Man, this was back when Nightmare Cloak was just called Angry Bugze mode. Geeze how times have change huh?

Hey Hive Mind, time for one of my personal favorite episodes of season 1, so without further ado lets get the review started!

So this episode starts off with Bugze slowly coming to grips with Nightshades death. And by come to grips I mean slowly lose himself to sadness and guilt as the big angry Ursa slowly approaches him.

...

What? You can't expect me to repeat everything that happened word by word do ya? I love ya Hive Mind, but even I'm not that crazy to do something like that. And trust me when I say that coming from me, that means a lot.

As Bugze loses himself more and more to his anger and sadness, a strange midnight colored mist begins to envelop his body. By the time the Ursa reaches Bugze he is completely covered in the midnight cloak, his eyes are burning orange, and there is even a tail forming.

Right before the Ursa slams Bugze into a far away building, causing it to collapse on him, Bugze thinks to himself that something is slipping inside him.

And while you all may think this is going a DBZ route as the comment making this happen goes, well I had decided to go to the opposite end of the anime spectrum.

Instead of yelling alien monkey's that get more power the more hair they have, we get ninja's with giant monsters trapped in their guts!

...

I like Naruto, sue me.

But yes, the collapse building explodes, and where once a broken bug was now stands a monster. A creature covered in midnight colored smoke, a fox like tail swishing behind it and glowing orange eyes that burn with a raging fury!

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the first appearance of what is later dubbed The Nightmare Cloak! Specifically Phase 2 of it!

That's right folks, we've got phases!

So yeah the Nightmare Cloak, something I'm surprised hasn't gotten any fan-art yet (hinthint). I've been planning this thing since episode 27! I wanted to have a Nine-Tails like thing, and I really wanted to give Bugze a power he couldn't control. Why you ask? Well really I figured it would be cool that Bugze is a really powerful changeling, but he has to hold back so no one gets hurt by the cloak.

Course things don't exactly go that way, but it was close enough so I can't complain. Beside I love the Nightmare Cloak. It's just so awesome, and the picture in my head of it every time it shows up is just awesome! Plus, its a freaking Bijuu in My Little Pony! How can that not be awesome!?

*Sees terrible Naruto crossover*

...touché me, touché.

Anyway, with the cloak now surrounding Bugze all hesitation is replaced with pure rage. Not to mention a major power boost to Bugze's usual powers. As evident when he lifts the Ursa up with his nightmare tail, and manages to hold onto the thing with a good enough grip to cause it to whimper.

For reference, a Ursa Minor weighs roughly around 340 tons (thank you DeathBattle). And Bugze is not only managing to lift the bear, but is also keeping a grip so strong it hurts the thing, in a single, made of magical smoke(kinda) tail!

Imagine what would happen if it was a pony instead of a Ursa Minor? *shivers*

So yeah, Bugze's lifting a giant bear in a borderline death-grip and he proceeds to threaten the thing with pain unending. And he follows through with his threat by slamming the poor beast into the ground, going higher and using more force, for a good long while while he shouts his anger at the death of his daughter at the bear.

Eventually Bugze decides the crater he's made with the Ursa's body (which despite the context I like to think is shaped like the Ursa) is deep enough and throws the Ursa to the other side of town. But he's not done yet, as the Ursa wobbly gets to its feat Bugze launch's himself at the bear via his tail.

With his hoof cocked back he punches the Ursa Minor right in the face with a unique version of the Falcon Punch, as its covered in a midnight blue flame instead of a normal red one. The effect is instantaneous as the Ursa is sent flying into a mountain side all the way in the Everfree forest.

Did I mention there was a shockwave from the punch? Cause there was, so chances of the bear surviving all this is...well high considering cartoon logic but if this was using realistic logic you beat your butt that things deader then Best Buy!

...

Okay I know there's still one in Alaska, but the joke stands if you live everywhere but there!

Anyway, after that brutal beat-down Bugze begins to scan the crowd that's gathered from his little fight (read: one-sided smack-down) for a certain bragger. The Mane Six (minus Pinkie and Fluttershy) are among the crowd in defensive stances as Bugze makes his way toward them. The crowd is understandably terrified, so I will be adding some evil points for traumatizing the ponies.

Let's see, there's 4 points for RD, AJ, Rarity, and Twilight. Now let's just roll the dice...

...

And we got a 4! Talk about a poor roll (called it last review!), but that's how things are. It makes no sense considering the size of the crowd, but hey there are only four ponies in Ponyville that were traumatized by that's good!

Evil: +8 Traumatizing Ponyville townsfolk via Nightmare Cloak

So Bugze eventually finds Trixie and reveals to all the ponies present that the fight they had was staged, and that Trixie betrayed him in the process of the scam. Trixie admits to her deeds, and Twilight even asks her why she betrayed Bugze in the first place.

Trixie goes on to explain that she let the glory of being famous get to her head. That being showered with attention and the looks of awe from the crowd felt too good to only do once (think this might be a ret-con, Kersey a little help here). So she decided to 'capture' him again, and she thought she wouldn't feel any different as she'd be know across Equestria and loved by all. But she knows its a mistake now as Bugze was the nicest pony she ever met and that she truly is sorry for what she did.

Course Bugze, still in the cloak, just roles his eyes at that and vows to never let something as petty as fame control him. He prepares to teleport away when he hears the resident idiots of Ponyville, and the two male representations that Hasbro can never live down, Snips and Snails mention that they brought the Ursa to town. This of course pisses Bugze off and he prepares to jump the idiots to teach them a lesson they'd never forget.

Now you all may be thinking that's out of character for Bugze, but the thing is with the Nightmare Cloak. It's not just some power boost, it is a magical entity kinda thing that is actively affecting Bugze at all times as long as he's in it. It amplifies his negative emotions and runs on them too, kinda like the Hulk in a way. So Bugze preparing to beat up two foals isn't all him, its the cloak affect him and clouding his judgment by amplifying his rage to dangerous levels.

Thankfully, both for Bugze and my story rating, Fluttershy shows up to lecture Bugze about his actions. Seeing a potential friend so mad at him (though it was justified) causes Bugze to breakdown, whisper how he just wanted to be the good guy, and then he runs off tears streaming down his face.

The episode ends with Fluttershy being shocked at his words, and the rest of the Mane Six chasing after him.

This episode was serious, a bit dark, and relayed on action and Bugze's emotions. That is what makes it so good. It gives us a heap of emotions to go through as Bugze's character, and it conveys just how damaged Bugze currently is. Even when he's beating down on the Ursa you can feel his own emotional pain with every slam of the Ursa's body into the ground. It's a great episode, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Now for the final Title Segment till Monday! Happy Easter too all reading this tomorrow...or in a hour considering I'm posting this at like 11 pm.

Favorite Moment:

Before anything else can happen, the Ursa rams you into a damaged building far away which causes the structure to collapse on you. The Ursa then smiles in victory and is about to continue his rampage when...

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

The rubble explodes away from you in a burst of energy. The Ursa (and anyling in the area) look at the where the explosion came from in both shock and fear. Where the rubble once was now stands a creature covered in the midnight colored smoke with a fox-like tail swooshing behind it. You look at the Ursa with orange glowing eyes in pure hatred. The Ursa snaps out of it and begins to charge at you, but when it gets close...

Like I said I love the Nightmare Cloak, and of course its first appearance is my favorite moment this episode. Plus, seeing something that I came up with and built up without that many comments is really awesome.

Embarrassing Moment:

Seeing her with this much anger towards you is more than you can bear.

My Brain: Alright, we have a super serious ending for this episode. So let's not do any-

My Love for Puns (MLP): Let's put a bear pun in here!

My Brain: What!? No that isn't serious at al-

MLP: Boop!

My Brain: UGGGGHHHHHH!

Welp that's it for this review! Reply if you have any questions concerning this chap, for me in general, or to just tell me what you thought of this chapter as well! See ya all Monday with the next ep!

The Karma Counter:

Good: 39
Evil: 61

Plot Hole Count: 5

Rating: 9/10

There are still many Best Buys, do you mean Blockbuster?