Scootalove

Two Cutie Mark Crusader episodes out of a total of six episodes so far?

I'm okay with this.

I'll be talking a bit about today's episode below, which makes the following part somewhat spoilerific, so if you haven't already watched the episode (which you should), you'd probably be better off doing so first.

Seriously. Don't spoil yourself.

Watched it, then? Great.

Sleepless in Ponyville has just rocketed up to be one of my favourite episodes in the show so far. There are a couple of reasons for this. For starters, it is essentially Scootaloo's episode, which is long overdue. Secondly, it showed a lot of sweet sister-interaction and bonding for all three sibling couples (oh, Sweetie Belle, dem puppy eyes. Rarity taught you well). Thirdly, while it had a good number of comedic gags, it was probably the most horror-orientated episode so far, which in itself is pretty awesome.

The really great parts, however, were what the episode added to Scootaloo's personality, and not least the amazing revelation about Luna and what exactly she does as Princess of the Night (apart from mugging fillies for candy on Nightmare Night, obviously).

Let's start with Scootaloo. We learn that she wants Rainbow Dash to be a sister for her, and that Dash's approval means the world to her (a little unhealthy, when you think about it, perhaps). Since it fits well with how I've been writing Scootaloo so far, this pleases me to no end. The episode also hints that Dash may in fact feel a similar fondness for Scootaloo, which is great, because this also shows us more about Dash's own inner feelings, something that hasn't been touched on in a lot of recent episodes.

Secondly, Luna. Holy poodle-hat, that's awesome. She really does guard the night. I can already see this spawning a whole heap of great fan content. Heck, I can see myself using this for something, though most likely it'll be for later fics. It was really nice to see what exactly it is that Luna does, as Celestia seems to be ruling Equestria 24/7 anyway and not sleeping a whole lot. Now Luna can actually step directly into your dreams and bail your sorry ass out before you get consumed by your own fears. Makes you wonder if she guards you from more than just bad dreams in your sleep. Magic is a huge part of Equestria, after all. Maybe you have creatures similar to the Windigos, except these prey on your dreams and not your negative emotions?

Anyway, awesome episode is awesome.