Ponyfic Roundup 238: Big Yellow Taxi

If all goes as I hope, my Newcomers' Edition of PR will appear in a fortnight's time on 6th March. I'm still busy in the real world, but things have settled down into a little more of a rhythm now, which helps. Let's get going for this week.

Read it Later story count: 269 (+1)

Another three-fic week. Gah, and I thought I'd left those days behind me! Oh well, I've still got something to share with you, at least. As usual, they're all short stories; you'll have to wait until next week (see the bottom of the post) for a fic that will take more than a few minutes to read.

Fluttershy's Secret Kissing Story by Ara
Friendship = Evil by PaulAsaran
Golden Prize by Admiral Biscuit

★: 0 | ★★: 1 | ★★★: 0 | ★★★★: 2 | ★★★★★: 0
Note: I use a skewed rating system. A fic I find average scores two stars.

Fluttershy's Secret Kissing Story by Ara
Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Celestia and Luna
Romance/Slice of Life; 11k words; Oct 2013–Jun 2014; Teen

Fluttershy experiences small horse kisses like nopony else

Read the above and you'd think this was a run-of-the-mill bit of cute shipping. It isn't. It really, really isn't, as its RCL status will tell you. (Also what I suspect is a deliberately off-putting cover image.) Okay, there is a little shipping, but that too will probably blindside you. What we have here is Fluttershy's life story told through the lens of kissing – because she knows about every time she's kissed. Every time. With everyone. There are scenes here that are quite uncomfortable, for reasons you often find in stories (unwanted drunken advances towards 'Shy) but also because of the sheer weirdness of Fluttershy's obsession. Some may be squicked at times. The third and final chapter was apparently written much later, and it does feel a tad disconnected; the ending felt a little too straightforward, even though it's actually unusual – it's just not as unusual as the rest. Even so, I found this a remarkable experience, and one I'd never encountered in ponyfic – or any fiction – before. Not everyone will be able to finish this, but it's surely worth trying. ★★★★

Friendship = Evil by PaulAsaran
Twilight and Celestia
Comedy/Slice of Life; 2k words; Jul 2017; Everyone

Filly Twilight has come upon a groundbreaking truth. Now she just has to convince Celestia.

If Fluttershy's Secret Kissing Story is too much for you, how about a bit of light-hearted fun with young Twilight being Celestia's student? This is absolutely adorable, and exactly what you should read if you're looking for something sweet and cute that won't test your brain or stomach, but will test your smile muscles. You'll get a tremendous book fort, Twi's ideas about what her brother is up to with Cadance, and Celestia being very Celestia indeed. I liked this a lot. ★★★★

Golden Prize by Admiral Biscuit
OCs
Comedy/Drama; 1k words; Dec 2017; Everyone

Golden Prize tries to rob a bank.

What we have here is one of those scenes in which someone tries to do her job while all around her fail to co-operate, because they refuse to appreciate that anything special is going on. In Golden Prize's case, her job is breaking the law, but still. There's not a great deal of meat on this fic, as you'd expect given its brevity, and the ending didn't quite grab me, but what is there is pleasant enough reading. It's suitably Pony, too. I hankered after a few more laughs, though, so a top-end two for this. ★★

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Next time on Ponyfic Roundup: the first Spotlight edition in a while! I'll be going way back to 2011 to consider Gravekeeper's Allegrezza.