spoiler Why was Fluttershy so optamistic about the town?

[darkwingmare 1,320]

I believe that she was comfortable with the way that the ponies were acting towards each other. No hard feelings, no one pushing someone else, no one asking anything, no one getting to be the doormat. That town basically solved all of her issues, everyone was cheerful, welcoming, friendly, happy and there were nothing to worry about. Everyone was the same, nothing special with everyone. Basically.. Very peaceful. I believe that's the kind of thing that Fluttershy likes, since she basically behaves that way herself.

 

I'd say... That she can too, have something deeper within her about other ponies. Like... Yes, it's very likely that she doesn't like the way of other ponies and wants to avoid conflict but she thinks that ponies are annoying for doing certain things. If she was pure and good all the way though, I'd dislike her even more than I already do. Every character must have something to them that isn't all perfect, dreamy and nice. I'm sure she's just hiding away a lot of pressure and feelings somewhere. That would explain her freak-outs whenever something actually happens and she must somehow express her feelings to get it out of her system.

Edited April 4, 2015 by darkwingmare

[Light Diamond 950]

Fluttershy has a kind caring nature and they were happy and friendly with each other. That's why she didn't think there was anything wrong and was comfortable with them.

[MLPFanatic34 3,234]

She is kind and caring and didn't view the creepy smiling ponies as monsters or anything other than friendly happy ponies. That's why I think she was optimistic and didn't see anything as being wrong. Also found it funny that Pinkie Pie viewed their smiles as very creepy and not natural, it's like Pinkie's the master of smiles lol..  

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,302]

I don't think it has anything to do with cynicism; just the opposite, in fact.  She simply believed that everypony was welcoming and polite.  If she were a cynical pony, it would have made more sense for her to doubt their niceness from the get-go.

 

Here's what happened: Flutters' reaction to the town's inhabitants made her the perfect pony to pass off as having conformed to the behavior of the townsfolk.  That's it.  Had Rainbow Dash stepped out and said, "Yeah.  This place is awes- pretty all right.  I mean I like it.  Can't wait to be like everypony else and everything."  That...  Probably wouldn't have panned out.

 

_{Thanks go to Angelbabe for the dialogue. x3}

[Marine_Vet_Brony 317]

Clearly Fluttershy is a supporter of Communism

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

I asked myself the same question. Fluttershy's actions make her seem a bit too gullible. But maybe if I watch the episode again I'll see more. I like that Fluttershy had a lot to do in the episode and her face during the song LOL. 

[Stellafera 3,836]

Along with the general points of Fluttershy being non-confrontational and liking to give others the benefit of the doubt, I think the rest of the Mane 6's distaste for the town made her want to defend them a bit. Fluttershy doesn't like it when she feels like one side isn't getting a fair hearing in an argument. 

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,161]

Fluttershy is a generally accepting and open-minded pony; a trait which can be both good and bad. I don't think it makes her gullible, but it can be risky if she isn't careful. In any case I think it played out like it possibly could, and out of all of the Mane 6, she would be the most likely candidate for that.

[BlinkZ 1,151]

As other have hinted n the first page, yeah Fluttershy seems to be obivous to the smiles(creepy factor smiles) Evryone was creeped out but fluttershy seems too obivous, i know she the type of pony to be accepting and  kind but it seem a bit too convient.

[Cirrus. 1,089]

Well maybe it's because Fluttershy is a silly gullible fool.

Edited April 5, 2015 by Cirrus.

[Justin_Case001 4,891]

Basically what the majority has said, here.  I personally thought she was being just a tad to optimistic and naive, but hey, they need her to balance out RD, who if left to her own devices would solve every problem by yelling, "There they are, GET EM!!"  (I kid, I love RD)

[Flutter's lover <3 8,205]

I was curious about this bit too. But, Kindness is her element, so naturally she's gonna be kind towards a bunch of nice ponies, even if they area bit...weird. and following some cult. Her kindness not only shines through the bright and sunny, but her kindness shows through on the darkest of times. She was just doing her thing.  Hell she told off AJ and the other ponies to not be rude to the townsfolk and Twilight backed her up on that. Even once she realized they were all brainwashed...she was still nice towards them. Despite lying to them, about accepting their "ways"  She did it for the better intentions of helping them later on.

[Pineapple Bloom 511]

Well I think it was mostly for the plot of the episode, lol. Twilight told her that she was the only one who acted positive about the town, and thus was the one who had to pretend to join the Equal Ponies. There had to be at least ONE pony to be optimistic about the town, and I guess the writers chose Fluttershy because 1. She's one of the most popular characters and it made the episode focus a little more on her in some parts, and 2. Fluttershy is the most believable character to be optimistic about the town. What other character could the writers have used?

[TailsIsNotAlone 3,695]

FlutterShy seems to think the best of situations.

Remember in the episode Bats?

 

The vampire bats were obviously causing problems but she insisted that things were going fine.

Good point. It's not that Fluttershy is oblivious--it's that she doesn't want there to be a problem, ever. This means that she is willing to overlook strange situations and rude treatment from others until she has no choice but to acknowledge a conflict. When Starlight stole her and her friends' cutie marks, Shy no longer had the luxury of hoping everything was fine. In the end, she summed up the grim situation more bitterly than her friends (actually using the word "brainwashing") and put herself on the line to undo Starlight Glimmer. Not just because of the evil plot, but because Starlight betrayed her optimism and caused a problem she couldn't ignore.

 

Fluttershy resented her for that as much as anything else.

[Adorkable 2,737]

Element of Kindness, doesn't surprise me too much. Even though every minute or two she did seem a little too optimistic. I'm sure she was just trying to me nice to everyone.

[Littlepip3000 111]

I think she's just too naive and ignorant for her own good. Bats!, Keep Calm and Flutter On, and now Cutie Map part one. She's just cripplingly naive and overly optimistic.

[A Black Circle 1,586]

She's trying to hide behind her fake innocence.

It's a ploy, I tell you.

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

I re watched "Hurricane Fluttershy" and "Putting Your Hoof Down" very recently and after that her behavior seemed more in character in "Cutie Map". She has been bullied and pushed around for appearing to be weak(as a few people in this thread mentioned) so the town appealed to her because nobody was being rude or taking advantage of her. Fluttershy tends to see innocence in others and has emotional baggage. Perhaps she did not want to judge the town for being different because she was judged for being shy. In real life people like Starlight use people in Fluttershy's position unfortunately. Once she saw that Starlight Glimmer was doing something which was bad she stepped up.  

[DeadAccount 4,604]

I honestly wasn't surprised about Fluttershy being so positive about it. It was quiet and polite there and everyone acted so kind and kindness is her element so....

[Red Cedar 1,408]

In addition to being a generally optimistic pony who sees the good in everything and tries to find solutions to problems whenever possible, Fluttershy, more than any of the other ponies, appreciates feelings of calm, content, and minimized conflict. She would be a good candidate to be a Buddhist nun in our world. On the surface, the town did appear to be a conflict-free community where everyone knew what to do and were helped to live there under that system, so I can see that being very appealing to Fluttershy.

[Dark Qiviut 22,425]

Don't mention Bats!. I despised that episode and wish Hasbro never ever made it. I disliked AJ after that episode.

You honestly shouldn't. Applejack was one-hundred-percent in the right for acting the way she did and was villified for no reason at all.

 

---

 

As for the OP, there are several ways to look at it:

1. @@LZRD WZRD, mentioned this in his video review of TCM. While others were uncomfortable for the approach to the results, Fluttershy was more focused on the results. She saw how the system worked and how everyone was happy. This is what she wants and years: happiness.
2. There's no conflict. Fluttershy has a very traumatic history of being bullied mercilessly for her inability to fly that well. This is the main reason why she's so "shy": not simple because she's shy, but how her past has mentally crippled her. Even though the no-named village is drab, there's no conflict. This makes Fluttershy feel very comfortable. While everything else creeped them out, Fluttershy wasn't. @@TailsIsNotAlone said this part best: While the others saw conflict, FS doesn't want to see any, period. The lack of conflict, the more comfortable she feels. When she saw how Glimmer wasn't sticking to her own philosophy, Fluttershy acted next morning.
3. It's really backed up by continuity. She's the Bearer of Kindness, and everyone was very kind to her. This ebbs off Fluttershy, who was optimistic and trusting to a severe fault. But don't take that as her being in the wrong. Each of the Mane Six had very logical reasons for the way they reacted to their surroundings. Fluttershy isn't exempt.

[Zoraxe 546]

I liked Fluttershy a lot in this episode, it shows she is willing to give ponies a chance and doesn't rush to judgments.

 

You honestly shouldn't. Applejack was one-hundred-percent in the right for acting the way she did and was villified for no reason at all.

 

I agree with you, I dislike bats because of Fluttershy's position being depicted as the right one. Mostly because the show itself doesn't do a very good job at convincing us that Fluttershy is right, and the imagery of the episode backs up Applejacks position. You see the bats eating way too many apples, and actually hurting the trees in the episode, disproving Fluttershy, but somehow Fluttershy was right at the end.

[Steel Accord 6,660]

I think it was because she was only seeing the surface. To Fluttershy, the town . . . did we even ever get a name for that Hell hole?!

 

Anyway, to Fluttershy's eyes, it was just a disarmingly welcoming town where everypony got along and never fought. As the biggest pacifist of the Six, Fluttershy hates conflict, so seeing a place where it doesn't exist appeals to her. (Even if the means to achieve this she would not approve of when she found out about them.)

 

Remember also, she was the one who redeemed Discord. She can see potential good where others only perceive evil. It makes her wonderfully forgiving.

[KatonRyu 1,033]

Honestly, I think this was a bit of flanderization on Fluttershy's part. I know she's the Element of Kindness, but this just bordered on insanity. Of course, she could just have been trying to convince herself that everything was normal because she dislikes conflict and it would be in line with her character to want an ideal town even though she knew it wasn't...

 

For me, though, I think her element was exaggerated too much.

[The Second Opinion 270]

As far as knowing that "something was up" goes, we knew that, because we wouldn't be watching an episode about going to this town otherwise, and because Starlight Glimmer kept doing her evil smile at the audience. To the main characters, it was just a town trying a new approach that insisted on always getting along, avoiding any possible confrontation, and being pleasant, even when that wasn't entirely what they felt like doing. 5/6 of the friends didn't like the sound of that very much, but their only reason to think something might actually be wrong was because their map sent them there.

As for what it speaks to in Fluttershy, I think it's important to remember that "nice" and "shy" are not the same thing. There's no real reason (that I see) to think Fluttershy doesn't sincerely like being nice, but doing it to dodge confrontation like she does means she's using it as a crutch. It makes sense that she'd like a town that makes a rule of going out of your way to be nice and pleasant, because that's how she operates every day, and she's not prone to calling foul in the first place (a major reason I like that the climax begins with her finally calling out Starlight Glimmer's ruse in front of everyone).