A few months ago, I probably would've had some unpopular opinions about this episode, but that's probably because I was more in a tired mood when I watched this episode at first and my second time watching it. But these days, the spring air is starting and it's nice out where I live, I'm in a more positive mood so, who knows? Maybe my thoughts on this episode will be more positive this time around!

also it's funny how they aired this episode after the christmas episode lol wtf

This review comes from the opinions of the poster himself. This does not reflect the opinions of the rest of the Brony community.

Plot Summary:
After forgetting about stocking up food for Angel, Fluttershy sets off during Nightmare Night and after hearing her friends having a good times, she tries to give Nightmare Night a chance.

First of all, I have to say Angel was actually characterized well and had a good role in this episode. I think I've stated before that Angel was a character that despite getting a lot of hate, I felt he's actually a good "helper" for Fluttershy which is shown in a few episodes (i.e. A Bird in the Hoof for trying to remind Fluttershy about going to Sugarcube Corner to meet up with Celestia and the others) and this episode helped that. While he did start off as a bit of a dick about making Fluttershy get vegetables, he actually helps her later in the episode by getting Fluttershy to set up the scare trap for the Mane 5 during the map, which led to the climax. In the end, he actually came off as being helpful for Fluttershy here, which is definitely a plus.

As for Fluttershy's characterization, I will say that I was honestly pretty iffy with it the first couple times I watched this episode. Her getting scared of obvious decorations and whatnot at the beginning of the episode honestly felt pretty far-fetched to me. But looking back at this episode, I'll admit that it sort of annoyed me in the beginning, I can see where they were trying to go with her character development, essentially highlighting her social anxiety here. After going out during Nightmare Night (which she was known to be scared of doing in Luna Eclipsed.. as weak as that episode was lol), but after meeting up with her friends, she starts to show interest in it and actually tries to participate and even tries throwing a party for her friends, and we really see her conflict in this episode. The party scene actually shows that she's moreso scared about being considered of being looked down upon, especially during gatherings and whatnot. In the end, she manages to try and scare her friends at the maze, which she does successfully. It's for these reasons, that even after thinking it was just another "lol fluttershys scard again" episode, it highlights Fluttershy's social anxiety problems well, and really helps to develop her character, putting her in a good direction.

The humor was good in this episode too. Going back to the party scene again (wow the more i think about it that scene was actually one of the most well-written parts of this season), some of her attempts at scaring her friends don't just reflect her character well, but actually managed to make me laugh a few times. Not to mention, there was also some good visual gags here and there, such as the "anime" ponies that are used to show other ponies "showing up" was good (although they forgot about cory wtf guys), the horse mask at the beginning of the maze, THIS FREAKING FACE:

..and so on. I should also mention that the costumes the Mane 5 wore were also well designed and fitting for the Nightmare Night episode.

I think one problem I had with this episode was a couple problems with the characterization. They weren't big or anything, but for one, Rainbow Dash complaining about Fluttershy being scared of everything got on my nerves, although that can be somewhat excused since she didn't want her ruining the fun. Granny Smith, though, was also sort of an ass at the beginning, by despite knowing that Fluttershy doesn't like coming out on Nightmare Night, she decides to scare her anyway. This felt arrogant on her behalf, so I think she was actually at a worse pedestal than Rainbow Dash was. Other than that, I dunno, not much wrong with this episode on further inspection.

Overall Opinions:
While I didn't really care for this episode at first, I'll admit it's grown on me. While Fluttershy started becoming more dull IMO after Putting Your Hoof Down, Season 5 has actually really helped her character for me, and this episode isn't really an exception. Sure, there's those minor problems with the characterization, but otherwise, this episode helped develop Fluttershy well, had some good humor and even gave Angel a proper, well-written role. So overall, this is an example of an episode that I didn't care for at first, but after a couple re-watches, I've grown to like.
9/10

My Episode Ranking:
1. Crusaders of the Lost Mark (S5E18)
2. The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone (S5E8)
3. The Mane Attraction (S5E24)
4. Rarity Investigates (S5E15)
5. Amending Fences (S5E12)
6. The Cutie Map (S5E1+2)
7. Make New Friends But Keep Discord (S5E7)
8. Scare Master (S5E21)
9. Hearthbreakers (S5E20)
10. Brotherhooves Social (S5E17)
11. Canterlot Boutique (S5E14)
12. Tanks for the Memories (S5E5)
13. Castle Sweet Castle (S5E3)
14. The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows (S5E19)
15. Party Pooped (S5E11)
16. Bloom and Gloom (S5E4)
17. Made in Manehattan (S5E16)
18. Slice of Life (S5E9)
19. What About Discord? (S5E22)
20. Princess Spike (S5E10)
21. Appleoosa's Most Wanted (S5E6)
22. Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep? (S5E13)
23. The Hooffields and the McColts (S5E23)

But before I end this review, how about to fit the theme, a 2spooky story of my own..
one day i turned on my PC
and it had windows ME installed

ahhh!1