Scare Master Review *Spoilers*

As usual, I posted this on Equestria Daily earlier.

Like a number of people had already done, I watched this episode back when it leaked over a month ago, so there was no reason for me to watch this again as intended... except there was a reason in the form of watching Scare Master for reviewing purposes. This is the second Nightmare Night episode, and unlike the last one which starred Luna, this one is a Fluttershy episode, and expands on what she went through in Luna Eclipsed with regards to her fear of Nightmare Night. One thing that can be said with Angel, is that his Equestrian counterpart can really be insensitive when it comes to Fluttershy's feelings as opposed to his human world counterpart who pretty much acts like a normal bunny should, for the former forces Fluttershy to venture out of her comfort zone, and right off the bat her fears are expressed through small subtle means scattered around Ponyville which she takes too seriously due to her fears. If Fluttershy were competing to win the best facial expressions for this episode, she would win hands down without any actual competition trying to beat her.

Now, while some of the complaints she has about certain Nightmare Night activities are valid, I think she may have gone a little too far with other concerns she had which in turn was ruining the excitement for the rest of the Mane Six, but then she isn't used to said activities so she comes off as being naïve. So, after a series of events which didn't happen because of her issues, Twilight suggests that Fluttershy does the scaring... an interesting twist as Fluttershy has always been on the receiving end of scare tactics, so now she gets a chance to do it herself... with not-so-good results from her friend's perspective. If there is one thing that she did right when hosting that party of hers at her cottage, it would be the atmosphere where everything appeared cold, dark, mysterious, and foreboding.

Also, the cardboard cut-outs of ponified versions of anime characters were really well done, and nice references to popular characters of anime such as Bulma and Ranma Saotome. Before focusing on the final act, I want to take a moment to discuss the Mane Six and Spike in terms of what their roles were. Interesting that Rarity was here this time around as she was completely absent during Luna Eclipsed, yet I feel the girls didn't have much to say at times as Fluttershy was the main focus. I think it took almost ten minutes before Twilight got to say at least a single word excluding her reactions... her role has been getting more and more diminished all the time this season it seems. I will give them all props for their fantastic costumes, as they were much better than what they wore last Nightmare Night.

Spike was portrayed as a supportive friend rather than a character who causes a problem due to his own desires, and we really need to see more of the former aspect in his own episodes as he has so much potential. At least he didn't try to scare Fluttershy or anything despite her reaction to his shadow, but that's because he didn't know she was even there. As for the final act which involved the corn maze, I'm sure everyone noticed Derpy was dressed up as Princess Twilight (it took me multiple viewings to actually recognize her), yet she was wearing armaments on her hooves... something Twilight I believe has only done once, and that was during her coronation. The special effects as well as the scare factor were on full display here, and I'll admit that I got freaked out during the Granny Smith incident underground. I'm surprised DHX managed to put that in there without any concerns.

Then of course, we get to see the return of Flutterbat for the second time this season, and the third time overall. A nice little homage to Bats!, and somewhat expected given this form is one that Fluttershy has an attachment to seeing as she went with it in costume form this time, and changed into it in the dream world. I can't imagine though seeing Fluttershy hanging there upside down for that length of time without getting bored, but then this was all part of Angel's plan. I'll give Angel props too because for once he was encouraged to go with something sinister, and no doubt he loved every moment of it.

Oh, and I like how Fluttershy references the episode Filli Vanilli when she mentions about singing with the Pony Tones as something she was able to overcome on her own. Overall, I give Scare Master a 93% out of 100%, a fitting episode especially considering it aired on Halloween, yet I feel the rest of the Mane Six along with Spike didn't get as much dialogue as Fluttershy, and some concepts were predictable because you could tell the writers and animators were going to go with such tropes.