YMMV / My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic S4 E7 "Bats!"

• Alternate Aesop Interpretation:
  • The whole scenario concerning the rest of the girls' one-sided stance on the bats being a heartless menace and nothing else and Fluttershy being out-voted in favor of Applejack's approach unanimously and unthinkingly can be scene as a lesson to NOT approach a situation based solely on close-minded animosity, no matter how much you may have been wronged, as you wouldn't be any better, or you'd be even worse than whoever or whatever had initially threatened you.
  • One could also argue that Fluttershy's transformation into Flutterbat due to Twilight's magic could in fact be interpreted as karma for trying to use magic to take away the bat's hunger for apples.
  • Don't take away an animals' primary food source, or in this case, their hunger for their primary food source, as you may not necessarily know what else those animals may eat, which could potentially result in them starving and dying off. Also, don't simply throw animals out into the wild without a care for whether or not their well-beings would be at stake, as, endangering crops or not, they're animals, and they do not think or reason the same way you do.
  • However, for any supporters of Applejack, if the livelihood of your friend is at stake, it might be a good idea to see things from their perspective rather than just say that you should automatically share your livelihood with the one who's destroying it.
  • Rarity admiring the apple that Applejack was grooming for the State Fair. "Applejack! When you go big you really go BIG!"
  • Dash's insistence on having Applejack's cider.
• Awesome Music: Bats is a well done argument between Fluttershy and Applejack with an unmistakable Danny Elfman flair. It can be described as the song "Savages" (from Pocahontas) In the Style of Elfman.
• Broken Base:
  • Was Applejack in the right for wanting to stop the bats or was Fluttershy right for wanting to find an alternate route? Fans seem split on either option, especially since that plot point was quickly dropped in favor of a potentially better one.
  • Fans are split on the Halfway Plot Switch as well, half wanting to see the Applejack vs. Fluttershy debate plot be fully developed while the other would rather they do the Flutterbat plot.
  • As for the episode itself: was it a funny and weird little romp with a cool transformation, or was it a silly and idiotic plot that seemed ripped from a fanfic?
• Creepy Cute: Flutterbat is creepy but still adorable.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Flutterbat. Just one day after this episode's release saw hundreds of fanart!
• Fanfic Fuel: The ending with Fluttershy still having fangs gave fanfic writers and cartoonists a lot of new material to work with for the character, especially since to date the show has never mentioned this again.
• Fridge Brilliance: Though the episode goes out of its way to make it seem like Fluttershy's entirely in the right, although the issue itself isn't exactly one-sided: both she and Applejack have their points. On one hoof, the vampire fruit bats aren't pure evil so much as they are (if somewhat aggressive) living creatures just trying to stay well-fed as nature intended (not to mention they'll beget more apple trees). On the other hoof, the vampire fruit bats spitting out more apple seeds also creates a surplus of apple trees which means a surplus of apples that will go bad if not harvested in time.
  • Perhaps then, in this regard, the black-and-white aspect comes into play in how the Mane Six attempt to resolve the situation: The other five simply want to just stop and get rid of the bats and put the situation out of their minds, whereas Fluttershy wants to help move them to a place where they can still eat and thrive while also not threatening crops or others' well-beings in Ponyville.
• Fridge Horror: Pinkie Pie singing "Fruitbat Roundup" when you learn about Rattlesnake Roundups.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Of course Pinkie Pie would be afraid of another pony eating her. Naturally.
  • This comic, posted soon after the season 3 finale.
  • There's also Nosflutteratu which was posted a year before the episode aired to the day.
  • An episode made for Halloween that premieres around Christmas, which has a song that pays tribute to Danny Elfman. Hmmm...
  • The giant apple, previously seen in the parody EQUESTRIA GIRLS videos.
• Informed Wrongness: Applejack is treated as being in the wrong for wanting to oust the vampire fruit bats entirely rather than coming to a compromise. However, an infestation had happened in the past and the farm barely survived, and Fluttershy's attempts to negotiate with the bats to spare most of the crops were seemingly failing to work before they completely destroyed them. Applejack's concerns about the bats being a threat to her livelihood were completely valid.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Broken Base regarding the main conflict aside, many fans enjoyed this episode simply for Flutterbat, who quickly became an Ensemble Dark Horse.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot:
  • While there's nothing wrong with where the story goes here, the episode could have also easily focused more-so on the conflict of Applejack wanting to get rid of the vampire fruit bats vs. Fluttershy trying to find a more humane approach to the situation. Yet, given how everyone else pretty much sides with Applejack's idea (not to mention the hand wave to explain where the rest of the Apple Family was during the episode), it feels like "vampire fruit bats invading Sweet Apple Acres" plot point was only there to serve as a set up for turning Fluttershy into a vampire.
  • Alternatively, there are plenty of fans who liked the latter half of the episode, some even viewing it as a fun little tribute to the classic Universal monster movies and felt the first half could’ve benefitted from properly setting up its concept as opposed to the whole Applejack vs. Fluttershy debate.
  • Also, in the last shot we see that Fluttershy still has bat fangs. The series never followed up on this.
  • There are also seems to be quite a few unintended lessons in this episode as well, which, when considered, could actually justify why the plot of the episode goes down the path that it does.
• Wangst: Fluttershy's constant complaining about using the Stare can come across as such, since she was never shown to be this reluctant about doing so, and as noted above, comparable things have been done in earlier episodes without her batting an eyelid.

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