Filli Vanilli

Filli Vanilli is the fourteenth episode of the fourth season of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic and the seventy-ninth episode overall. When a member of the Ponytones loses his voice before a performance, Fluttershy disguises her voice to fill in for him due to her stage fright. The title is a reference to the controversial German R&B group Milli Vanilli, whose lead singers were secretly lip-syncing in their concerts.

Production, development, and release
According to Amy Keating Rogers, the idea for the episode was pitched back in September 2012. She also claims to pitched it as "The Return of Flutterguy", but the title was too spoilery, so it was changed to "Flutterfear", which was subsequently changed to the current title.

Applejack says "For corn's sake!", a line originally written for Fall Weather Friends.

Google Play has this episode's original air date listed as January 31, 2014.

Fluttershy's voice
At Fluttershy's cottage, Fluttershy says good morning to her many animal friends, feeding them and joining the birds in glorious song. As the animals applaud Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack appear, impressed by their friend's singing talent.

Rarity in particular wonders why Fluttershy, with her beautiful voice, isn't already a member of the Ponytones — who are to perform at Fluttershy's fundraiser for the Ponyville Pet Center the following evening. While Fluttershy is one of the Ponytones' biggest fans and is thankful for their involvement, she refuses to perform with them because of her terrible stage fright. Rarity understands her friend's plight, and the six friends go to set up the fundraiser together.

Find the Music in You
As multiple ponies help with the fundraiser preparations, Rarity and her fellow Ponytones practice for their upcoming performance. They sing a short version of Find the Music in You, with Fluttershy watching in awe. Rarity dismisses the other singers to rest their voices for the day, and Fluttershy thanks Rarity for her efforts.

The next morning, the Ponytones meet for rehearsal, but Big McIntosh is running late. When he finally arrives, the others are shocked to discover he's lost his voice during a turkey call competition (which he lost to Pinkie Pie). With the Ponytones now without one member, Fluttershy fears for the fundraiser's outcome. When Rarity mentions having no "remedy" for the situation, Fluttershy gets the idea to consult Zecora.

At her Everfree Forest hut, Zecora examines Big McIntosh and says she can cure him, but not in time for the Ponytones' fundraiser performance. As Fluttershy wonders where they'll find a replacement for Big Mac's bass voice, Zecora reminds her of her run-in with the poison joke that deepened her voice. She offers to make a brew of poison joke leaves that will turn Fluttershy into "Flutterguy" again. Fluttershy is nervous about singing in front of everypony, but Rarity finds a solution to that problem.

"What if you sang not in front of everypony?"

- Rarity

Fluttershy finds her voice
The fundraiser for the Pet Center is a success, and ponies gather near the stage for the main event. The Ponytones sing Find the Music in You, with Fluttershy—and her poison joke-affected voice—supplying Big McIntosh's vocals behind the curtain. When the song ends, the ponies in the crowd cheer, and Fluttershy is motivated to sing more.

The Ponytones are approached by a Pegasus stallion and asked to perform at his daughter Zipporwhill's cute-ceañera the next day. Rarity is uncertain because it's so last-minute, but Fluttershy doesn't want to disappoint Zipporwhill and convinces her to say yes. The Ponytones thus perform at Zipporwhill's cute-ceañera, as well as at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Mayor Mare, for the spa ponies at the Ponyville Day Spa, and for Cheerilee's class at the Ponyville Schoolhouse. With each performance the Ponytones give, Fluttershy starts to lose herself in her singing, giving Big McIntosh trouble keeping up with her improvisations.

Moments before their performance at Sugarcube Corner, Rarity informs Fluttershy that Big McIntosh's voice is better, meaning she no longer has to sing for him. Rarity and Big McIntosh notice Fluttershy's disappointment and agree to let her sing for him one last time. However, during the song, Fluttershy gets carried away and knocks the curtain down, exposing herself to the audience. Though the ponies cheer for her, Fluttershy's stage fright gets the better of her and she bolts out crying. Big McIntosh helps her friends assess the situation shortly before they follow.

The Ponytones' newest member
Fluttershy's friends find her alone in her cottage, with her voice back to normal after her bath. Due to Pinkie Pie's lack of subtlety, Fluttershy bursts into tears and runs off into the night with her friends following once more. The ponies have no shortage of compliments for Fluttershy and her performance, but she vows to never perform in public ever again. Rarity reminds Fluttershy that it was her who encouraged the Ponytones to perform for every possible occasion — she knew Fluttershy had wanted to sing. Fluttershy thinks back on the crowd's reception of her singing and smiles.

As the newest member of the Ponytones, Fluttershy sings a reprisal of Music in the Treetops/Find the Music in You for her pony and animal friends. When she hears the Ponytones have been booked for an Apple Family Zap Apple Jam Extraordinaire event, Fluttershy is reluctant to perform, but says she'll "get there someday".

"Baby steps, everypony. Baby steps."

- Fluttershy

Fluttershy writes her lesson in the friendship journal and sings with one of her birds just before the episode closes.

Quotes

 * Fluttershy: Oh... You... um... you didn't hear me... um...
 * Pinkie Pie: Singing in the most beautiful voice ever?!?


 * Rarity: Pinkie Pie!
 * [thwack]
 * Rarity: Don't be ridiculous!
 * Pinkie Pie: Aw, but I'm so good at it!


 * Fluttershy: I have... stage fright.
 * Pinkie Pie: [gasps] Is it contagious?
 * Twilight Sparkle: Stage fright isn't a disease, Pinkie.


 * Rarity: A...a...a turkey call? You lost your voice doing a... a turkey call?!
 * Pinkie Pie: Lost his voice and the title! [gobbles]


 * Zecora: Remember when you pony folk stumbled into poison joke? Miss Fluttershy had an unusual change, deepening her vocal range.
 * Fluttershy: [from Bridle Gossip, deep male voice] I don't want to talk about it.
 * Rarity: Yes, yes! Your voice became really low, making it sound like...
 * Fluttershy: [gasps] Flutterguy!


 * Fluttershy: I just don't think I could sing in front of...
 * Rarity: You must! For the animals!


 * Applejack: Big Mac, you've got some 'splainin' to do!...Turkey call?
 * Big McIntosh: Eeyup.
 * Applejack: Trash your voice?
 * Big McIntosh: Eeyup.
 * Applejack: Zecora remedy?
 * Big McIntosh: Eeyup.
 * Applejack: Not quick enough?
 * Big McIntosh: Nnope.
 * Applejack: Needed a deep voice?
 * Big McIntosh: Eeyup.
 * Applejack: Poison joke?
 * Big McIntosh: Eeyup.
 * Applejack: Flutterguy?
 * Big McIntosh: Eeyup.
 * Applejack: Better now?
 * Big McIntosh: Eeyup.
 * Applejack: And that shy filly was livin' her dream in the shadows because she couldn't bring herself to come into the spotlight?
 * Big McIntosh: Eeyup.
 * Applejack: Well, for corn's sake! Let's go!


 * Twilight Sparkle: What Pinkie meant to say is that you were really great!
 * Pinkie Pie: Wait! Didn't I say that?
 * Rarity: Hardly!
 * Pinkie Pie: Whoops. You were great!


 * Rainbow Dash: You totally blew my mind!
 * Applejack: Incredible!
 * Pinkie Pie: Though, no offense... you kinda sounded like a dude.
 * Fluttershy: [crying]
 * Pinkie Pie: Uh, a great-sounding dude!


 * Rarity: For all her babbling, Pinkie was right about one thing.
 * Pinkie Pie: Only one?!


 * Fluttershy: I'll get there someday. But for now... baby steps, everypony. Baby steps.