Unpopular opinion time

@ILoveMyoozik  
I’d be fine with both, since they really could have used an episode or two.

@UserAccount
 
Uhhh, no she wasn’t. She was completely in the wrong, but still made to be the victim of the episode due to Twilight messing up a spell, and AJ was ultimately the one who had to suffer for it.
 
Hate that episode.

@Spinny  
Wrong. Fluttershy was the only one who cared about the bats. If you weren’t on her side, you probably hate animals for no reason. I happen to love all animals, including bats, personally.

@UserAccount  
Even destructive pests?

@WyrmSpawN  
Yes.

@Spinny  
I had high hopes for it, but between the conflict being smothered by the rating and and Flutterbat running away with the episode… well, there are still some good bits, but it fails overall.

@UserAccount  
I feel her actions were not only callous and uncaring toward her friends, but also the bats themselves since the bats would also be affected by the negative repercussions. It’s easy for Fluttershy to gloat about how Applejack should weather the quite high risk of the bats overpopulating and destroying the crops when Fluttershy has nothing to lose (I didn’t see her offering to house them in her hidden animal sanctuary), and if that happens the bats are either forced to be relocated anyways or outright starve to death. Also, since they’d likely reproduce in such an ideal environment, it would mean a much larger number were being relocated or starving to death. Considering chasing them away basically meant “make them move to a different area that has apple trees”, chasing them away was not only the smartest decision and the most caring of her friend’s needs, but the most morally sound in regards to the bats as well. Keep in mind that’s not even considering the likely scenario that the bats are migratory and being made to move on would be a totally normal aspect of their life too :D

@Badumsquish  
Not that she’s right, but to be fair Fluttershy has absolutely no way of housing the bats. Her animal sanctuary is her backgarden at that point, and she has a notable lack of fruit trees.

@Philweasel  
That makes it worse imo. “I’m unable and unwilling to try to house these bats. You need to do it at great personal cost and risk to your home and business on my behalf.” I mean, if she was so sure of the benefit she could have leveraged her sanctuary. A “if they destroy your farm I’ll liquidate my sanctuary to pay for the damages” kind of thing. How can she morally expect Applejack to risk her home and livelihood if she’s not willing to do the same? :P

@Badumsquish  
Because she’s Fluttershy.

@WyrmSpawN  
In that case she can shut her trap, cool it with the demands, and let Applejack do with her home, business, and property as she sees fit XD

@Latecomer  
I have a feeling where if Flutterbat wasn’t created, then the episode’s reception would’ve been a lot worse than it is.

@ILoveMyoozik  
That episode is like 90% Flutterbat and 10% other.

@LightningBolt  
Basically, and the godawful song too

@ILoveMyoozik  
Rather, if Flutterbat hadn’t existed, they’d have had to actually write the episode about the conflict. Which if it lead to them putting any more thought into it, would be a plus.

@Latecomer  
That’s a pretty cynical way of putting it

@ILoveMyoozik  
Hi, welcome to critiquing FiM.

@Vivace  
Very funny…

@Latecomer  
I doubt it would have been better. We lose the only entertaining part and instead just get the same conflict stretched out for much longer. The points Fluttershy was making wouldn’t have gotten better.

@RaineV1  
They might if the writers had to sustain the conflict all episode without antics. But then, maybe not.

Like, Bats isn’t a bad episode overall. Just the resolution sours it. Like, the resolution works on the assumption that Fluttershy is right, but everything about what she is doing is objectively wrong. Even if what she said about the bats is right she’s still in the wrong for demanding Applejack listen to her and for not caring about Applejack’s concerns or well-being. Had the episode ended with them doing what Applejack wanted, with Fluttershy learning not to pressure her friends into doing bad things for her sake and Twilight learning that middle grounds don’t always work, with both of them apologizing for Applejack being forced to ruin her prized apple for their mistakes, it would have totally worked without having to change anything else about the episode :D

Fluttershy was objectively in the right in Bats. Saying she was in the wrong is like saying Luke Skywalker was in the wrong in the first Star Wars movie. Like, there wasn’t even nuance in the story where you can have a different opinion, it’s just cliche good vs. evil. Fluttershy was good and wanted to save the animals because she loves all creatures, Applejack was evil because she hated the bats and wanted to kill/torture them.

@UserAccount  
Except she didn’t - she just wanted to evict them. Which seriously defanged the conflict. It’s one of the few situations where the show’s ratting has actually been a hindrance.

@Latecomer  
The bats would’ve died.

@UserAccount  
No, they were never in threat of their lives in the show, because ratings.