I apologize in advance for any and all eventual typos.

Fluttershy calls upon

"Dragonshy" Written by Meghan McCarthy

Okay, maybe that last Sad Tennant was a bit overly ominous. No, I don't think "Dragonshy" is as bad as "Boast Busters". It's not even bad. It's actually quite decent, offering a glimpse into the more adventure-oriented series Lauren Faust originally intended before later seasons move more towards slice of life with fantasy elements. Some people find the idea of the Mane Six being Celestia's task force that she calls in for these situations a bit unappealing, though I do enjoy how "professional" they all act about it. This ain't no G1, where the characters just kind of stumbled around until the problem was solved; these ladies know what they have to do, and they're gonna do it. Just look at that gearing-up montage (which I cannot find on Youtube, but can assure you that it's further proof that Rarity is amazing). In fact, overall I just enjoy how straightforward the plot is. No friendship problems or anything of the sort today, just a dragon on his lonely mountain.

The best thing the episode has going for it is the humor, and how well it's weaved throughout the narrative without feeling out of place or intrusive on the task at hand. Don't get me wrong, I like random chunks of funny as much as the next guy, but good comic relief works within the story and feels like a proper response. It's difference between The Avengers, where the humor comes from the characters' reactions to each other and add to a deeper understanding of their psyche, and Bayformers, where the comedy needlessly derails the story at every turn and does nothing but annoy. Pinkie Pie doing whatever it is Pinkie Pie does and Rarity trying to persuade the dragon to give her gems are strange solutions to the problems, but they feel natural given the characters and don't interrupt anything; it's part of the climax, as opposed to being a separate scene or quick detours into insanity. In fact, that whole scene is as basic as an example of effective character writing can get: through your wildly varying characters at a random problem and figure out how they would respond. It's fun to watch, needless to say. It's not Joss Whedon or anything, but good writing is good writing.

Animation is also getting noticeably more complex and expressive. I mean, this face...

...it's perfect.

So yeah, a good amount of things to like here and it all adds up to an enjoyable episode. Unfortunate, all that legitimate goodness has to be paired with the debut of Fluttercoward.

The cuteness of this moment is doing battle with the annoyance its context places in my soul. I think I have a cold now.

Don't know how often it's been said by me, but I've never really enjoyed Fluttershy's more lily-livered instances. No, I don't care how "adorable" they are. Now, don't get me wrong, I have no problem with the mere fact that she's fearful; after all, the measure of a true hero is not how fearless they are, but rather what fears they are willing to face to do the right thing and all that jazz, and while it's a bit of a backwards character development, what with the pilot showing her intense interest in baby dragons and her ability to stay calm and collected in the face of a violent manticore attack, but I guess I can deal with a fear of dragons if it's done well.

But it isn't done well. In fact, I find it to be quite mishandled. The episode goes way too far with Flutter's fear and turns her into a difficult, bordering-on-incompetent milksop. She rises to the challenge, to be sure, but at every turn beforehand, her behavior just causes more and more problems for the rest of the group. I can't feel sympathy for a character who mere presence irritates and impedes the progress of every other character in the episode. And that wouldn't be so bad if that was part of the lesson, like Fluttershy's fear has less to do with the dragon itself and more with not being able to do anything effective or meaningful (which is actually the idea they run with in my all time favorite episode, but that comes much later). But nope, she's just scared of the dragon and has absolutely no self control, because that's cute, right?

I get it, the moral of the story is to not underestimate your friends, but to be honest, I wouldn't really blame Dash for assuming Flutters would be of no help is this was all I had to go by. Not to mention that specific wording seems makes the whole "afraid of dragons" thing feel disconnected from the eventual moral. Surely there could have been better way of doing this? Like, Fluttershy goes because she chose to go, but is afraid she won't be of any help, which isn't helped when she thinks she's become a burden (but she wouldn't be the direct cause of problems, rather she has a harder time getting around them than the others), so she leaves near the end to make it easier for the others, but she decides to go back up because those are her friends and she needs to be there for them (as opposed to hiding behind the rock). See, I fixed it.

That's all just a personal problem I have, and I know most probably don't have too much of an issue with this characterization, but that's my two bits. Otherwise, it's a nice little adventure story. I actually think it becomes a bit better if you imagine this as the beginning of Dash's arc regarding her relationship with Flutters (disrespect into genuine friendship).

Overall, not too shabby, besides that really annoying thing.

7/10