So, I’ve been having this idea of a tropical post-apocalyptic setting bouncing around me. Thus, I thought it might be fun to do a writing contest for this group that would have all of you exploring this concept. 

It’s really pretty simple, just write a story that takes place on an island after an apocalypse. What kind of Apocalypse? That I leave up to you, the writer, to decide. Zombie outbreak, nuclear fallout, natural catastrophe, alien invasion, etc… It's all up to you. 

Your story also needs to have some aspect of the apocalypse present, but how you go about that is totally up to you to decide. On one hand, your characters could be trying to survive on an island with a zombie infestation. On the other hand, maybe they’re having a beach party, celebrating their survival of an alien invasion. Or maybe the characters are establishing a seaside village on the island just shortly after emerging from the safety of a nuclear bunker. 

Feel free to make it as serious or as lighthearted as you want, so long as you follow the rules. 

The Rules:

• Your story must take place on a tropical island. 
• Your story must also take place in a post-apocalyptic setting (essentially an mlp alternate universe where an apocalypse has occurred). What kind of apocalypse is totally up to you. 
• The story can take place in either Gen4, Gen5, or even EqG but must take place in Equestria or EqG's Human World (whatever it's called). 
• AUs and OCs are allowed, just be aware that the judges might not be aware of any worldbuilding/lore outside of what's in MLP.
• The story must be SFW (Safe for Work). It can have implied sex, but no actual clop. Also NO foalcon and no incestuous pairings. 
• Aside from the Fetish tag, all tags are acceptable.
• Must have at least 2,500 words with the upper limit being 22,000 words.
• It MUST be a new story, and can't have already been published. 
• When submitting your story, make sure you put it in the Tropical Post-Apocalyptic Story Contest folder, in the Island Group, by midnight on July 26th PST and the story must be complete at that date.
• You are allowed to post multiple entries, however only one may win a prize.
• Have fun. 

The prizes for this contest is some artwork from the magnificent artist, Princeling. 

1st Place: Full Render Body image. 
2nd Place: Flat Color Body image.
3rd Place: Lineart Body image.

And your amazing stories will be judged by: Caladis, Airy Words, Dashie04 and LunarReaper.

The Judges will be judging the stories using the following rubric:

• Story: Is it engaging or fun to read?
• Characters: Are the characters well developed and relatable?
• Themes: How well does the story implement the themes of a tropical island and a post-apocalyptic setting?
• Dialogue: Does the dialogue feel natural?
• Grammar/Spelling: Is the story well written or does it have frequent grammatical errors.
• Creativity: How creative was the author with the concepts that they used?

Each of these categories will be given a grade of 1-5, with a total score of 6-30 by the judges. The judges will then discuss the scores together to determine the winner. 

Feel free to ask questions if you have any. 

Thank you all for coming back, we hope that you all will participate and make some amazing stories. 

I have a question about the Dialogue rubric. If my fic is about a single character on an island and the story mostly consists of internal thought and monologue, will I be marked down?

7964753 I don't think so. If the internal thoughts/monologue feel natural they should be fine.

If the right people see this thread, I'm sure some very interesting stories could come of this contest.

7964826
I might give this contest a try, plus I find it funny since there's a WIP MLP AU I'm working on, of an MLP and another post apocalypse game, that have a beach scene in the sequel of said game, Horizon Zero Dawn.
Horizon Zero Dawn: Forbidden West has the beach scene in it.

For context, and I'm still thinking about how will it go:

If taken the Equestria GIrls approach: 

Humankind has fallen due to their own robotic fuses with magic mechanical beings that attacked them. Though before the robots began their attack, there were experiments that involved reincarnation, and magic fused with science. There were also experiments that involved animals as well, but let's just say one of the first two experiments went wrong and had to be locked up somewhere. 
But not all hope is lost; Right when the rogue robots about to breach the last standing bastion for human kind, one of the humans activated Project Harmony and managed to stop the robots, but at what cost. Project Harmony, now activated, is slowly terraforming the earth…and proceeds to activate each reincarnation pod, so that the human race can live on, with a different body…
1,000 years later, almost half of the Earth is covered up by nature, with some remaining cities being seen though the grass and moss. The original six heroes that used to walk across Earth, got reincarnated, but something is off…their minds, their memories, they no longer remember what they used to be. 

If taken the regular MLP approach: 

It would be similar to the EqG bio, though slightly different since its ponies and other species. Though perhaps Celestia and Luna may be badly wounded, to the point of needing to be in an armored suit (similar to the EqG scenario).
Plus actual humans would appear in this eerie version of Equestria, though they have a creepy zombie-like appearance, similar to the ones from Maze Runner. Some are neutral, while some are not.
Plus this main AU main character's would be the Mane 6, maybe I could do Starlight Glimmer or Sunburst POV in this story contest?
Update: Maybe the G5 mane 6 characters might be more fitting since G5 is years after G4?

I could dm you the Google drive containning more context of my WIP au if you want to see it

7966084 Indeed.

7966094 As long as you follow the rules of the contest, you can do either one.

7966084
Don't worry, I'm here now.

7964001
Regarding the timeline, these stories must be stories from AFTER an apocalyptic event, right - not DURING one?

Regarding the judging and tropical settings - are the judges primarily looking for creative ways that the tropical setting is woven into the post apocalyptic setup? Or will stories be more judged on their own ability to tell a gripping story, and the tropical setting is just a "checkbox"? I understand if its kind of a mixture of both.

Regarding SFW - apocalyptic settings are kind of known for being...rather hellish and violent. What exactly constitues SFW? Your examples talk about sex, but what about violence and profanity? Could an M rated, lets say, Fallout Equestrai story (dont worry, you will never catch me writing FoE stuff) be accepted that has tons of gory violence and swearing? Or are you looking to tell more lighthearted, possibly even comedic and fun stories that just so happen to take place after a period of apocalyspe?

7964001 Can the tropical environment also display the effects of the apocalypse? For instance, can there be an island that had all the trees burned down / charred / petrified and there is no more greenery?

7966242

Regarding the timeline, these stories must be stories from AFTER an apocalyptic event, right - not DURING one?

So essentially it takes place after the Apocalypse has occurred, there could still be threats from that apocalypse (like zombies roaming the streets for example), but it takes place after the initial event (like most post-apocalyptic stories).

I understand if its kind of a mixture of both.

Yes, it is a mixture of both. Now when it comes to creativity it doesn't necessarily have to be the apocalypse that is creative (though it certainly could be), but the story itself has to be creative, like if your characters are on an island, how are they surviving? Does the apocalypse affect those on the island and if not, why (is there a magical barrier keeping it out, perhaps a plant that wards it off, etc...).

Regarding SFW - apocalyptic settings are kind of known for being...rather hellish and violent. What exactly constitues SFW?

So like the rule says, we just don't want clop. While violence and profanity are probably fine, I'd say try to keep it light/reasonable.

7966282

Can the tropical environment also display the effects of the apocalypse?

Yes, it could....

For instance, can there be an island that had all the trees burned down / charred / petrified and there is no more greenery?

I don't think that would qualify as tropical in this case.