Ponyfic Roundup 357

Read it Later story count: 113 (-5) 

That RiL count is heading in the right direction! For those of you who may be new to Ponyfic Roundup, I've said for some years now that my ideal RiL list size was 100. I feel that gives me enough choice without overwhelming me, and allows fics I add to replace reviewed ones to themselves get reviewed without waiting years and years. Considering that my highest RiL count ever was 499, I think I've got it down quite well! Right, onwards. Today's three stories:

Fluttershy's Extremely Odd Jobs by MythrilMoth
Scootaloo's Bedtime Story by The Abyss
Saddled by kudzuhaiku

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

Fluttershy's Extremely Odd Jobs by MythrilMoth
Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie
Comedy/Slice of Life; 5k words; Jan 2016; Teen

Pinkie Pie realizes she has no idea what Fluttershy does for money, and is determined to find out.

The "how does Flutters make ends meet?" thing has been the basis of quite a few fics over the years. This one is a little reminiscent of "Feeling Pinkie Keen", except with Pinkie Pie in the role of the investigator. She trails after 'Shy, encountering her in a variety of unlikely roles. It's largely a series of scenes, some of which hit the mark more than others: her mildly canon ("Scare Master") anime interest provides one highlight. On the other hand, a scene that feels inspired by a much earlier episode felt just too brutal for Equestria. Actually, that's my main problem here: even if you can argue that all the scenes have canon backing in a way, Fluttershy's character has been pushed too far. Maybe the story wasn't ridiculous enough for me to buy that. So I found this somewhat fun, but very unevenly so and not without that little nasty taste in the mouth. Top-end two as a result. ★★

Scootaloo's Bedtime Story by The Abyss
Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash
Slice of Life; 4k words; Oct 2016; Everyone

Scootaloo has a big surprise for Rainbow. On the evening of their weekly sleepover, Scootaloo bought Rainbow a copy of the newest Daring Do book, but she has a condition: Dash has to read one of the last chapters of the first book as a bedtime story.

This, on the other hand, has no nasty tastes in the mouth at all. It's simple, unashamed Scootalove from an author better known to most for M-rated fics. This story is just plain cute. There isn't a great deal of substance here beyond what you see in the description above, but it wraps you in a warm blanket and doesn't let go. The only mild irritation for me was the very occasional passing mention of Scoots living in an orphanage. That doesn't affect the meat of the story, though. If you just like reading about Rainbow and Scootaloo bonding, this is for you. I do, a lot, hence the three. ★★★

Saddled by kudzuhaiku
OC, Celestia and Luna
Comedy/Slice of Life; 1k words; Jul 2015; Everyone

What is in a name anyway, and does it lead to greatness?

Another simple story here: a filly at the School for Gifted Unicorns doesn't like her name, Celestia tries to coax is out of her, and the upshot is... well, that would be telling – but it's not especially hard to guess. There are one or two stylistic quirks ("her nasal bridge crinkled with worry") but otherwise it reads smoothly enough. However, the first 15 or so Fimf comments suggest some long-forgotten dispute between the author and the mods about how Pony this was. Maybe it was rewritten, because that's not a problem now. There's also a suggestion in said comments that this somehow ties into kudzuhaiku's massive, unfinished story The Chase. It's not marked as a side story and I'm afraid I'm not reading 2.3 million words (yes, really) to find out what the link is. Scoring this as a standalone, it's a pleasant and rather cute scene but not a lot more. Another high two, then. ★★

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Next time around, stories reviewed should include Fifths' RCL-inducted Rainbow Dash fic Like a Pegasus in a Pottery Shop.