Fluttershy being scared on Nightmare Night

[Discordrules123 10]

Does anybody else feel like that Fluttershy was being flanderized in both "Luna Eclipse"and "Scare Master"? I know that she can be pretty shy and timid, which is a part of her character, but I don't think that even she would be so scared of Nightmare Night, especially since most of the costumes and decorations aren't that scary looking.  

[Luigi 7,869]

I think it's just a reflection upon sometimes people do bad things on Halloween like chasing kids with a knife that parents want their children to avoid getting in danger. 

[BastementSparkle 20,321]

I think they played her fears up a bit much for comedy, yeah. But I don't think it's entirely unreasonable that she'd have some level of fear for Nightmare Night. Obviously, most of the "Scary" stuff we see in the show is fairly innocent by our standards since it's a cartoon that has to remain appropriate for kids, but it is, like Halloween, a holiday that involves a lot of potentially scary stuff. Think of the scares Fluttershy used on her friends near the end of "Scare Master", even they were scared of that. While we didn't see anything else like that, it's unlikely Fluttershy is the only one to think up truly scary things like such for the holiday.

 It's entirely possible that Fluttershy's fear of Nightmare Night goes all the way back to when she was just a filly, and she possibly encountered some of the more legitimately scary stuff back then. In which case I don't think it's unreasonable that she might develop a phobia of the holiday so bad, that she wishes to avoid the night entirely. Sure, even if most of the stuff is fairly harmless, what if something truly frightening happens?

 Not to mention, in the first Nightmare Night episode, she got scared mostly because "Nightmare Moon", and most of the town was scared of Luna too anyway at that point, so you can apply that logic to more than just her there. Scare Master...was a little ridiculous though, I kinda wish they had shown her fears a little more realistically. However, I think the ending of the episode largely makes up for it. Shy gave the holiday a real chance, and found that even then she truly didn't enjoy it, and that it's okay for her to feel that way, which was a pretty great moral I think.

[Discordrules123 10]

I'm not really a fan of "Scare Master" myself, mostly because I find it ridiculous as well, and I thought that it was rather silly of her to think that Luna was still Nightmare Moon since she was there when the two Princess's reunited and made up, but I do sometimes like to think that Fluttershy had some kind of horrific moment on the same holiday when she was just a filly.

I also have a theory as to why the townsfolk were acting so scared of Luna other than the whole "ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE!". Remember when they celebrated at the end of the pilot episode? Well I think the reason why they weren't acting so scared of her was because Celestia was also there with them, so I think it's possible that they felt protected around her. When she arrived during Nightmare Night however, Celestia wasn't there with her, so I think from their perspective there would be no pony to protect them if Luna decided to harm them, which she would never do of course. I'm not quite sure as to how they thought she was still Nightmare Moon though, but I guess it's not too much to worry about. Except for Applejack because she other than Fluttershy should actually know better.       

[BastementSparkle 20,321]

4 minutes ago, Discordrules123 said:

I'm not really a fan of "Scare Master" myself, mostly because I find it ridiculous as well, and I thought that it was rather silly of her to think that Luna was still Nightmare Moon since she was there when the two Princess's reunited and made up, but I do sometimes like to think that Fluttershy had some kind of horrific moment on the same holiday when she was just a filly.

I also have a theory as to why the townsfolk were acting so scared of Luna other than the whole "ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE!". Remember when they celebrated at the end of the pilot episode? Well I think the reason why they weren't acting so scared of her was because Celestia was also there with them, so I think it's possible that they felt protected around her. When she arrived during Nightmare Night however, Celestia wasn't there with her, so I think from their perspective there would be no pony to protect them if Luna decided to harm them, which she would never do of course. I'm not quite sure as to how they thought she was still Nightmare Moon though, but I guess it's not too much to worry about. Except for Applejack because she other than Fluttershy should actually know better.       

Other than just Celestia's presence, do keep in mind Luna's change in appearance. Back when she came to the party in season 1 she was smaller, lighter in color and without the flowing, starry mane and tail. In "Luna Eclipsed" she shows up taller, darker in color and with the flowing mane and tail, which makes her look a bit closer to Nightmare Moon than she did before, though obviously not exactly the same, it definitely makes her appear more menacing.

Riding in on the chariot with the Spooky Bat Guards, and shouting with her ROYAL CAPS LOCK, and appearing on a Holiday actually dedicated to Nightmare Moon though, all that probably didn't help.

[Discordrules123 10]

Those do sound like other good reasons, especially the cloak being made out of bats. Although I do have concerns with the idea of a holiday being based off of what Princess Luna used to be as well as being portrayed as a foal gobbling monster. One particular reviewer whose name I can't remember at the moment mentioned in his review for the episode that since Celestia still cared very much for her sister (even when she became the wicked mare of darkness), then she would have prevented the holiday from being made. Maybe it would have been better if they didn't make the holiday based on Nightmare Moon or anybody. It can still be called Nightmare Night but it would be more similar to Halloween in modern times, which is based off of nothing.