Here we go with another FF150. The last time I wrote that term in a PM, I accidentally said "FF15", which while it might be interesting to an extent would certainly be a very different contest! Mind you, the 150-word maximum in these contests is just that, so a 15-word entry would be perfectly eligible. Celestia alone knows how it could actually win, but a decade of being in and around ponyfic has taught me that people in this fandom often have very odd minds. This is a good thing. Anyway:

Here are the full rules.
Please use this word counter.

You'll note that Rule 6 still explicitly disallows any G5 (and indeed other non-G4) content. At the moment, my inclination is to relax this rule fairly soon, perhaps from the start of next year. As always, comments are welcome in the relevant thread.

Remember, there is no prize, as such, for this contest -- but if you win, you will be able to choose the prompt for the next contest. You'll also get a mention on the group's front page. It has occurred to me that you also "get a mention" if your name appears in a court report, but with luck the difference is apparent. Hooves crossed.

Prompt: "Even the Heartless Have a Heart" (selected by Impossible Numbers)
Rating: E or T
Word limit: 150
Closing date: Wednesday 21st September 2022, 11:59 pm UK time (world clock)

Please reply to this post with your entry. This makes it easier for me to keep track. Please do not leave feedback until after the closing date.

Entries are now open! Have fun!

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This is an idea that I had for quite some time now, but I just can't find the arrangement that I can be satisfied with. What troubles should I make him go through? Would it be best if it was an original character? Should he be paired up with Diamond Tiara for another Locked Conversation story?

I know that last one has a lot of promise that ends on a strong note, but even without Diamond Tiara, the ending already leaves a powerful impact.

Blowing raspberries, imitating a motor, Flurry Heart glides through the cottage door with an exhausted Angel Bunny proceeding inside.

Angel looks up at Fluttershy and Twilight, still chatting, oblivious to him or the filly they left unsupervised to nearly get eaten, poisoned, and lost in the Everfree Forest. He wants to lash out at them, scolding Twilight in particular for the trouble Flurry Heart gave him, but he can't find the energy for it, not after all the close calls Flurry had.

Angel drags himself to his basket, kicking out a kakapo that preoccupied it.

The bird's high-pitched screech broke Twilight and Fluttershy's conversation, watching the kakapo scuttling off as a tired Angel Bunny plops into the basket, "I've been meaning to ask, Fluttershy, why did you give that self-centered rabbit the name 'Angel'?"

"He's selfish," Fluttershy sighs, forming a smile upon watching, "but he can also be a guardian angel."

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You know, FF15 is also lingo in League of Legends, if you feel like looking that up.

And now for my story,

I am Sombra.

I am the terror of the Crystal Empire. I have razed kingdoms and slaughtered nations, bringing low even the strongest of beings.

I worked the Crystal Empire to the bone before Celestia and Luna banished both it and me. I was ready to take my rightful place as head of the world, I was he who would be king.

I was… I am alone.

I am he who needs no creature, pony or otherwise to stand by him. I don’t want any help!

All who get close to me, no matter how successful, will always meet a quick demise. No creature can control the shadow that I am, the power that I hold, the force of will that makes Sombra King.

Even should I desire it, I must keep every creature away.

For I am the death of all others.

I am Sombra.

I… I am alone.

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“My workers, I hope you all enjoyed the break that I graciously gifted to you. As you can see, even the heartless have a heart. Now let’s get productive!”

“No,” one pony said.

“He-he. Good one. But seriously, we wasted enough sunlight. Time for work!”

Nopony moved. The one who spoke previously stood up, “There’s one of you and many of us. You’re not a king yet, colt.”

“Okay then…” Prince Sombra turned around and walked into his field office to write a letter.

---

Dear Father, today I learned that having a heart is a weakness. That’s why I decided to bury it in the deepest corner of my soul.

Just a heads up, when you read to the end of this sentence you shall feel my blade in your back. No hard feelings, okay?

Your son,
King Sombra

PS. The king is dead, long live King Sombra!

Edit: 27 - Somber Heart

Makes prompt. Has no idea what to do for it. Irony is ironic.

I'm putting a pin on this for now. Not being able to win ain't gonna stop me from tryin'! But first, let's see if we can wrangle up somethin' good... 🤠

Alright, so I came up with a chrysalis thing for this month. I'm not sure how I feel about it, I might do another entry that's more... Not gross? I dunno. I'm pretty sure this is teen rated. I will put a spoiler over it just in case. Edit, nevermind!

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There were beautiful mares, the husks of them. Encased in slimy cocoons.

Chrysalis was among her trophies. Reflecting on months of careful planning. Treachery. Manipulation. Cunning.

Failure.

Chrysalis laughed! So much nourishment for herself and her bodacious children! Thwarted! FLUNG! Oppressed.

...

A mare. Angular beauty. Only Chrysalis had enjoyed her. Now, her flesh had sunken like an overripe peach. Chrysalis crushed a hoof into the cocoon, gliming the mare's lips into a hideous smile.

Chrysalis hissed into the membrane. Splorch! Her hooves hit the corpse.

The cocoon fell, tumbling, trailing slime and-- ...They sounded coldly wet on the obsidian...

There was fleshy slime in Chrysalis' porosity. Disgusting.

She picked at a hole, near her hoof.

It hurt.

She hurt.

Chrysalis screamed as she picked. And screamed. And RIPPED-

Gosh, I feel so edgy.

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Got something!

Trained and trained until my wings cracked. Broke all my legs once. Hovered everywhere for a week.

I don’t give up.

Took the Wonderbolts to victory. Won medals. Kept flying in a Mustangia hurricane. Fought griffons. Worthy opponents.

I don’t give up.

Saw all that glory shake. Young upstarts thought they could best me. Outsmarted them. Outsmarted everypony.

I don’t give up.

Was forced to retire. Petitioned and demanded and insisted I come back for more. Got what I wanted.

I don’t give up.

No pegasus could best me. This one wouldn’t. Just another young upstart. Had the perfect scheme to take her down a peg.

I don’t give up.

No pegasus could best me. One rare unicorn did. Got found out. Thrown out.

I’ve done too much. Should’ve stopped. Sent her a cake. Thank you? Worthy opponent? Reminder of what she did to me? Don’t know.

I give up.

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I dunno. I'm pretty sure this is teen rated.

Yeah, that's a T as far as I'm concerned.

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Muad was always the Left out child, pinkie leaving made no sense, marble got the attention, limestone demanded them to work harder.. she must be strong show no emotion to her family.. well that's what she thought.

One day rock farming like normal with her sisters when a tiny little boulder rolled to her hoof.. Mow normally she wouldn't notice, but it felt like the little rock was trying to say something.

she picked up the little boulder and for 1 second hear it shouting at her suddenly she was caught in a avalanche.. now stuck luckily still alive and free to move and the little filly cried feeling even more isolated but the boulder sang to her "your not alone.. you have a friend ,you have a family, you have a chance" moment she was dug out by her dad with her new pet boulder clutched to her chest.

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“This wasn’t the plan,” Aria groaned.

“We can spare a few moments,” Adagio growled in reply.

“I don’t see why you should encourage her. How can we get any closer to restoring our power acting like this?” Aria paused. “Perhaps I’ve let you play leader too long—”

Suddenly, there was a hand gripping her chin. “Oh, little Aria wants to be in charge, does she? Little Aria’s got a plan, does she?” The hand squeezed, and she squirmed. “Maybe little Aria should remember her place.”

The hand released, and Aria stumbled back, scowling.

From behind, Adagio heard a door open as someone skipped towards them.

“Mmmmm, this place has the best fish tacos! Thanks for stopping here!”

With no one looking, Adagio let herself indulge in a soft smile for the briefest of moments. “Of course, Sonata. We should get to enjoy the little things sometimes.”

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The Real Sweetie-Bot

by Mockingbirb

Sweetie Belle walked through Ponyville General Hospital, and into Redheart's office.

The unicorn filly wailed, "Silver Spoon said nopony will ever want to be my special somepony! On account of I'm missing...you know. And it's true! I really don't have it! Not anymore!

Redheart laughed, shaking her head. "Of course you still have it! It's just in that jar on the top shelf up there. For safekeeping."

Sweetie Belle looked up, and saw the lumpy flesh preserved in liquid. "So you saved it."

Redheart nodded. "It's very historic. You won't always be the only pony in Equestria whose life was saved by transplanting an artificial heart into her chest...but you'll always be the first."

"So Silver Spoon..."

"What she said isn't true at all." Redheart's hoof mussed Sweetie's mane. "Between what's in the jar and what's in your chest, you've got TWICE as much heart as anypony else."

Just under five hours to go, everyone!

Well, the first time's the charm.

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Mind you, the 150-word maximum in these contests is just that, so a 15-word entry would be perfectly eligible. Celestia alone knows how it could actually win…

I kinda let this round pass me by, to be honest, so y'know what? For better or worse, I'll just have to take you up on that offer!

…Mostly because being perfectionist over 15 words at the 11th hour sounds far more manageable than being perfectionist over 150.

Welp, here goes nothing!
seriously, i have zero faith in this plan…

"Why didn't you overthrow me, Pharynx? Plenty would've joined you."

"…Because they would've killed you."

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Okay, time's up, everyone! Thank you to all who entered, and welcome to first-time entrant _TGAPT_ too!

Usual setup applies now: you lot exchange thoughts about the fics, I pick and announce a winner, and off we go again next month.

Feedback is open!

I am going to do feedback! Join me!

I really like "Angel's Angle," awesome alliteration!

As for the story itself, I have a hard time being sold on Angel's benevolence being his namesake. I do not feel it was the strongest note to end on, especially since I have a hard time mustering Fluttershy's voice for "but he can also be a guardian angel." I think maybe some vindication on Angel's part would work? Like, even though the ponies may not realize what he's done, he feels like he's living up to his title.

I do like Angel's connection to the theme, and redeeming Angel is a clever idea, I think.

I feel like the tonal progression in this story worked really well. Also Sombra's voice is good too! Admittedly the last line makes me crack a smile, thinking of Sombra devolving into cheesy villain tears, but I'm pretty sure that's just me. It does beg the questions, "What made Sombra so evil? Why doesn't he like friends?" I like that this story raises these questions, but I feel it's also a weakness. This questions (particularly the latter) almost seems like, something brought up in the thesis, but unanswered in the body. Without the answer, the work feels incomplete.

I guess maybe this is Sombra in banishment, and he is trying to force himself not to think about how lonely he is by convincing himself he needs no one.

I do want to point out this:

Celestia and Luna banished both it and me.

And the line as a whole, because it's very striking! It caught my attention that Sombra specified that not only did the princesses banish him/ they would rather banish the whole empire rather than deal with it. That's the good stuff.

After establishing workers, I love the fact that we just cut straight to Sombra murdering his father. Retrospectively, I see the connection: "You're not a kind yet, colt," so Sombra thought to just become the king. I like this leap in logic, it is amusing and subversive. I chuckled.

Wohoo, I made this!

So first of all, I think it is edgy, I was kind of horrified at the line "splorch." Second, It ends too suddenly. Third, it is missing the why. Why is Chrysalis so edgy? It isn't just because Twilight and her friends turned Chrysalis away, there's something deeper eating away at the bug queen. Some trauma or complex she just can't get over.

I do feel like the title offers some depth...

This one is very interesting. I am curious as to who the main character is, and if they are... related to the events of the show? Neat!

Neat angle on Boulder!

I feel like Redheart could use more justification for being so close to Sweetie Belle.
Generally speaking, children go to their parents first, "Unless their parents suck," so sayeth people more informed than I.

Even in medical situations, usually the parent/guardian plays mediator between the doctor and child-patient: They translate what the doctor says, encourage (force) the child to comply with the doctor's orders (especially outside of the doctor's office) and are generally the ones that make the child go to the doctor in the first place.

The ambiguity of "What on earth doesn't Sweetie Belle have" is kind a fun thing to do.

The premise is easily defeatable, (people do not need something to have a heart to fall in love with it) but perhaps not to a child?

Sweetie Belle deals with Diamond Tiara's bullying fairly often in the show, and generally (please tell me if I'm misremembering) she deals with it by trying to prove Diamond Tiara wrong, or brushing her off.
So my alternative pitch for this flashfic is that Sweetie Bell tries to convince Nurse Redheart that she want's to become Sweetie's filly friend to prove Diamond Tiara wrong!

Alternatively alternatively, the extended fic could a Sweetie Belle/Diamond Tiara, Enemies to Lovers Fic!

I think this is actually my favorite. It's short, simple and funny!

Congrats everyone on entering! If you've read this far, thanks! Write some feedback of your own!

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The Rider's Mantra

This one is very interesting. I am curious as to who the main character is, and if they are... related to the events of the show? Neat!

Wind Rider.

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Okay, results time! You know it was a tough decision for me, because it always is. You're really annoying that way. I think there are enough entries this time for one hon mensh and a winner.

Hon mensh: Bad Dragon -- evil and funny. The story, that is, not you. As far as I know!
Winner: TheAncientPolitzanian -- taking up the 15-word challenge (* not actually a challenge) and making it work demands respect. I was amused and impressed!

Congratulations to both of you! TheAncientPolitzanian, please come up with a prompt for the October contest and post it here in the next day or two. As always, thank you to everyone who entered!

You can also carry on with feedback if you like.

None of you may like my writing methods, but on this glorious day, my name shall be remembered: Honorable Mentioned Bad Dragon!

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Thank you so much for giving my entry the nod, Logan! I'm very pleasantly surprised to hear that my mind was "odd" enough for the semi-self-imposed challenge. :)

As for the prompt itself… I can be pretty indecisive when it comes to these sorts of things, so I've actually had one preselected just in case I ever needed it. That time has come, so I'm happy to announce that October 2022's prompt will be The Feeling's New to Me.

I have a lot of respect and admiration for my fellow participants — winning this has been ever-so-slightly Imposter Syndrome-inducing, in all honesty — so, to borrow a term from the series, I'm really "nervouscited" to see what you all come up with!

Hope everyone enjoys the prompt!

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Sounds like a good prompt. Thanks!

And your entry won on its merits. I really liked it.

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Thanks again! I was really more "surprised" than anything, if I've accidentally made you worry. Probably could've phrased that part better; a consequence of having a lot to say, not knowing what to say, and having only so much time to say it, I suppose.