dangit it happened again! all of you wrote too many good stories and it pained me to have to choose between them. but i was so delighted to read them, and that i got to spend some time with this couple i love so much. i wanted to thank you all for the stories, as well as encourage you all to read them, so in addition to the prizes:
First Place: $50
Second Place: $30
i will start off with a blurb of each entry in order of submission, ending with an Honorable Mention of the entry that was published before the original deadline of 2022 Sep 18.
Entrant: Game of Darts by bahatumay
a very cute and enjoyable slice-of-life story about two high schoolers figuring out how to take their best friendship to a relationship. i really loved the little hints throughout that build up to the reveal in the Author's Note at the end; that was my favorite part that left a lot of fun questions!
a fun look at Lyra and Bon Bon trying to get one over on a student film festival committee with an experimental film that is much too out-there for those squares. as someone who loves reading deeper meanings into artistic works myself, it was great to see the story's characters use such powers for, if not the greater good exactly, at least fun at the world's expense.
this is a LyraBon shipfic in the most traditional sense, covering their relationship from the day that they meet in the series pilot, through the events of the canon they experience together, and beyond. there are a few great bits of flourish here, and in terms of endings this one was my favorite of the whole contest.
a simple children's story about magical pastel bats turns out to be Lyra inventing what My Little Pony could have been if it had been created by Equestrians, and through it the story comments on the nature of fandom and fanfiction writing in a clever way i could not help but love, while also saying so much about Lyra and her relationship with Bon Bon.
Honorable Mention: Friendship Was Magic by SparklingTwilight
within the story's Equestria, My Little Pony is a children's TV show run by profit-minded executives, and Lyra and Bon Bon are at the same time former actors on that show, fans of it, resentful of how it ended, and watching the sequel on their TV as they wither away to death in PonyPox quarantine. and through it all, their conversation meanders through dense references and cultural worldbuilding as the grim details of their situation seeps in around them. out of anything i have ever read on this website, reading this fic comes the closest to the feeling of watching an experimental play, which left me feeling very Art.
Second Place: No, Agent Drops, I Expect You to Love Me by Captain_Hairball
this story really leans into the silly and over-the-top side of the LyraBon dynamic, and executes its spy movie pastiche setting and hilarious comedic dialogue with perfection. Lyra's lovable ridiculousness and the sheer quality of their back-and-forth would have been amazing enough by itself, but what really elevated this for me was the core of their relationship dynamic shining through underneath it all.
When secret agent Sweetie Drops is captured by the Mare with the Emerald Hands and taken to her secret underwater base, she thinks she knows how things will go. Then Lyra makes it weird.
i loved how deathly seriously this story takes Bon Bon's past as a monster-hunting secret agent, as she faces her anxiety about Lyra seeing a part of her that she is not ready to explain. her trauma is rendered with its proper heaviness by a skillful prose that gives both visceralness to the flashback and weight to the quiet, emotional parts. and Lyra's reaction to it, far from Bon Bon's fears, is a beautiful moment that shows just how great this ship can be.
and there we are! i hope you will join me for the next contest in the series, though it may be a while. while you're waiting, do check out the following:
dangit it happened again! all of you wrote too many good stories and it pained me to have to choose between them. but i was so delighted to read them, and that i got to spend some time with this couple i love so much. i wanted to thank you all for the stories, as well as encourage you all to read them, so in addition to the prizes:
i will start off with a blurb of each entry in order of submission, ending with an Honorable Mention of the entry that was published before the original deadline of 2022 Sep 18.
Entrant: Game of Darts by bahatumay
- Equestria Girls
- Slice of Life
Lyra plays a quick game with Bon Bon, but it doesn't go quite how she wants.Entrant: Prench Art Film by EileenSaysHi
- Equestria Girls
- Comedy
- Slice of Life
Lyra and Bon-Bon find their somewhat risqué entry into Canterlot High's film festival is facing some tough questions from the review board.Entrant: Hear You In My Heart by Flutterflyer
- MLP: FiM
- Romance
- Slice of Life
One Summer Sun Celebration amidst the chaos, two ponies meet. This is their story.Entrant: My Average-Sized Bat by _Undefined_
- MLP: FiM
- Slice of Life
The story of two bats – one a musician; one a candymaker – who meet and fall in love.Honorable Mention: Friendship Was Magic by SparklingTwilight
- MLP: FiM
- Drama
- Slice of Life
My Little Pony: canceled. Civilization: suffered, Bon Bon and Lyra included.Second Place: No, Agent Drops, I Expect You to Love Me by Captain_Hairball
- MLP: FiM
- Romance
- Adventure
- Slice of Life
When secret agent Sweetie Drops is captured by the Mare with the Emerald Hands and taken to her secret underwater base, she thinks she knows how things will go. Then Lyra makes it weird.First Place: First Night by TCC56
- MLP: FiM
- Romance
- Drama
Bon-Bon's former life in S.M.I.L.E. haunts her nightscape. Lyra wants her marefriend to spend the night. Bonnie never did know when to retreat.and there we are! i hope you will join me for the next contest in the series, though it may be a while. while you're waiting, do check out the following:
and that is the end of the LyraBon Contest, though hopefully not nearly the end for these wonderful wives i love.
goodbye for now!
Well that's unexpected! I'm flattered - thank you very much!
7750531
thank you for the story! just loved that Lyra