Well, folks, let me first and foremost say that Anzel and I are floored by the entries y’all put in.  They were all so wholesome and thoughtful, and the time and care taken on each one really means so much to us.  That people could care enough about our characters to write them so well is… kind of totally amazing!

Picking our top four from all of them was truly no easy task.  However, there were four entries that we had the strongest reactions to while reading--often times literally laughing aloud--and found ourselves talking about the most.  I’m so excited to share them with y’all and make you guys decide the final order of these, because I legitimately can’t.

A thread has been created for each entry for y’all to read, comment on, and ultimately help us decide contest reward placement.

A Night at the Gala

Lovey Dovey and the Blue Line of Fate

The Long Con

The Tour Pass

A poll for voting is available here: https://quillnblade.com/events/2018-super-summer-jam-finalists/ Voting will close at the end of September 17th!

But wait, there’s more!

Everyone did so great that we are going to also post our thoughts on all the “honorable mentions”, which wasn’t the original plan, but we’ve been talking about how thrilled we are nonstop this week.  This is the least we can do in return.

“Honorable mentions” is in quotes because it’s all of them, all of them are honorable mentions, all of them are just so great.  I guess this is feeding into the “everyone’s a winner” mentality that I myself despise… but shut up I love them they are now my children and I must protect them.

Expect to see those tomorrow, but I know some folks have been really eager to know the top four, so I wanted to get that posted sooner rather than later!

We’re both really so grateful to everyone who entered.  Just because your story didn’t make the VERY tight line into the top four doesn’t mean we didn’t like what you wrote.  I loved every story so very, very much.

Thank you, everyone!!

Crap, now I’ve got to figure out which I liked the best! Ugh, this really is tough❣️

I'd like to thank you for succumbing to peer pressure and putting on this writing contest.

Honorable Mentions

Because we're from America (FREEDOM!!)... everyone's a winner in their own way! All of the entries that didn't make the very tight final four cut are honorable mentions. We really appreciate and are touched by the effort y'all put forth and wanted to try to return that appreciation by giving some of our thoughts about each entry.

A Distinct Lack of Gentleness

Ahem, let us tap into our inner teenagers and connect with the youth.

Ahem.

L O L

Right from the start, we were grinning.  This punches you with humor at the very beginning and just keeps the fists flying all throughout.  It was hard not to recognize the very notably Aragon-esque writing, which Anzel isn't familiar with but Crystal sure is.  Come on...

“Dang. Okay.” Fake Armor took a deep breath. “Okay. Look. I know this looks weird—but we can solve this! As long as you don’t do anything hasty, and as long as you listen to everything I have to say, and keep it cool, and do not punch me in the—”

---

“YOU PUNCHED ME IN THE FACE!”

Shining Armor was tying Fake Armor up, using the purple cloak the latter had been wearing as a rope. “Yup.”

“I SPECIFICALLY ASKED YOU NOT TO PUNCH ME IN THE FACE!”

Is there any possible way for this to be MORE like Aragon?  Nope.

Nonetheless, regardless of who wrote it, both of us enjoyed the ride all the way through.  Shining Armor is a fantastic "straight man" for this story. And as silly as it may seem, Crystal actually had a little flutter of her heart when Shining and Cadence touched hooves.  Even with the over-the-top humor, it was still... really cute?!

Time paradoxes are often best when done tongue-in-cheek to wave away the... the "but how did this start, when does it end, how many butterflies' wings are tattered throughout all this" questions.  Aragon is blowing a full-on blackberry raspberry, tongue out, spittle flying... PHHBBTTT. And it totally works.

Aragon's edited and posted this entry here! Read it, it's fantastic!

Anzel's Highlights

• I was curious about Sergeant Poke Eye's medical plan. Does he have a fake eye? Do they keep spares? Do they try to ensure he only keeps the spear on that side?
• This presents an excellent problem solving method for Shining Armor and his wife.
• Problems for the legal system.

Crystal's Highlights

• SERGEANT POKE EYE
• YOU PUNCHED ME IN THE FACE
• Ehehe.  Eheheheeeeh.  Heeehehehe.

A new jod in the Royale Gaurd?!?!

This was a short but great entry.  It made Crystal truly laugh, a full-on belly laugh twice.  The story opens with our protagonist Shadow Wing being asked by their drill sergeant, "And what about you?!"  Not knowing what was asked, he replies with "yes?"

Then, later...

"You're fired" a white stallion with a blue main tells me sternly.

i sigh "at least i had fun while it lasted"

"Shadow Wing you quit when i asked you if you wanted to then you just stood outside the gate for hours!" he yells furiously.

It was a perfectly timed surprise sort of comedy that neither of us expected and thoroughly amused both of us.  We just hope Shadow Wing has a happier ending than the story does!

Anzel's Highlights

• Accidentally quitting and working a full day? Classic! Classic!
• Crystal and I liked a LOT of the same things here. Especially the changling part.

Crystal's Highlights

• "You quit when I asked you if you wanted to, then you just stood outside the gate for hours!"  Literal LOL.
• When faced with his changeling doppelganger... "Oh Hell no! I'm gonna knock me FU@& out!"

Blame Game

This tale really captures the feeling of going to a convention.  The fun, the excitement, the nervousness... as well as the chaos.

We loved seeing Soarin, Azurite, and Sunny through another pony's eyes and perspective.  It was especially nice to see Soarin get so much screentime, as he tends to fall to the background when the "louder" personalities of Sunny and Azurite are inview.

Azurite is not just a fan favorite, but a favorite of ours, too.  Anzel enjoyed seeing a portrayal of her that fans don't typically focus on: her anxiety, her panic, her fear.  She's usually the fun-loving goofball, the odd little silly mare. This Azurite was emotional and a little raw and very real.

Pairing her with the protagonist, Ash Grey, is a really interesting choice and it paid off.  He's not a perfect solid rock foundation that holds her up, but neither is he unable to be there for her when she needs it, either.  They hold each other up.

And it makes the ending all the sweeter for it.

Anzel's Highlights

• Airship Armada figures!  Great Q&B icon.
• Poor Azurite! She had a rough day in several ways! Good Azu characterization.
• Bad Sunny and Soarin for not keeping Azurite on a foal leash.

Crystal's Highlights

• I love seeing Soarin get more attention than he normally does!
• The Desert Peacock is so gorgeous that even I'd start playing Airship Armada just to have and use it, tbh.
• The moment between Ash and Fleetfoot really struck a chord with me.  It was extremely well done and had the perfect emotional impact without going over-the-top or feeling throwaway.

Conviviality

It's always a tricky endeavor writing a nervous protagonist. You want to straddle the line carefully between relatable and... "annoying".

And it's always great to read a nervous protagonist pulled off well.

As two people with anxiety, we get it. We're right there with Gawren as he tells himself he's not nervous but he totally is. Only two paragraphs in and we're thoroughly invested in this sweet gryphon boy, rooting for him, excited to watch him find out his fears are misplaced.

Crystal probably used the words "cute", "adorable", and "awww" twice over the legal limit while reading this. Anzel was much cooler and calmer in his audible expressions (but his internal ones were wanting to grab Gawren and give him a vigorous coaching on self-confidence). And the eventual meeting of Gawren and Rain was absolutely worth it all.

Cute, relatable, and engaging all throughout! The addition of Gawren's sister's voice was a fantastic touch, too.

Anzel's Highlights

• I enjoyed the contrast between the feelings of a gryphon about his home vs ponyland. Very well done.
• I was nervous that his trip wouldn't pay off and I was glad to see it did
• This one had me curious to know more for sure. I really enjoyed it.

Crystal's Highlights

• Nervous bois are so cute and my favorite and I want to hug Gawren
• The whole thing about a gryphon's perspective on the whole cutie mark flank staring thing was legitimately funny and clever.
• As weird as it may sound, I really appreciated that Gawren wasn't able to meet up with Rain for the first convention. It's a realistic depth that a lot of stories don't do. Most stories would have this be the meeting for the letter... but, I like that it wasn't.

Mr. Clockerson's first day in the royal guard

An entry featuring Mr. Clockerson as the protagonist!  Love it!! A very clever entry that gives the lovable clock a backstory and a personality that is now Crystal's headcanon--which we guess makes it half canon?  Hmm...

It's really fun to see entries that serve as "prequels" and "midquels" to our stories, and this one is no exception.  This feels like it legitimately happened just before Three of Hearts, and it really makes us want a sequel from the author of their Mr. Clockerson when Azurite shows up!

A lot of thought was given to the existence, purpose, and "life" of not just a clock in the Royal Guard, but the potential for sentient chairs... and carpets?!  (On second thought, that might get weird. Let's just stick to clocks.)

Anzel's Highlights

• Mr. Clockerson's rigidity. I loved that.
• I'll be honest, I felt bad for the nail. I'm not sure if everything is sentient or if Clockerson is extrapolating the anthropromorphication.
• Seriously, poor nail! T_T

Crystal's Highlights

• The lineage of bakery timepieces <3 super cute!
• "You'd think that official royal guard stationary and forms would understand the importance of staying in organized piles, but the paper on the top of any pile wants nothing but to escape and travel."  heeehehe. Loved this part.
• The cute little setup at the end for a great relationship between Mr. Clockerson and Azurite!

Stars are Kindling

For several reasons, this entry was both unsurprising and very surprising to Crystal.  She thought she knew who it was by beyond a shadow of a doubt, so much so that she brought on Painted Wave to read it because she felt her bias would get in the way.  After the announcement of winners, however, she's since learned that this was a fake-out and was written by someone else.

Regardless of who wrote this entry, it was an absolute delight to read.  The characterization of three ponies that were brought in for silly cameos in Crystal's Hopes add even more depth to them than Crystal ever imagined.  Several segments stand out, but few more than this one:

“I can’t believe you left me for the first pony with a bigger library.” R.B. bumped his flank lightly. “You’re such a slut for books,” he said, soft with affection.

“What’s a slut?” Ruby asked.

The two of them froze and slowly turned to look at her. She looked back at them with bright, curious eyes.

“It’s, um, someone who loves something very, very much,” R.B. said. “Like your other dad with books.”

“Oh, okay.” They could see her thinking it over. “I guess that means I’m a slut for cats!”

Beyond the original characters, Princess Celestia herself really shined.  She was a beautiful mix of nostalgic, melancholic, composed princess, and "human" pony.  ("Pony" pony?...) And Luna, albeit brief in appearance, ended things on a perfectly humorous note.

Anzel's Highlights

• I loved the Princess Celestia characterization. I thought that was extremely well done.
• Filly innocence is lovely! Be careful what words you say around her of course.
• Why is Luna familiar with the cathouse again? ;)

Crystal's Highlights

• The focus on the little emotional moments, such as Rhythm's expressions and tones, is my crack
• Cathouse getting the love it deserves
• Seeing into the very believably written mind of Celestia.  She doesn't get a lot of focus in current Q&B fiction so it's nice for her to get some spotlight

Trials of Foals

The only submitted entry for the Red Velvet bathtime prompt, but it did NOT disappoint!  It's fun to read a story where Chrysalis isn't a villain; she's just doing her thing, albeit incognito.  Crystal would be interested to know more about her and her beau, but we digress.

Seeing callbacks to random and/or obscure pieces from our works is always a thrill.  In this case, it was the early Wishes dilemma of Canterlot high society's disdain of butter.  Faced with the need to go defend it for the sake of their shop, Sunbeam and Pepper entrust Red (who's gotten himself covered in cupcakes) with two veritable (okay, literal) strangers.

This alone is one of our favorite aspects of pony society.  Sunbeam and Pepper have a respectable amount of hesitation at the idea, but ultimately decide to trust them.  In our society, this would be considered blatant neglect and deplorable parenting; however, ponies are very different from us.

Red is 100% diabetes in this fic.  An absolute treasure. Reading Chrysalis try to give him a bath is the cutest thing, and totally how it would go.  He's a fighter when it comes to bathtime, for sure. We also loved that Red was perfectly in-character, in that our hearts grew seven sizes and our teeth all rotted away.

Anzel's Highlights

• I love the innocence of ponies. Butter emergency? Leave your child and business in the hooves of strangers. For ponies that is 100% on message.
• Shiny is an absolute slut for treats. Like, his motivations were clear and pure. He sounds like my wife.
• Red was well written!

Crystal's Highlights

• Pepper getting the love he deserves by being referred to as "the handsome stallion"!
• BUTTER.  Such a funny, clever, and believable plot point, as well as a fantastic callback <3
• Chrysalis and Shiny Whistle's interactions <3<3  I've a weakness for cute couple stuff

Understand Me

In Disney, whenever a midquel is released, it's usually pretty trash and feels like a square peg shoved into a brick wall where there are no holes.

Thankfully, the author of this doesn't appear to work for Disney.

This entry took place explicitly during a specific chapter of Velveteen Mask and it feels like it, too.  Velvet Step is in great form here--and unfortunately, the chapter is Facing the Consequences. For those of you who've read this story, you might remember that this is our veritable climax of the tale, where Velvet is in a rough place.  This story carries that note perfectly.

Crystal loved this one, perhaps selfishly, because it captured the emotions and mindset of Velvet Step.  Velvet is a very polarized character; readers seem to either love her or hate her. It's clear to us that the author of this fic gets Velvet.  Or, dare we say... understands her? (Hee, hee.)

Velvet isn't a villain.  In fact, no one hates her more than herself.  And that is fully and wholly represented in this tale, in a painful way.  It was both a great read and a difficult read because of the heavy tones of her emotional mindset given the events surrounding her in Mask.

Aside from Velvet, Celestia is in perfect form.  She is a ruler who truly loves her ponies. One line in particular really stood out for its simplicity, yet for how much it said about Celestia:

“Hello Princess.” Velvet smiled nervously. “You remembered me?”
“We met this morning before breakfast.” Celestia answered easily, as if there was no more need for explanation.
“You met all of us this morning,” Velvet responded, still unnerved at being recognized, “how could you remember me?”
“I’m a seasoned politician and diplomat, I worked hard to develop an excellent memory. It’s quite the asset,” Celestia smiled warmly.

10/10 Celestia.

Anzel's Highlights

• A very well written Celestia. I enjoyed her characterization.
• This was an interesting take on the prompt by daring to fit the story in an area that is grey within an AU. Very bold and I appreciated that!
• Bonus for the Celestia husband. She did have one in QnB (that's a spoiler I guess, black this out).

Crystal's Highlights

• It's so very, very humbling to have one's character written about, and especially so well done!!
• The very clever and seemingly throwaway mentions of "the team" that turned out to be a very important plot point!
• This really gave me the trademark "The Feels".  I felt for Velvet, not just because she's my character, but because the author really wrote her plight so well.

What's Luck Got To Do With It?

Royal Guard fics almost always focus on Canterlot, but this one doesn't, which is a fun twist.  The lore given is brief enough to not slow down the narrative but detailed enough to give a clear picture of the area and its history.  Plus, with the little details such as the nearest town being a day away, it really settles in the feeling of remote isolation that carries the notion presented early on:  "I don’t know who I’d offended to get posted to the Black Roost, but I must have somehow wronged their family and their honor."

The fact that an entirely new area is given full life without detracting or derailing the larger narrative is something that deserves mention.  Really well done, author!

Our protagonist, Lucky Strike, is a likable fellow whose name really doesn't seem to match him very well, because he's one unlucky dude.  (Or, perhaps, his luck is playing the long game...) We both enjoyed reading things from his perspective and would gladly read an extended version and/or continuation of this.

Of course, Crystal is immediately infatuated with his new little friend (in case this does get posted, no spoilers!). More than that, however, is the cleverly disguised Checkhov's Gun of the rats.  They're slipped in casually and without much reason for note, and turn out to be a doubly important plot point. Well done!

Anzel's Highlights

• Semi-ancient gryphon chick? I was really curious about her and wanted to know more.
• I enjoyed the characters and wanted to know more about them. Particularly Sergeant Briar Patch
• Lots of world building in a very short space. Kudos.

Crystal's Highlights

• The new little friend ;>
• The expertly interwoven lore, setting, narrative, characterization--all balanced without losing the impact of any individual one.
• Absolutely loved the feel of the Black Roost, and would love to read more about it. It feels like a legitimate part of Equestria.

I know I need to hear about the horrible 'less effective' aspects of my writing to improve, but your reviews for the runner-ups focus exclusively on the positive aspects of the stories. For me, that makes me feel like I'm in the winner's circle. (even though I'm not...) I cannot say how many times I've returned here to re-read your reviews. So much positivity! You should bottle that positivity and sell it. Make a fortune.
I'm sure I speak for others when I say that I really needed that boost.
Thank you!

When will the full text of the rest of the stories be put up?

6581918 Hey, listen, writing should be fun! There's always time and opportunity to fret over improvement, over critique, over editing. This contest brought out several people who told us this was their first contest and/or first time sharing their writing. I want this to not be the last, because all of the entries had legitimate greatness about them.

6582208 The authors are totally free to post their works (I know one has and at least two plan to), but once voting is over, I'll try to contact each author and ask if they plan to post it and if not, if they want it posted here on the forums.

6582208
I plan on posting mine once it is edited and the cover art is done for it. (Mine is Trials With Foals.) So it will be up soonish.