appearances from all of the Mane Six, including Twilight at the end of the fic, but what really made this story stand out to me was just how well written Fluttershy herself was. Don't get me wrong, all of the Mane Six are masterfully handled as well, but Fluttershy's a trickier character to write than some people think. Her shy personality really trips some authors up, and while some people write her too introverted, others practically don't include her at all to the point that she's more or less a background pony who chimes in now and then. Eloquence, however, achieves an incredible balance, conveying Fluttershy's obvious introverted personality and shy nature while simultaneously making her seem believable, a feat all the more impressive when you consider that we're following Fluttershy during a period of her life never shown in the show. Point is, I felt the entire time I read this like I was following a genuinely shy individual, but one who also really wanted friends. This, for lack of a better term, is Fluttershy, and is a quintessential Fluttershy fic. On top of that, it's a wonderful holiday fic as well, and like A Critique's Hearth's Warming, really gets the reader into the holiday spirit, especially on account of some really quiet, touching scenes. What more could you really ask for in a Hearth's Warming Eve fic starring Fluttershy?

Third Place: Bonds of Glory: A Hearth's Warming Story by Taialin

Snagging third place is a fic which, for a Hearth's Warming Eve contest is, all things considered, rather puzzling to see up here. That would be for one very, very, VERY big reason: this is a heavy fic. I mean, really, really, really, really, really, really, really heavy! It's tagged as both a tragedy and slice of life, and it most definitely has got the tragedy part down, I can tell you that. 3/4 to 5/6 of this fic are at best dreary and at worst downright hopeless. So you're probably wondering why on earth it got third place?

Well for starters, it is masterfully written! This might be the most grammatically sound entry in the entire contest, no joke, and good grammar in fanfics always pleases me like few things can. More importantly, however, while this fic certainly tugs at your heartstrings and can be at times even agonizing to read through, when it's all said and done it's very... heartfelt. It really gets just how meaningful the magic of friendship is to all of Equestria, and it makes you see just how devastating it is to ponies and the land when the fire of friendship does not burn in their hearts. Despair and annihilation threaten to overwhelm them all without it, but at the end of the day... well, you'll just have to read it for yourself to see how everything turns out, now, won't you? Thanks very much for the gripping read, Taialin! Hope to see your work in future contests!

Honorable Mentions

I'm not going to conduct full reviews on these next two, but I did feel compelled all the same to highlight a few other fics that almost snagged one of the top three spots, but didn't quite make the cut. Wonderful, by JMac, Heart's Melting Eve, by Dashie23, and A Lunar Christmas, by cR Gamer_Luna. The first was a lovely retelling of It's a Wonderful Life-ponified, with plenty of originality and well-written OCs to boot; the second was a one-shot very similar structurally to A Critique's Hearth's Warming, just not quite as polished or lengthy as that one; and the third was an adorable alternate universe one-shot starring an anthropomorphic Princess Luna celebrating the holiday (that may sound like a hard sell, but trust me, it makes up for its creative liberties in how absolutely adorable Luna is throughout!). While, again, none of these quite managed to get into the top 3, they were all still great reads, and if you get the chance, I'd highly recommend reading them.

Once again, I also want to thank everyone else who submitted entries as well. I really enjoyed reading through every single one of these fics, even if some were undoubtedly written better than others. It was a joy seeing people turning out to write their own fics, tell their own stories, and present their own interpretations of canon characters we know and love, or even make up their own! I hope we'll see only more of this in the future, and hope that this contest has done a bit to bring our fan fiction community here on MLP Forums and in the greater Poniverse a little bit closer together. Thank you all for your efforts, participation, and most of all, for the fun times I and many other readers have had reading through your work!