We marked one month of EQD at this point, with confused parents everywhere slowly discovering their teen and young adult sons watching a show that they only know as a toy commercial for six year old girls from the 80s. Over in the /co/ pony world, we had just hit a giant milestone with 6000 posts in a single thread before it exploded. It was pretty obvious that there was nothing stopping this runaway train.
The Stare Master was another one of those love it hate it episodes for the denizens of the old crowd. The CMC Still weren't a popular topic at this point. Six main mares were our primary interest, and these three kids with their constant jabbering about cutie marks were taking valuable episodes away from them. Luckily, Fluttershy swooped in with a new special ability, and suddenly we had something to talk about!
Where ponyville's arguably most powerful pony was defeated quite easily by the cockatrice, Fluttershy was able to take it on eye vs eye. The Stare is referenced these days about as much as Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Sense (Very rarely), but it definitely added another layer to the character.
Anyway, you know the drill at this point! Get the episode below, and toss those glorious initial reactions in the comments.
