Stare Master

Stare Master is the seventeenth episode of the first season of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. In this episode, Fluttershy offers to take care of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but things take a frightening turn when the Crusaders venture into the Everfree Forest. The episode's title is a play on StairMaster, an American exercise machine company.__TOC__
==Production==
The scene where Fluttershy uses the stare against the cockatrice reappears in Memnagerie.
==Summary==
===Cutie Mark Crusader sleepover===
At the Carousel Boutique, Rarity rushes to complete an order of twenty robes for the following day. Sweetie Belle tries to help in an effort to earn her cutie mark but ends up making a mess. Later, Fluttershy arrives to drop off Opalescence from a grooming appointment. Rarity is surprised at how well behaved her cat is and asks Fluttershy if she used "the Stare" on her, but Fluttershy responds that she's just good with animals.
 Moments later, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom arrive for a planned sleepover with Sweetie Belle where they intend to discover their hidden talents and get their cutie marks. Sweetie Belle shows off capes she made with golden silk underlining to represent the Cutie Mark Crusaders, though this cloth turns out to be critical for Rarity to finish her order. Realizing the time it will take to produce more silk, Rarity cancels her sister's sleepover, though Fluttershy offers to host instead when she sees the fillies' disappointment. Rarity warns her that they can be difficult to manage, but Fluttershy insists.
While walking back across town with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Fluttershy runs into Twilight Sparkle as she heads toward the Everfree Forest to visit Zecora for some tea. Twilight questions if Fluttershy can handle the task of babysitting but is assured that it will be no problem.
===Fluttershy babysits the Crusaders===
At her cottage, Fluttershy asks the Crusaders what they'd like to do first. The fillies suggest adventuring in the Everfree Forest, but Fluttershy forbids them because of its "strange creatures". The Crusaders then pretend to be creature catchers, but their roughhousing ends up breaking a table. They attempt carpentry in fixing the table but botch the repair. Fluttershy tries to calm them down by playing a game of who can be quiet the longest, but the Crusaders immediately lose on purpose. Just as they propose coal mining, Fluttershy sends them to bed, suggesting that they hold off "crusading" until the morning.
 The three fillies claim they aren't tired, so Fluttershy sings them a lullaby. When Sweetie Belle recognizes the song, Fluttershy suggests she sing with her, whereupon Sweetie performs a much more energetic rendition that startles the chickens of a nearby coop. The Cutie Mark Crusaders run outside and attempt to wrangle them until Fluttershy intervenes and directs the chickens to return to the coop. When they refuse, Fluttershy glares at them intently, compelling them to comply.
Fluttershy tucks the Crusaders into bed again, but they remain awake and determined to find their talents. Noticing that one of the chickens has escaped into the Everfree Forest, they decide to sneak out of the cottage and find it.
===Into the Everfree Forest===
Before long, Fluttershy notices the house is "too quiet" and checks upstairs to find the fillies missing. She searches around outside and sees that her chicken Elizabeak is gone as well. Deducing what happened, Fluttershy bemoans her decision to babysit before venturing fretfully into the forest to corral the missing parties. While the Crusaders bicker over how to find the chicken, Fluttershy encounters Twilight and asks for help, only to discover that she's been turned to stone. Realizing the danger the fillies are in, Fluttershy rushes off to find them.
 Fluttershy soon locates the Cutie Mark Crusaders and tells them that a cockatrice is on the loose. As she warns them not to look it in the eyes, the girls spot Elizabeak and chase her into some bushes, out of which a second chicken head appears. This turns out to be a cockatrice, which emerges and stares at Elizabeak, turning her into stone. The Crusaders run away in panic that heightens when they bump into Twilight's stone figure.
As Fluttershy tries to calm the fillies down, the cockatrice approaches and menaces the ponies. Seeing the girls' fear, Fluttershy confronts the cockatrice face-to-face, countering its gaze with her own and admonishing it before demanding that Elizabeak and Twilight be changed back to normal. The cockatrice abashedly obeys, leading the Crusaders to dub her the "Stare Master."
===Biting off more than you can chew===
Outside the cottage the next morning, as Twilight writes a friendship report about the experience, Fluttershy reflects how you should be careful not to accept tasks that you can't handle. Rarity appears and tries unsuccessfully to gather up the Crusaders as they play in the yard, though they respond immediately when Fluttershy calls to them. Impressed, Rarity asks her once more for help with Opal, revealing the cat clung tightly to her body.
==Quotes==
:Rarity: Did you use... the Stare on her?
:Fluttershy: Oh, no! I wouldn't! I couldn't! I-I don't really have any control when it happens. It just happens. Really. I'm just good with animals. It's my special gift, you know.
:Scootaloo: We are the Cutie Mark Crusaders!
:Apple Bloom: And we wanna crusade for our cutie marks!
:Sweetie Belle: And, and, and we, um... yeah, what they said!
:Fluttershy: Careful... you don't...
:[crash]
:Fluttershy: ...break anything.
:Fluttershy: How about a game?
:Apple Bloom: A game?
:Fluttershy: It's called "Shhh!"
:Scootaloo: What's that?
:Fluttershy: Well, it's a game about who can be quiet the longest. Sound fun? I'm the world champ, you know. I bet you can't beat me! [deep breath]
:Scootaloo: I lose!
:Sweetie Belle: Me too!
:Apple Bloom: Me three!
:Apple Bloom: Oh, wait. Now I know how to call a chicken. Scootalooooo! Scoot-scootalooooo!
:Scootaloo: That's so funny I forgot to laugh.
:Apple Bloom: You also forgot how to call a chicken.
:Scootaloo: Why, you...
: Fluttershy: A cockatrice! It's a frightening creature with the head of a chicken and the body of a snake. Now, come on!
: Scootaloo: The head of a chicken and the body of a snake? That doesn't sound scary, that sounds silly!
: Apple Bloom: Why, if I ever saw one of them cockathingies face-to-face, I'd laugh at how silly it was.
: Fluttershy: No! Never look one in the eye!
:Fluttershy: YOU! Just who do you think you are, going around turning others into stone?
:Cockatrice: [dismayed squawk]
:Fluttershy: You should be ashamed of yourself! I have half a mind to find your mother and tell her what you've been up to, young man! Now you go over there and turn Elizabeak and my friend Twilight back to normal, and don't ever let me catch you doing this again! Do you understand me?
==Gallery==
==References==
ar:ملكة التحديق
de:Babysitter Fluttershy
es:La Mirada
id:Ahli Membelalak
it:L'Asso dello Sguardo
ja:ベビーシッターは大変
ko:노려보기의 달인
pl:Mistrzyni spojrzenia
pt:A Mestra do Olhar
ru:Мастер взгляда
sv:Stirrmästaren
Category:Cutie Mark Crusaders-centered works