I was going to give Couch this one, since he usually does the Applejack stuff, but then this happened. If you follow EQD at all, you know I love me some bat ponies. Imagine my amazement when it actually happened in the show!
I saw a few of you complaining about fandom pandering in that episode post yesterday(which isn't bad if they do it right, I bet you guys freak in a good way when Derpy appears). The premise for "BATS!" has been around since 2012, so that wasn't the case here. I'm going to chock this one up to psychological analysis by the FiM writing team personally. Take the cutest pony in the show, toss in the fangs trope, and watch the world explode. They knew it would cause waves.
Anyway, It's followup time! Expect an endlessly amazing supply of bias! If you read my Magic Duel followup, you know what to expect.
I've never seen this pony so happy before. She really is in her apple filled element. In some ways I envy Applejack. She's a mare that knows exactly what she wants in her simple apple filled life. If her farm wasn't mutilated every other episode, I bet she'd be the most chill pony on the planet.
I do find it kind of sad that only the mane 6 and Spike show up when sweet apple acres is in "code red" mode. One would think a few other ponies would travel over to lend a bit of aid to their number one Cider producer! Pony society continues to confuse me.
This season has the best facial expressions.
And on another note in regards to the dialogue in this scene, I wonder how long it took Fluttershy to learn the bear language? Fruit bats and spit-covered seed attacks are one thing, but can you imagine trying to cozy up to that bear she always pals around with now days? Last I heard, bears eat ponies.
And thus begins the SONG. It was teased yesterday that we should expect something Nightmare Before Christmas style, and I'd say it nailed it pretty well. Daniel Ingram really is the jack of all trades when it comes to music. I'm definitely putting it up there on my top 5 list. I don't even want to hear a dubstep version. Don't ruin the magic for me.
So, were these just imaginary bats or something? Or maybe a different breed? I doubt even Applejack could let these little guys starve.
Actual fruit bats on the other hand are the pinnacle of douchebaggery. As much as I love Fluttershy and her Humane Society thing, these guys are nasty little bastards. An entire orchard of free apples and they steal even from each other.
I AM, THE BATMAN.
I'd be a little bit freaked out if my group of friends decided to bust into song and circle around me chanting things. Ponies have a very odd way of solving problems.
And just look at poor Shy up there. That expression is the most dangerous of all. Hearts everywhere are shattering as I type this.
Then we have Pinkie Pie. Glorious Pinkie Pie. I can't tell if she is incredibly dim, or the most brilliant pony of the group. While everyone else is popping serious business faces, she looks like she just opened up a new box of cupcakes. I wonder what goes on in that head of hers? Does she secretly see the entire world as giant 24/7 joke? Does she exist on a dimension above everyone else and laugh from her godlike perch as the puppets of Equestria go about their daily lives completely unaware?
Originally Episode followups were supposed to be about things in the background that people may have missed. I doubt any of you missed the shout out to good ol' Winter Wrap Up though. Good times... I nostalgia'd.
This is around the part I shifted completely on the side of everyone other than Fluttershy. You really can't argue with a history of these little monsters wreaking havok on the town. I was expecting Granny Smith to pop up at the end of the episode and explain that the whole starvation thing was good in the long run due to stronger trees, but that never happened. In a town that seems to run perfectly fine on its current surplus of apples for both food and fun, I can't see the benefit in letting the fruit bats destroy a year of harvest in hopes of better future harvests.
Luckily Flutters is adorable, and then a bat. So that only lasted about 3 minutes.
Only Rainbow Dash.
Only Rarity.
Only Twilight.
Sometimes you confuse me Princess! Let's take an untested variation on a mind control spell that almost destroyed Ponyville and try it out! What's the worst that could go wrong?
Luckily she looks cute in wings, so that also lasted only 3 minutes.
AND THUS IT BEGINS.
This is actually a pretty interesting little scene here if you really think about it. I doubt it was intended, but this is technically the speed at which the sun would raise in Equestria. There aren't many cartoon worlds where the "speed up time" scenes actually fit the setting scientifically. ALL HAIL THE GLORIOUS SOLAR PRINCESS.
Seriously, these bats are dicks.
This episode would have been perfect on Halloween. Let's not delay the season next year whoever is in charge of episode times! We have bat ponies now, so use them!
I was supposed to point something out in regards to these vs. Power Ponies, but I think the Pinkie Pie stuff below is way more interesting so let's skip to that.
As I mentioned above, Pinkie has to secretly be a super-genius in disguise. Just a week after being absorbed into a world where the big bad super villain has a fully controllable mane, she's turning hers into not only an extra limb, but a full on drill. Did she sneak a bit of that evil shampoo stuff? Or is this just another one of those things you gather when being dimensionally above everyone else?
You heard it here first, the end of Friendship is Magic will be a Pinkie Pie episode where she explains to a freshly awoken mane 6 that their entire lives were nothing more than a projection of her infinitely powerful brain.
(LET'S SHIFT INTO THE PAST FOR A BIT HERE.)
"Wait... what? Is this actually happening? They wouldn't would they?"
"IT'S HAPPENING."
"IT HAPPENED."
"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING."
That about sums up the rest of the episode for me. Fluttershy just made the fandom EXPLODE.
Let's not stop there, oh no, we are going to take this even further!
ADD SOME RIDICULOUSLY CUTE BAT EARS ON FANGED FLUTTERPONY.
We had Flutterhulk last week, and while I got some chuckles out of it, I wasn't a fan of seeing my 3rd favorite (now favorite) pony going all muscle man on me. 2/10 would not cuddle that.
This though, this heals all of that and then some! Flutterbat 2014. 10/10 would definitely cuddle.
Oh wait, are you still reeling from best pony growing fangs and bat wings? How about a K.O. with some TRON. Did you hear the background music during this? That's a style straight out of the Daft Punk stuff used for the somewhat recent movie. When can we expect a Daniel Ingram/Steffan Andrews/William Anderson produced electronic style official pony remix album? Have all my pre-orders!
TIME FOR A BAT BREAK!
AWESOME
ADORABLE
FLUTTERBAT
FANGASM COMPLETE.
I'm sorry you all had to go through that.
The whole mirror thing was an ...interesting idea. Does this mean The Stare is active at all times in bat form? That's a pretty big guess from Twilight.
Even the scarecrows look cute in Equestria.
On to the final scene! We get your usual lesson learned thing that some of you actually learn from (which is scary in some cases by the way. I hope the majority of you don't actually need to learn common sense stuff from cartoon horses!), but that wasn't the big takeaway here! Oh no!
The entire lead up to the big fang filled finale is interesting if you look at it frame by frame. We see Shy up above looking at that apple as if she has seen a ghost, followed by the image below:
With her clearly hiding the fact that her fangs have returned.
This is yet another cliffhanger with an endless supply of potential. I really hope this stuff ends up revisited. So far we have Sombra's horn, the pony of Shadows actually existing (or someone that looks like the pony of shadows), and now Fluttershy has apple-triggered fangs. It could be DHX looking way off into the future and setting themselves up for potential episodes, or it could be a sign of already planned things to come. As for me, I'd be perfectly fine with Shy adopting a nightly vampire transformation! We gave Twilight wings and turned her into an alicorn princess, and so far things have worked out well enough! *Tomato shield activated*
Oh, and have some Pinkie to finish it. Keep an eye on this pony. I'm not even kidding.
HIDING SOMETHING
