History Recap / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E15ScareMaster

* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: Fluttershy at the end comments that she didn't know why she doubted herself about staying in for Nightmare Night, whily happily reading a book with her animal friends.

* FurryReminder: Fluttershy's worry about being able to see to the left and right through a mask. Ponies are prey animals, after all. Though the mask might have actually been a good idea, as horses are often made to wear [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blinders blinders]] specifically to keep them from being startled by unexpected movement to the sides and rear.

* StealthPun: The episode ends with a literal BearHug, courtesy of Harry.

* AdultFear: In-Universe; Fluttershy's initial attempts to frighten her friends are surprisingly cerebral, focusing on things like being a social outcast or loneliness, which can actually be pretty sobering concepts if you think about them too hard. Too bad her attempts fly right over the heads of the rest of the Mane 6 (and clash with the more Halloween-esque fears of Nightmare Night.)

* BearHug: [[LiteralMetaphor Courtesy of a bear]].

** Fluttershy's lesson in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E14FilliVanilli "Filli Vanilli"]] is directly alluded to when she says she'll give spending Nightmare Night with her friends a chance like she gave singing in front of them. She even declares it's time to stop taking "baby steps" and start taking "grown up ones".

* ChekhovsGunman: Fluttershy's critter friends in the opening scene all show up later to put on her horror attraction: her birds float around in ghost sheets; Harry the Bear dresses up as the cave monster; and Fuzzy Legs the Spider (somehow) makes the giant web her friends get stuck to.

** Derpy Hooves can be seen in the corn maze dressed up as alicorn Twilight Sparkle, with a fake horn (toilet paper tube) and fake wings and a wig.

* IncrediblyLameFun: Fluttershy's FailedAttemptAtDrama amounts to this.

** Granny Smith gets this too, big time. When she asks Big Mac if she scared Fluttershy too much, Big Mac looks at her with an expression that can be translated as, "What do you think, dummy?".

* LevelAte: The maze is full of corn and hay.

** Big Mac's mummy costume; which tends to make ponies laugh more than scare them.

* OffscreenCrash: Pinkie Pie barreling on her rollers result in this a couple times.

** The "unplanned guests" at Fluttershy's tea party are ponified versions of [[Anime/SailorMoon Sailor Moon]], [[Manga/DragonBall Bulma]], [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Ayanami Rei]], [[Manga/RanmaOneHalf Ranma]], and [[Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena Utena]].

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Among Rarity's costume collection is... a "Vampire Fruit Bat Costume" (complete with a slinky black dress). While Rarity immediately dismisses it, Fluttershy's FacialDialogue shows that she likes this costume.

** Pinkie Pie's roller derby costume includes a lightning bolt over an eye similar to Music/DavidBowie's Ziggy Stardust persona.

* FurryReminder: Fluttershy's worry about being able to see to the left and right through a mask. Ponies are prey animals, after all.
** The mask might have actually been a good idea, as horses are often made to wear [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blinders blinders]] specifically to keep them from being startled by unexpected movement to the sides and rear.

* NightmareRetardant: Fluttershy invokes this In-Universe when she sincerely apologizes to her friends for scaring them (in other words, starts acting like her usual self) while still in her Flutterbat costume.

* BeQuietNudge: Rainbow Dash starts saying that Fluttershy is just taking "Ninety per--" of the fun when a candy hit her in the helmet. She corrects herself to "some of it".

** At one point in the episode two ponies (Berryshine and Blossomforth) can be seen dressed up like [[Anime/SailorMoon Sailor Moon]] and [[WesternAnimation/{{Jem}} Jem]]. In the same shot, Snips and Snails are dressed as [[WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983 He-Man and Skeletor]], respectively.

* LevelAte: The maze is full of corn and hay

** At one point in the episode two ponies can be seen dressed up like [[Anime/SailorMoon Sailor Moon]] and [[WesternAnimation/{{Jem}} Jem]]. In the same shot, Snips and Snails are dressed as [[WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983 He-Man and Skeletor]], respectively.

** The episode's title refers all the way back to the Season 1 episode "The Stare Master."

* AwesomeButImpractical : Fluttershy rejects Rarity's costume options because she keeps finding details on them that would make hard for her to detect a potential danger, or run away if necessary. Confirmed later in the BrokenHeel incident.

* {{Animeesque}}: Fluttershy's "uninvited guests" are manga-style drawings hung from the ceiling.

"Scare Master" is the 21st episode of Season 5 of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic''. Although Creator/DiscoveryFamily intended it to be broadcast on Halloween 2015, the episode was leaked early on [=iTunes=] on September 21 before being pulled. '''Beware of spoilers.'''

* JerkassBall: Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash grabs this again. She's the only pony who's ''not'' InnocentlyInsensitive towards Fluttershy since she openly tells everypony that her friend is not scary in the least. She even tries avoiding Fluttershy by making her friends leave her behind.