Hey everyone, and welcome to the first ever Ponies after People writing and art contest! The third year anniversary of Last Pony on Earth is right around the corner, and we decided to do something special to celebrate the occasion: an awesome writing and art contest! This post is primarily referring to the story portion of the contest. If you're interested in the art portion, please scroll down to the next post.

The theme for the writing portion of this contest is “Metamorphosis.” When the old world grew into the new, it was not erased—it was like the caterpillar, transformed. But traces of the old world remain, repurposed and adapted by those who survived it. Your story should somehow include the theme of “Metamorphosis,” however you choose to interpret that theme.

The deadline for entries in this contest is May 12th, 2018, at 11:59 EST. If you wish to enter, please PM the link to your contest entry as a Google Doc to Two Bit. Entries in any other form will not be accepted, nor will late entries. The writing contest will be judged via popular vote starting on May 14th, so check back in the PaP group for another thread when that happens.

The current prize pool for the writing portion is as follows:

1st Place - $100 USD + BONUS PRIZE?
2nd Place - $50 USD + BONUS PRIZE?
3rd Place - $25 USD + BONUS PRIZE?

Any inquiries about donations to the prize pool should be directed to Starscribe via PM. This pool might be expanded if there are many entries, but it will not be decreased.

The following simple rules govern the writing portion of this contest. Any violation of these rules will result in instant disqualification.

1. Each person may only enter the contest once.
2. This is an English language contest.
3. The story must be at least 2,000 words, and be complete at a maximum of 15,000 words at time of submission. Feel free to expand your entry after the contest if you want, though.
4. Story should be self-contained enough that a reader does not need to read anything besides the main PaP stories to understand it.
5. The story must be newly written for this contest. Nothing previously posted to fimfiction or anywhere else is eligible.
6. To preserve judging anonymity, the story must not be posted anywhere until after the contest is over. Also, don’t do anything else that would reveal your identity and bias the voting.
7. No clop—stories entered must be T rating or below.
8. Winners will receive their prizes via Paypal. Do not enter if you can’t receive funds in this way.

Setting-specific rules.

1. The story must take place in the PaP universe and conform to PaP canon as described in the rules thread.
2. No crossovers with other universes and properties.
3. The story must take place at least 300 years after the event (more is fine)
4. Your story should include at least one “refugee” character.

Many of you may not be terribly familiar with the setting. This universe began with the story The Last Pony on Earth, which would be a great place to start if you’re interested in getting in on the fun. The short summary is that the world ended in 2015, when a spell made most people on Earth vanish and the rest were transformed into races from FiM. The timeline of the stories written in this setting stretches thousands of years beyond this point, with the rise and fall of city states, technology, and so on. This article on the wiki might provide some helpful background.

Don’t feel compelled to read every story written so far to participate, but you probably should at least be familiar with the original as serious deviations from the source material will make your story unlikely to win.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them here, or Join the Discord and ask the helpful ponies there. Expect answers from myself, Alkarasu, Two Bit, or Sparktail if you ask them here.

Overall, the rules are the same as with the story portion. The only addition to the rules is that no illustrations to one of the main PaP books would be accepted (that would be too easy, wouldn't it? ). Any illustration of another story or using the characters from the main books is fine, though, just make sure it is set into the competition time period.

Same as the above.

The deadline for entries in this contest is May 12th, 2018, at 11:59 EST. If you wish to enter, please PM the link to your contest entry as a DeviantArt Sta.sh link to me. Entries in any other form will not be accepted, nor will late entries.

That's all! Have fun!

This should be interesting, hm?
(Also, hi. I made the contest header image.)

6397000
So I take it hat it has to illustrate a scene in the main stories if it has to take at least 300 years in the future?

@#$%^&* PayPal... I'm pretty disappointed I cannot partake simply because of that.

6397110
Quite the opposite, the scenes from the main stories can't participate. It has to be 300 years in the future, it has to show the "Metamorphosis" theme and it can include the characters from the main stories.
The writing part doesn't need that rule, since obviously, you can't write the main story unless you are Starscribe.

6397116
I wasn't talking about writing but doing art for this contest. there would be hardly anything left of the vestiges of humanity by then.

6397122
I've managed to put some in 900+ AE in my story. Star had managed to put some in 1000+ AE. There are stories with some traces even in 3000+ AE. It does require some imagination, yes, but it's not impossible.

Working Discord link.

Link should be fixed in the original now too.

The illustration should be to works from Starscribe, or can I illustrate any fanfic? (Entering the correct time period, of course.)

6399569
As I understand it, anything from PaP is eligible, so long as it's from the right time-period.

6400564
Ok, thanks)

6399569
Except his works. Any fanfic, any standalone scene, any set of characters (all within the 300+ time period, of course) but it must not be a part of one of the five main stories.

Paypal, check. (I think, will have to check). Story after 300AE, check. Metamorphosis theme, check. Returnee character, check. 2000+ words check. Only question... howinhell can I get onto, and use, Google Docs? I been using Word now for years.

6402653
You spelled "refugee" wrong.

Refugee, Returnee, it's similar, yes?

6402938
Now you went and started a holy war yet again.

6403070
Holy war? What for? How?

6403071
The great Refugee/Returnee war that will claim the souls of many!

6403072
Not mine... I'm still looking for it. If you see it, tell it to send me an email, please.

Hey everyone, quick update for this contest! For those of you struggling to get your entries in, we've decided to extend the deadline until Wednesday the 16th! Get your stories in by midnight EST on that day, and they'll still be counted! Expect a new thread with voting information at that time.