S04:E07 - Bats!

[hdylta 42]

well damn, I was gonna watch it live for the first time and missed it... I'm on a different time zone and calculated wrong I guess

Oh well just have to wait for someone to upload on youtube.

[Metemponychosis 1,259]

Freaking stream was lagging like there is no tomorrow, but I liked what I saw. Changed my opinion about two times through the episode, but I ended up liking it. Didn't see the ending though. I'll watch it again anyway...

 

But, wasn't the Stare supposed to be a thing that Fluttershy can't control? This happened in Keep Calm and Flutter On Too. If she learned to control this ability, it should be mentioned and not just used without any apparent rules. Meh... Silly nitpick...

 

Honestly, for ponies that are SO connected to nature, these ponies were a bit too ignorant about the bats in the beginning, but I guess I should assume that Applejack had reason to be scared of the bats in the beginning. I'm just happy she didn't decide to go about poisoning the things. XD

 

And Twilight needs to go back to her reports to Princess Celestia.. She seems to have forgotten Swarm of the Century. See?! She was not ready!!! 

 

Well... those things didn't manage to stop me from enjoying the episode.  Nothing too special, but it was good, in the upper end of the "good spectrum". The song was okay (actually, I liked the visuals more than the song), Rarity as usual was great and all the characters seemed to be okay as far as I can think right now...

 

It was a good episode that I'm going to enjoy again as soon as I get my hands on a youtube link.

[Sir.Flutter Hooves 2,953]

Wait...Fluttershy was a vampire right? Don't vampire not show up in mirrors?

 

[Shanks 10,816]

I told ya'll this would be a good episode, a free round of cider for everyone as we toast to a good AJ episode. Speaking of cider, I think Rainbow Dash needs an intervention "will somepony please think of the cider." Twilight screwing up a spell is nothing new but this had to be one of the most interesting screw ups she has done, with Flutterhulk and now Flutterbat I wonder which kind of transformation she will take next. The song was good, but Super Cider Squeezy 6000 is still my personal favorite. My only complaint is that Spike was completely useless, I like him but he seemed to be there just to be there. Rarity being grossed out was fairly amusing, and with all this fanboying I have been doing you pretty much know how I feel about AJ in this episode.

Edited December 28, 2013 by EarthbendingProdigy

[MonoSpectator 4]

Overall, I really enjoyed this episode. As others said, it is probably my favorite episode of this season so far. The animation was very nice on Twilight's magic and that duet with AJ and Fluttershy was very well done! I love when they do songs like that. It reminded me a bit of the "Find a Pet" song from season 2. I also REALLY liked Flutterbat. Her design was very VERY cool. Everything from her eye color to her messy main, bat wings, and ears was well placed and fit nicely. Also, I loved how they made her tail look a bit like a demon tail at the tip. I really hope that Flutterbat comes back at some point in this season or seasons to come. It could prove to be a really interesting plot point or conflict. 

Man, imagine if that happened again and a big baddie used Flutterbat? That'd be really neat. 

[Seaweed-Headed Dragon 359]

Flutterbat is sooooooooooooooooooooo cute in my opinion 

[Vertigo_95 572]

I really liked the episode, that's about it. The only thing I didn't like is how they all went against Fluttershy (again like when they were reforming Discord). Another thing that bothered me was the song. It wasn't bad, but it was a bit slow for me.

[Stellafera 3,836]

An A+ episode, the first in the season!

 

Of course, the salient aspects like the fantastic song were all visible, but where this episode won was

 

1. A legitimate moral dilemma

2. Characterization 

 

Apple trees take a long time to grow. Do we sacrifice our crops for 20 years in order to ultimately gain more? Do we tie up our friend for Applebuck Season and save our food supply, or do we save her immediately and risk all of our livelihood? In the end, Applejack's desire for her friend to be okay prevailed, but it was a well-reasoned episode.

 

And speaking of that, CHARACTERIZATION YO! Fluttershy was great when she was around as herself, having a backbone but still being willing to sacrifice that easily. But, being me, Applejack was the one who truly shined. She fought, she had good motivations, she cared about her friend, and she was just adorably Applejack about the Season too. 

 

 

And there was no shortage of memorable visuals, either.

Edited December 28, 2013 by Stellafera

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,331]

This episode was written by Meghan McCarthy, I thought it was gonna be Williams. 

Anyway pretty solid episode. Funny it felt more like a Halloween type episode then a winter type episode.

Is this gonna be the season of Fluttershy forms. We've got Flutterhulk now Flutterbat. Also there were a lot of continuity jokes like Fruit bat roundup and Rainbow Dash's cider addiction.

[An Old Head 4,816]

1.) Pinkie Pie- She was literally no help today, just their for comedic effect (*sigh* again)

 

She was quite helpful rounding up bats with the apple basket in the beginning. She was also the very first pony to discover Flutterbat, and she had just as much a role as everyone else in bringing Fluttershy back to normal with the mirrors. And the comedic effect in itself is helpful - spontaneous Fruit Bat Roundup to try and lower the tension of the situation for instance 

Edited December 28, 2013 by Flipturn

[Winona the Dog 1,984]

I really liked it but gosh there's so many freaking sub plots going on.

 

 

We have 

 

The Equestrian Games

The Box

The Keys

The Mysterious Pony from the Castle

The Enchanted Book thingy

 

And Now we have Flutterbat which may or may not appear again. (Though it really looks like she might come back)

 

 

Calm down writers..........there's enough sub plots already!

[Moved to Elsewhere 11,331]

Forgot to mention I liked the song. It had a Disney feel do it

[Metemponychosis 1,259]

 

 

My only complaint is that Spike was completely useless, I like him but he seemed to be there just to be there.

 

 

Specially after an episode saying that he is important, right? Poor Spike.

[Radiance64 7,053]

Wow. Just wow. This episode, it totally blew me away. Meghan McCarthy really proved her single-episode writing chops once again here with 'Bats!', because it's been a while since we've gotten one of those from her(Power Ponies had 3 writers iirc), and this was like, at Dragonshy/Green Isn't Your Color/Lesson Zero levels of good here. We got so much great character usage here- Applejack being Applejack but like, at her best Applejack, Fluttershy using the stare again(and having it backfire on her!), Pinkie Pie being hilarious(Fruit Bat Wrap Up anypony? I'm loving Pinkie more and more with this season), Rainbow Dash being a little too obsessed with cider, Rarity being best singer and wearing an awesome outfit(and being chased by bats in it, poor thing), and Twilight... pulling out laser grids? Just whoah. And Spike... wrote the journal entry at least? Also had a pretty funny one-liner, imo, taking the credit after AJ said couldn't do it without y'all and whatnot... Anyway, speaking of singing, man did we get a stupendous song here, also called 'Bats!', really sounded like some grade-A Nightmare Before Christmas/Danny Elfman biz here, props to Ingram being able to draw influence from one of the greatest TV/film composers of all time and making it his own. It was dramatic, fun, and really represented the moral dillema on display here well. Plus, the stroy of the episode was great too- starting out as an everyday slice-of-life pest problem and going in a completely different, unexpected direction- turning Fluttershy into, quite literally, a Bat Pony! I mean sure, the fix for it being her looking at herself in the mirror and being cast a spell on was quick and easy, but the whole concept was cool and creepy, it was heavily forshadowed at after her staring at the bats sure, but I didn't think they'd go that far... perhaps this is how batponies are made? Either way though, it's completely canon now, and that's awesome. Oh, and dat ending tho, Fluttershy may or may not be completely cured? Apple-sucking only on full moons or something now? Who knows what implications it may have.

Overall, one of the best episodes of the entire series, ever, loved every single moment of it- Every. Single. Moment. 10/10

Edited December 28, 2013 by SBB64

[Wingnut 6,988]

Finally, an episode with Applejack and Fluttershy as the focal characters! It certainly met my expectations too.

 

-I thought the apples would be under attack by the sweet, colorful fruit bats from Apple Family Reunion. But vampire bats that suck fruit juice instead of blood? O...K.

 

-Applejack made the vampire bats look ugly and evil which is totally understandable from somepony who runs a farm for a living.

-But Fluttershy can make any animal look adorable.

-I loved the reference to Rainbow Dash's cider addiction from so long ago.  Thank goodness it's not hard cider. 

-I thought the song was meh but the debate over the merits of those bats made it worthwhile.

-What do the vampire bats do for food if they don't want to suck on apples any more?

-Twilight's long alicorn neck is beginning to get on my nerves.

-Fluttershy flies much better as a bat than she ever did as a pony.

-It was touching when Applejack said all she wanted was her friend Fluttershy back.

-The episode closes with Fluttershy showing an enlarged canine tooth. I can see having foreshadowing for future episodes once in awhile, but every week? There is no way they'll be able to follow up on every loose end.

Edited December 28, 2013 by Wingnut

[Metemponychosis 1,259]

lets also not forget how ethically questionable the mane 6's original plan was O_o

That is why it got screwed up?

If this was "adult entertainment", I could easily see they REALLY screwing it up.

Totally agree with you.

[Megas 27,568]

This episode was written by Meghan McCarthy, I thought it was gonna be Williams. 

Anyway pretty solid episode. Funny it felt more like a Halloween type episode then a winter type episode.

Is this gonna be the season of Fluttershy forms. We've got Flutterhulk now Flutterbat. Also there were a lot of continuity jokes like Fruit bat roundup and Rainbow Dash's cider addiction.

From what I've heard, she also worked on the episode. In particular, she wrote the song

[Sir.Flutter Hooves 2,953]

 

 

She was quite helpful rounding up bats with the apple basket in the beginning. She was also the very first pony to discover Flutterbat, and she had just as much a role as everyone else in bringing Fluttershy back to normal with the mirrors. And the comedic effect in itself is helpful - spontaneous Fruit Bat Roundup to try and lower the tension of the situation for instance

 

Hm...good point. That was just my opinion, I see where you're going at though. I still love Pinkie, I just wish they would go deeper in her character and give her a bigger role next episode.

 

Still great episode.

[Doctor XFizzle 8,669]

So now we've got 

 

- The Pony of Shadows

- disappearing enchanted comic book

- Flutterfang

 

all these things have to be building up for the end of the season

[LED Dasher 228]

Despite a good lesson being presented at the end, the ending seemed dark considering that Fluttershy still had fangs. I hope they address this in future episodes by having Fluttershy fully revert back to her original form. I liked "Hearts as Strong as Horses" more than this episode's song. Rainbow Dash's obsession with apple cider was fun to watch and indicates that the fourth season episodes are referencing the previous seasons. Anyway, the show seems to be darker now. Overall, this was a great episode.

Edited December 28, 2013 by LED Dasher

[Sir.Flutter Hooves 2,953]

Also this hilarious moment, one reason why I love Pinkie so much. Everybody is somber, and sad but then there's Pinkie:

 

[ghostfacekiller39 23,860]

The episode, to me, was one of the best so far this season.

 

The song wasn't great, in my honest opinion, and that was kind of a disappointment; however, the characterization was excellent on most fronts, or, at least, improved; barring the overblown Pinkie thing that seems to be a recurring theme this year, but, still, she was much better than in previous episodes when it comes to her cartoonish behavior being overdone for comic relief.

 

Rarity was a shining example of Rarity in this episode; she was still feminine and disgusted by, if not afraid, by the bats, yet she kept trying for the sake of helping her friends, albeit she wore her general disposition towards the creatures on her sleeve. She's a girly-girl; they're grossed out by that stuff. She still showed the same amount of dedication to her friends as the rest showed to each other, and that is generally overlooked. Again, S4 has been excellent to Rarity thus far in making up for her abuse of portrayal in S3, and this is the Rarity that led my crusade into becoming a Brony; the Rarity I thoroughly enjoy admiring as much as I do.

 

RD didn't stand out to me too much, other than the Scarecrow scene; I guess she was good, but, like Pinkie, there's room for improvement. She felt bland to me, and RD isn't a bland character; she's managed to evoke more emotion out of me than any characters but Fluttershy and Rarity during my time as a Brony. She either rubs me entirely the wrong way, and creates a grinding friction in my head that I'll end up forgiving her for at the end of the episode, or she doesn't rub me the wrong way and I thoroughly enjoy her character throughout the episode. That was the problem here; she didn't rub me either way. I'd much rather have it be the wrong way than no way, because that's part of what makes RD a great character to me; she can give me a headache, but I can't stay mad at her for too long when she does

 

I've had a bit of a problem the past 2 episodes with Twilight; she's taking a leadership role, which, is fine, but it's sort of dehydrating her character; she's been either all work and no play (This episode) or failed to contribute very much, despite leading the mane 6 (Power Ponies) However, seeing as I can make the joke "My Little Pony: Friendship Twilight Sparkle is Magic" is one of my favorite shows!! I have no doubt she'll improve as time goes on, and she certainly was a step up from last week's episode.

 

Alright, AJ and Fluttershy, of course, were the 2 mane characters this episode; AJ representing the side of logic and reason, while Fluttershy representing the side of feeling and caring. I had a problem with AJ in this episode, She, and the rest (Except for Rarity, of course She never does anything wrong and is the best character ever!! Anything bad that happens is totally the others wrongdoing! //jking), completely peer pressured Fluttershy into doing what they wanted to do, even thought she thought it was a shite idea. In the end, we all saw what happened; that was very uncool, and I really felt for Fluttershy. I thought it was kind of tragic, the others molding her mindset into following along with them, even though she was totally against it, and, because of that, she became the heinous monster Flutterbat. AJ did express remorse in the end for her actions, as she was the ringleader, and even sacrificed her huge apple to get her friend back, so all is forgiven, because I don't hold grudges against ponies when they do something wrong to another pony, but do what's right in the end and express regret and remorse. (Which is why people using Rarity in "Sweet & Elite" is a poor argument to me that does nothing but show closed-mindedness, but, whatever, off topic.)

 

Overall, I'd give it a 9.8/10

 

It's tied for the 1 spot with Castle Mane-ia as my favorite episode of S4 so far Now, time to get onto some important matters.

 

*Begins preparing for Rarity Takes Manehattan next Saturday, fighting back tears of joy for the first Rarity episode since 2011*

[MLPFanatic34 3,234]

This was a good episode and I enjoyed the song and seeing Applejack and Fluttershy interact together and man is Applejack amazing in this episode, her wanting to save her apples and protect her orchard from the Vampire Fruit Bats. Loved the episode and all those elements and the song, but man that ending, Oh my god, is Flutterbat gonna show up again?! Cause that along with several other elements like the comic book, the key box, the Shadow Pony and the Equestria Games better be shown later on! 10/10 episode though!

[Metemponychosis 1,259]

So, I missed the end. But by what I've been seeing here, Fluttershy still had her fangs, right?

 

I just think that the show has taken a habit of these "mindf*ck" finishing moves for the episodes. I doubt it will come up again, juslike the comic and the Pony of Shadows.

 

The writers are just screwing with the people that take it all too seriously.

[Rappy0 338]

It was good I liked it better than last weeks episode and despite being written my Meghan McCarthy it was paced well so props to her. But  I can only imagine the clopfics that will come from this episode... Also what with these teases we're getting at the end of the episodes? I really don't understand why their there unless they all comeback at the end of the season, but I don't think they will.

 

Edit: Also the song was nice it reminded me of an old school Disney song.

Edited December 28, 2013 by Rappy0