Fluttershy was absolutely on point here. Since her disastrous performance in Rainbow Falls (then again, everyone there was disastrous ;)), her characterization has gradually improved with little flanderization and/or out of characterization. Even in bad episodes like Flutter Brutter, she was the highlight. While she was still sweet and caring, her entire goal for this project is to care for and respect the animals and will do everything in her power to make sure they were given the proper treatment.

While those "experts" had their vision, it was clearly not the one she was looking for. No, she's a very bad blueprint planner, but she clearly has a pictorial idea of how she wants the sanctuary to be developed. Not only does she clearly understand how the animals behave. She understands they need the right habitat to thrive, rehabilitate, and survive. All three "experts" clearly betrayed her by not only doing what they wanted, but doing it right behind her back, even though she flat-out said "No!" Three words: "No means no!" While it was surprising to hear her shout and yell at them, she's well within her right to do so.

There was some criticism of Fluttershy for hiring Hard Hat, Wrangler, and Dandy Grandeur and for the RM5 for recommending them to her. That criticism makes no sense. Like a building itself, animal sanctuaries require design and construction. According to her friends, they were experts in their fields and worked with them during their spare time, so Fluttershy trusts their instincts. The construction worker would plan and build the sanctuary. The interior designer would lay out the sanctuary and make the enclosures fit in each of their environments. The wrangler would help build the fencing so no animal can either escape or invade in other animals' spaces. In short (and credit to Maud Pie for this), the three occupations make a whole lotta sense. Unfortunately, each of their recommendations are reliant on word and mouth. While it's understandable in Fluttershy's point of view, having flashbacks of these three showing showing us how well they craft their work can lend in some extra credibility to their work. How? When people see how well they work, then we as an audience can believe them better and trust AJ's, Pinkie's and Rarity's advice. All of the characters were never even heard of until here, so this doubles the important. Moreover, when the audience can see how well they work, yet betray Fluttershy's vision, that betrayal can sting more to the audience.

It's a little detail, but it's also important. One big flaw from last season is how Starlight wasn't treated as an actual part of the cast, but was thrown in whenever the episode needed her. Even if she didn't have to speak and could be included as some cameo like Dungeons, she was absent. Here, she was directly involved in building the sanctuary. Little details like these further establish her as an organic part of their world.

As I think about this episode, some issues definitely crop up.

The biggest one is how simplistic the plot is. If you read G. M. Berrow's books, simplicity in plot is what she tends to write. Unfortunately, it doesn't work as well in a 22-minute plot, which makes the conflict drawn out overall and overlooked on some key things, particularly in one scene. Like any form of construction, building a sanctuary is really complex and requires a lot of planning. Despite clear understanding of how Fluttershy wants the sanctuary laid out, there's a big difference between drawing a landscape and designing/planning one. There's no blueprint in the literal construction of the place. She showed Hard Hat the drawing and notes, told him very clearly what she wants and doesn't want, and it was off from there. When you don't have a blueprint, nothing truly gets done, much less get started, and you risk major mishaps along the way. It's very important in any job to have clear and concise direction and communication. Clarity on both sides was semi-absent. The conflict would be given much better justice had there been some development of a blueprint for the sanctuary. Sadly, DHX skips over this really important level of detail, and it hurts the conflict. Credit goes to EQD's Seraphem and Sirius Face for pointing this out.

The language of "sanctuary" could've been clearer, too. Traditionally, animal sanctuaries are built so they live there for the rest of their lives. From what Fluttershy suggests to the audience, no one in Equestria has done this type of project before, which is why it's treated as so ambitious. In real life, sanctuaries exist throughout. Now, before we get further, not all sanctuaries are equal. Some sanctuaries are treated as rehabilitation centers or temporary homes for animals, where the wild is treated and will either be released or relocated to a new home. Here, the show exclusively treats an animal sanctuary as a physical rehab place, and as the animals here show some level of sapience, it makes sense. Could've been better if there was…I don't know…another word or phrase.

Fluttershy's goal is very sudden, too, but it's more of an issue with the show itself (in particular its on-the-fly canon) rather than the episode itself, so I hold nothing against it. That said, she does show some understanding of building the right environments for specific animals, as evident by Bats's ending, so there's some credit to continuity here. It could've been a better if it was hinted early in the episode to lead her goal in better.

While there are some issues here, it doesn't change the things it does right. As far as character and progression is concerned, this is some of Fluttershy's best characterization. She had the right idea on what the animals need and is absolutely in the right to call out the people she hired for betraying her word. And despite not having a blueprint, she does know what she's doing, and she's assertive without crossing the line. It's a good episode, but could've done better if the plot was quicker.