• "Scare Master": Episode Followup

    Wow that's an awesome picture. The Flutterbat cometh! Source by Esuka.

    Fade In

    Three weeks earlier. It's a dark and stormy night inside of a nearby alleyway. One man in an overcoat is waiting for his contact. Another man with a hoodie walks into an alley, head tilted down. SKT had won, and that was just wrong.

    HASBRO EXECUTIVE
    Password?

    VICODIN
    Friendship Games was a good movie.

    HASBRO EXECUTIVE
    So the rumors are true...

    VICODIN
    Good password. No one would have ever thought of that.

    HASBRO EXECUTIVE
    They'll hate you, you know. They'll come looking for you. They wanted someone else, but you were the only one left.

    VICODIN
    I accept that. I'll give them the followup they deserve, not the followup they need. (Pause) Can you uh... gimme a ride back to my house? The bus just stopped running.

    HASBRO EXECUTIVE
    ...

    And that's how the followup was made. No more questions. Fluttershy and the celebration of an awesome episode after the break.


    I see Fluttershy stole my "Midterms are tomorrow and I forgot to study" face. Or she realized she can see the fourth wall now. Just don't Google yourself, Flutters and you'll be fine. 

     You're lucky you're Fluttershy's friend. Seeing a spider that big is enough to send me straight to NopeTown, USA. It's your house now. Here's the will, mortgage payments are on the 5th.

    You Googled yourself, didn't you? I told you not to. Look... just think of it as appreciation. No don't look up my fics— 

    "Alright I want you to go to EQD and find this guy named Vicodin. He'll be in the room that smells like a lack of shame. 5 up front and 5 when the job is done."

     [face and noises of a horse who realizes that there are still 20 minutes left in the episode]

     We have some reused costumes from last year! I see a dragon, changeling, griffin, and timberwolf. Or 3 changelings and one who is REALLY bad at hiding it.

     See this is what happens when Colgate takes the day off. All three of her kids with unrelated cutie marks and color schemes get to troll the town.

     Oh look it's Cherry Berry and Carrot Top Golden Harvest in the background. Also the kids smile after completing their first prank. Those 12 YouTube subscribers are in for a treat.

    "Hey Sonny, can you pop my eyes back into my head for me? I always love homemade costumes."

    It was at this moment where Big Mac realized that he left the stove on. Also Granny Smith forgot to take her meds. Both are equally terrifying realizations. 

     And here we see the Scardiest Catticus using her mating call to summon other bottom-tier characters. Come at me, comments section.

     I really loved this bit of banter between the two. As I said in my first editorial, Spike always seems to be used well when he has that sort of cutting yet innocent honesty. He really wants one of his friends to come with him and have fun. It's the simplicity that really drives these lines home.

     Well, you're already more talented than Jeff Dunham.

     "Oh you guys are so silly, that's not even my final form!"

     Alright RariDash shipper, there's your fodder.

    It's those kinds of deadpan lines that make me love Levinger. Also Pinkie's reaction. Why is this episode so good? These 22 minutes don't feel like it because their dialogue flows from scene to scene. Random note: How bright does their magic glow? Why doesn't Twilight use her horn like she did in Canterlot Wedding to light the library? Am I asking questions that don't matter. Yes I am, moving on.

     "That couldn't have been any of us. Mares don't poot."

    "Darling, I'd nudge you harder to bring the point home, but your ribs might break." 

     Obligatory picture of adorable smiling faces. 

     Upon seeing better and more fleshed out characters (and Spike), Scarediest Catticus hopes to blend in to avoid their judgment.

     There's a plethora of costumes here! I see Sailor Moon and Jem for the background ponies, and Marie Antoinette, a Wonderbolt, and a platypus for the CMCs. Good thing they were wearing costumes when this episode came out on its scheduled time or else that would be really awkward.

     Obligatory "boop". Also fodder for the RariShy shipper I guess.

     "Rarity?" "Yes, darling?" "Do it again?" And she did. Thanks for getting me into the featured box, guys. Featured: 11-1-15.

     You have no idea how long it took me to capture this scrunchie face without doing it frame by frame. She does it for like half a second. Also why does a Rarity scrunchie face seem the cutest. It's the shell in her mane. It's sparkly. Oh god I'm turning into Seth. Help.

    And here we get into the meat of the episode. With all of Fluttershy's friends having a boring time while Fluttershy is shooting down all their game ideas, the Main Six really haven't faced this problem. Apart from Rainbow getting annoyed at Fluttershy in Dragonshy, this is a relatively new idea. While I don't completely empathize with Fluttershy, it can be terrifying the lengths that ponies can go to in order to pull off a trick.

     Those pictures belong in the drawfriend.


     The problem here is that Rarity can't nudge Rainbow in the ribs since she's flying. I gotta say, Rainbow. You're really awesome at being abrasive and unlikable.

     We're getting a lot of random references in this episode. I see Sailor Moon, Evangelion, Revolutionary Girl Utena (what?), and Ranma 1/2. I have no idea who the pony next to Ranma is, and now I feel like a complete casual.

     The budget for an MLP Episode: 10% voice acting, 20% music, 70% animating new faces.

     Pinkie's offhoofhand comment on Fluttershy's scary attempt brings up a lesson that I feel she hasn't really learned yet. I want to see an upcoming episode where she kind of learns to control her thoughts or what she should say, since she literally made Fluttershy cry in Filli Vanilli. Even offhand comments can really hurt, I'd imagine in a scenario like this.

     Okay that's the face of a bunny that has wanted to do this for a while now. He does know that Fluttershy's friends need to be alive when they're done, right? This aint Smile.HD.


     Those ghosts don't look like ponies... or pickles. Suspension of disbelief gone, I want my money back.

     Do I even need to say it? Fine I'll say it. No fin capes.

     What even is this thing? He looks like the drawings that kids send to Ikea to make into toys. I'm done with Craigslist.


     I really loved this moral, especially the turn that it took. You'd half expect the show to have Fluttershy force herself to like Nightmare Night, but she does the opposite, and her friends completely shrug it off because it's not important. Not everyone has to like or celebrate the same holidays. In fact, I know a guy who decided to procrastinate at the last minute and write an episode followup for an episode that was leaked instead of have fun on Halloween. Man, I hate that guy.


    Well, that's all I got for this episode. Certainly a fun and well-written episode with a moral that we can all attach and understand. Levinger is proving to be an impressive writer, and I can't wait to see her next episode. See you guys soon, ABagOVicodin out.