hoowee, sorry about that y'all! it's a bit late, but i finally got things together.

and augh, jay and i had such a great time reading all of your stories! there were so many of them, and they were so amazing, and the idea of having to narrow them down was painful. but winner or not, a big thank you to all of you for writing this wonderful ship!

here are the prizes:

• Runner-up (x2): $20
• First Place: $50

and here are the results!

AHHHHH THIS WAS SO CUTE. Okay, so I loved the idea of having this be a situation where ApplePie tells us about their relationship via telling Sunset, who needed advice. Honestly, this story had a lot of truth to it. Dating shouldn’t happen for the sake of dating (well, it could, but in most cases it isn’t what people are wanting), and also mentions the importance of boundaries. Paired with the hilarious and adorable dynamic between Applejack and Pinkie Pie and how they play off of Sunset, this story made for an incredibly fun read. I’ve always liked this trio.

--applejackofalltrades

TApple Pie, a la Mode

• Equestria Girls
• Romance
• Comedy
• Slice of Life

With Sunset feeling down about a date gone bad, Applejack and Pinkie Pie invite her to their ice cream date, where she asks about their relationship.

• Sex
• Sunset Shimmer
• Applejack (EqG)
• Pinkie Pie (EqG)

EileenSaysHi · 3.2k words  ·  41  4 · 993 views

so obviously, as someone running this contest i don’t think that one episode saying Applejack and PInkie might possibly (not even confirmed!) be fifth cousins through an ancestor nopony alive even remembers is a good reason to not ship them. i think that it’s fine and great to ship them, and at worst you just decide that they’re not even fifth cousins after all, whatever.

but in this fic, it’s a revelation that destroys a secret ApplePie relationship and augh, if you’re going to subvert a contest premise, please subvert it this way! because to do it properly, this fic had to make me feel every degree of the warmth and love that makes an ApplePie work, with every reason that they are so natural and perfect together, while mercilessly tearing it apart and making its case why said relationship could not continue. the melodrama, so thick i could cut it with a knife, does not curdle on the fork, but rather makes the angst and tragedy all the more delicious.

--Bicyclette

TApples to the Core (Pinkie Pie and Applejack Are in Love)

• MLP: FiM
• Romance
• Sad

Finding out she and Applejack might be related was the worst day of Pinkie Pie's life.

• Pinkie
• Applejack
• Other

Mockingbirb · 1.4k words  ·  17  3 · 726 views

Holy shit. I mean. Holy fucking shit. I had to read this in two sittings because I got halfway through and realized that I needed to pause and go to bed. What I mean is, it’s a great story. The choice of first person is a great way to get us right into AJ’s thoughts so intimately which works amazingly in a story like this. It’s also quite unlike anything I’ve ever read on FimFic before. This story does not leave me wanting more because it’s a perfect rendition of itself. To want more would be unnecessary. Futile. Six Stages Of Grief is a beautifully written story about losing and gaining and grieving and understanding. It’s about something so hard to put into words put so fantastically into words. Mush, if you’re reading this (and I know you are you madlad), you knocked it out of the park.

--applejackofalltrades

i came into this contest thinking that i was a professional ApplePie enjoyer, but damn, this fic made me feel like an amateur. it made me appreciate an entirely new dimension to both Pinkie and Applejack, rooting the way they see the world and the ponies around them deep into the families they grew up in, by showing how it affects them now as adults, dealing with the very adult problem of losing and grieving one’s parents. it is a heavy topic, and the strength of the prose is enough to not only bear it, but render it beautifully, telling the story of two grief journeys in parallel as Applejack reaches into her own memories and experiences to uniquely relate to what Pinkie is going through in the present of the story. the story’s explorations of loss and grief and the unpredictable journey of healing have something real and true to say that i am sure i will come back to later in life, and when the two journeys converge into one by the end, it just feels so wonderfully earned.

and i’m not even mentioning all of the themes the fic touches upon along the way that i loved: what it means to grow up and take the place of our parents, what love means to us in different stages of our lives, what those who are gone leave behind. as a story and as literature, i cannot recommend it enough.

and augh, the ship! the way Pinkie and Applejack’s connection feels so much richer and fuller and deeper in the context of their families and pasts, the unspoken love they had before the events of the story, the growth into each other during it, all of it just so great. i really could not ask for anything more perfect for an ApplePie contest, and i am so very thankful.

--Bicyclette

TSix Stages of Grief

• MLP: FiM
• Romance
• Drama
• Sad

Pinkie's parents are missing, presumed dead. Applejack is there to pick up the pieces.

• Violence
• Suicide / Self Harm
• Death
• Pinkie
• Applejack

mushroompone · 23k words  ·  113  5 · 1.3k views

until next time! until next time, please do check out the following contests:

• Loganberry's Flashfic 150, June 2022: "Pride" ending 2022 Jun 21.
• Reactception and EileenSaysHi's Sunset Shimmer x Starlight Glimmer Shipping Contest ending 2022 Jul 03.
• The Red Parade's FiddleDust Contest, ending 2022 Jul 19.
• my Lofty and Holiday Contest, ending 2022 Jul 31.
• my Twilight Files Contest, ending 2022 Aug 07.
• Omegathyst's Hot Pony Summer Contest, ending 2022 Aug 31.

see you all soon!

Aaaaaaah yes I can’t believe I made runner-up! Thank you so much!

Thank you for putting on such a contest. Bicyclette, I am glad that you seem to have enjoyed reading "Apples to the Core (Pinkie Pie and Applejack Are in Love)" as much as I enjoyed writing it.