History NightmareFuel / MylittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic

** [[spoiler: It then gets even ''weirder'' when Twilight points out that the cutie marks of all of the ponies in the town are ''exactly the same'': an "equals" sign. For a lot of commentors on YouTube and Equestria Daily, it's reminded them of a [[Videogame/StoryOfTheBlanks certain fan-made game]] or [[Fanfic.TheConversionBureau certain series of fanfics.]]]]

** Starlight Glimmer, the episode's BigBad. She [[FauxAffablyEvil puts on an air of cheerful kindness]], but is ruling what can only be described as a totalitarian society wherein she [[HappinessIsMandatory force ponies to be equal]]. She steals ponies' cutie marks, brainwashes them by creepily realistic ways (trapping them in a room and forcing them to listen to an audio track with messages like "to excel is to fail") and guilt trips anyone who shows a desire to go back to their special talents. And then it's [[WhamShot revealed]] that [[spoiler:she [[StrawHypocrite STILL has her cutie mark and plans to use Twilight's force her cause on Equestria]]]].
** The "equal sign" cutie marks ''force'' ponies to give up their special talents.

[[AC:The Cutie Map]]

* Starlight Glimmer's [[BrainWashed brainwashing technique]] is extremely unsettling. [[spoiler:She locks ponies in a tiny room with a set of speakers that repeat the same [[MadnessMantra]] over and over and over. And she won't let you out until you accept her way of life.]] She doesn't just steal ponies cutie marks; she mentally tortures them until they break.
-->In sameness there is peace. Exceptionalism is a lie. Free yourself from your cutie mark. Choose equality as your special talent. Difference is frustration. To excel is to fail. Be your best, by never being your best.
* The fake smiles and forced happiness of the ponies gets creepier as the episode progresses. [[spoiler:Especially when we learn that the ponies essentially gave up their free will for this "perfect" town of "equality".]]
--> Pinkie Pie: "I know smiles. And those smiles? [[UncannyValley They're just not right.]]"

* Starlight Glimmer's [[Brainwashed brainwashing technique]] is extremely unsettling. [[spoiler:She locks ponies in a tiny room with a set of speakers that repeat the same [[MadnessMantra]] over and over and over. And she won't let you out until you accept her way of life.]] She doesn't just steal ponies cutie marks; she mentally tortures them until they break.

* The fake smiles and forced happiness of the ponies gets creepier as the episode progresses.

** [[spoiler:So far, two trailers have given us the appearance of a pink and purple unicorn mare with powerful magic living in this "equalized" town. She appears to be their leader and may be our [[BigBad villain]] for the episode. Not to mention the fact that she looks like a cross between Aria Blaze and Suri Polomare, which is NOT a good sign.]]
** There's also a point where [[spoiler:ALL of the equalized ponies start cornering the Mane Six, still wearing their creepy, creepy smiles]].

* The most recent teaser video for season 5 reveals an episode involving [[spoiler: The Smooze!]]. Thankfully it looks to be more comedic than actually scary but you never know, and given it's past incarnation...

-->[[spoiler: '''Pinkie''': I don't like it! I don't like it one bit! All those false smiles? They're just not right.]]

** [[spoiler: It then gets even ''weirder'' when Twilight points out that the cutie marks of all of the ponies in the town are ''exactly the same'': an "equals" sign. For a lot of commentors on YouTube and Equestria Daily, it's reminded them of a [[Videogame/StoryOfTheBlanks certain fan-made game]].]]

* Meta: When Applejack lassoed Granny Smith while she was falling, how many were remembering TheNightGwenStacyDied?

->''"We go places that, perhaps, other candy colored TV shows won't go. And that's part of what I love about this show, is that we're allowed to explore those areas... [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E4LunaEclipsed Kids love to be scared.]]"''

You wouldn't think a show like this would have some [[NightmareFuel creepy stuff every now and then]]. [[IronicEcho Just remember to giggle at the ghostly]]...

* Bordering on Fridge Horror but remember Nightmare Moon's plan to make a permanent night... If that happens, the plants will die as they need sunlight. With the plants gone, the next on the food chain is of course... herbivores. Nightmare Moon would have created an Extinction Level Event with her plan. And she was perfectly happy to effectively condemn everyone to a slow death by starvation.

*** That is, [[{{FridgeHorror}} IF Zecora could have found Twilight's statue, or if she got turned to stone as well...and IF she had any potions that can even reverse the change...]]

** It's bad enough when you see the build-up. Put yourself in Rainbow Dash's shoes for a second. This is one of your best friends, and you go to get her for a surprise party. You expect her to be her usual, cheery self, and instead she's... Gone crazy. Not the fun kind of crazy she usually is, but scary crazy. You don't know what happened, but your best friend is suddenly not herself, in a very disturbing way. And she's replacing you with a bucket of turnips that she thinks is talking to her. How do you react to that?

* While Rainbow Dash is fleeing from Pinkie Pie, she hides inside a bell at one point. [[spoiler:Then you see two eyes... on the clapper. It's Pinkie Pie as the clapper.]]
** The entire chase scene, while intended to be humorous, could be potentially frightening in just how inescapable Pinkie Pie is. [[FridgeHorror And when you see what happens to her later...]]

** Followed directly by the statue cracking and him giving a [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGn1TlBLm0w seriously creepy]] EvilLaugh... [[MoodWhiplash And then the happy theme music]].
* Discord gets up to some pretty disturbing antics. Robbing unicorns of their horns and pegasi of their wings, brainwashing Twilight's friends into becoming the opposite of their true nature, tricking Rainbow Dash into abandoning the game with a vision of Cloudsdale being destroyed...

** Fluttershy's forced MindRape was probably the worst of all, it looked...painful.

* The animals with the long spidery legs at the beginning. They just look... wrong.
* The worst part of it all is Discord's FauxAffablyEvil personality. It's just so... disturbing. He loves what he's doing to them. He loves performing MindRape on the mane cast and he didn't even need to do the mundane version; as he showed with Fluttershy, he could've skipped straight to the instant supernatural kind. He did it because he [[ForTheEvulz wanted to]]. No wonder Celestia and Luna [[SealedEvilInACan imprisoned him in]] [[TakenForGranite stone for eternity!]]

*** The moment they first appear... the camera zooms out past the cloud layer and we see these huge horse-like creatures with flashing eyes neighing loudly and clearly causing the giant, kingdom-destroying ice storm.

* The "signs" that Granny Smith is on the lookout for, when they haven't been explained, can be a little unsettling. The Timberwolves' howling, the ominous weather, the crows and ravens forming symbols in the sky... it feels like BlackMagic rather than an apple harvest.

* The scene where Pinkie Pie is searching frantically for the twins after putting them to bed looks like a scene out of a horror movie. She finds Pumpkin Cake (the filly) in a closet, chewing on a rubber chicken in increasingly-more-jarring slow motion. She goes out into the hallway to find Pound Cake (the colt). It's dark, the curtains are blowing, and there's weird music playing and she keeps hearing Pound Cake's laugh everywhere. It brings to mind some of the horror stories about babysitters alone in the dark...

* After Spike [[spoiler:refuses to hand over the phoenix egg]], the teen dragons turn on him. Just imagine what they'd have done to Spike if the girls hadn't shown up....

** If you've been bullied in real life, that moment could bring up some very unpleasant memories...

* [[NonIndicativeName Snowflake]]'s muscle-y, vein-y appearance can be a bit... unsettling.
* Rainbow Dash hits a tree so hard her [[EyeScream eyes]] pop straight through it. Which isn't too bad for a cartoon character... until she has to struggle to tug them back out.

* Big Macintosh's [[BewareTheQuietOnes furious]] [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness rant]] toward the CMC is enough to send chills down one's spine, especially when he bellows "GO AWAY!" It even makes TheIncredibleHulk sound like a kitten in comparison!

* When Chrysalis [[spoiler:unravels her Cadance disguise]], there's a short bit where, for a second, she has an EyelessFace, and then her eyes suddenly open with stretched out sclera. This is then followed by an EvilLaugh with an [[http://mlp.wikia.com/wiki/File:Chrysalis%27s_Evil_Laugh.png extreme close-up of her face]]. Yikes.

* The moment where Twilight was trapped in the abandoned mines of Canterlot, and [[spoiler:Chrysalis!Candance]] showing herself on the crystal walls, taunting her and telling that [[AndIMustScream Nopony would ever find her...]] Also her face when she reveals herself to Twilight!

* Has anypony ever talked about Chrysalis's voice? I know it's an edit, but just... that low, unnatural, almost insect-like moans that sums up her voice pretty much keeps you up at night, if you give it much thought...

** Then at the end, when it does fail, the Crystal Ponies are instantly terrified at the realization that King Sombra's returned. One of them has a FreakOut from the simple realization Sombra's back and runs for her life... right into King Sombra himself who gives her a SlasherSmile. The tone in which she says his name is one of complete and utter fear. This scene isn't scary because Sombra's in it (though that is scary), it's the sheer terror he's able to inspire in his slaves.
** The Crystal Pony in question shouts "I can't take it!" before trying to run away. It sounded like that Crystal Pony was [[DrivenToSuicide planning on a preferable alternative to life under Sombra's rule...]]

* [[spoiler:The slightest show of distraction from a featureless wall... and BOOM! Headshot. One right after another... until only one remains. As mentioned below a couple pinkies distract the others in ways that you would be very hard pressed to ignore.]]

* Put yourself in Pinkie's shoes for a second. There's a swarm of hedonistic maniacs on the loose... and they all look and sound exactly like you.

* Pinkie Pie tilting her head to the ticking of the clock while wearing a totally blank expression on her face. It's creepier than it sounds...

* Similar to the Alicorn Amulet in "Magic Duel", we have something magical that can cause major problems if somepony cares to use it, with nothing keeping anypony from using it other than a bunch of thorns... [[FridgeHorror and somepony used it before.]]

** Even before the Amulet, there's her [[SlasherSmile unholy grin]] right before the opening theme. You don't see her eyes or her face, just her smile growing bigger and bigger...

** The Alicorn Amulet made her go DrunkOnTheDarkSide. The idea something like that exists in this world is rather... terrifying to say the least and it's sold in a shady shop similar to [[Literature/HarryPotter Borgin and Burkes]] for anyone with money to buy...

* [[spoiler:What's the first thing Trixie does upon exiling Twilight? Why, take over Ponyville and enslave its people, of course! She cuts off Ponyville's connections to the rest of the world, holds the Mayor hostage, and forces the ponies to dance for her and serve her every whim. Then she vows to overthrow Celestia and Luna themselves and take Equestria for her own. Good thing Twilight managed to get that Amulet away from her before she was too far gone...]] What makes this more terrifying is [[spoiler: she very well could have succeeded. At the Canterlot Wedding was proven that Celestia can be defeated by someone with sufficient power.]]

** Most horrifying of all? [[spoiler: It was originally believed, before the airing of the episode, that the Amulet was a piece of Sombra, something that he himself had made. Now it has been revealed that it's just a powerful magic charm. A charm that can amplify a moderately skilled unicorn like Trixie to the 'highest level of unicorn'. Imagine if that amulet fell into the possession of Sombra, someone could stand up to Princess Celestia and Luna in a fight without it...]]

* Something that will [[AdultFear probably scare the adults more than the kids]]--Scootaloo falls into a river and almost goes over a waterfall. If RD hadn't been there...
* [[spoiler:Luna has the ability to enter your dreams. Stop and think for a moment. This means nopony really has privacy, as Luna's always watching over all of her subjects. This isn't the truly scary part: Luna is a benevolent Princess who genuinely seeks to protect her subjects from their nightmares. As scary as she is, it'd still be making her a RonTheDeathEater to see her actively abuse this power. [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Nightmare Moon]]? Not so much; remember that one of the things that drove her over the edge was ponies sleeping through her night...]]

** If you're reasonably genre savvy, you can almost see [[spoiler:the regeneration]] coming because [[spoiler:it's a kids' show and thus death on camera wouldn't normally be depicted this casually]]. However, now imagine you're a child. [[spoiler:If the timber wolves really decide to come after you, even smashing them to bits won't stop them...]]
* [[spoiler: The giant Timberwolf [[FamilyUnfriendlyDeath actually chokes to death]]. However, [[FridgeHorror since Timberwolves can regenerate, that thing could respawn, or maybe even create many, many more of them, considering how much wood was absorbed, not just from the originals...]] ]]

** And if you listen closely, Celestia lets out THE most ''blood-curtling'' scream after she gasps... *Shudder*

* After Applejack and Rainbow Dash are walking through the hall with the armor... Makes you wonder how the guards looked like in the past.

* Speaking of bees... These look very evil indeed. Not at all like Fluttershy's other critters.

** Especially scary because we've seen Rarity start down that path [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E14SuitedForSuccess before]]...

*** As mentioned on the FridgeHorror page, there was probably a reason the writers made the victim a ''male'' pony instead of a [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything female one...]]

** [[spoiler: It then gets even ''weirder'' when Twilight points out that the cutie marks of all of the ponies in the town are ''exactly the same'': an "equals" sign. For a lot of commentors on YouTube and Equestria Daily, it's reminded them of a [[Videogame/StoryOfTheBlanks certain fan-made game]]...]]

** [[spoiler:So far, two trailers have given us the appearance of a pink and purple unicorn mare with powerful magic living in this "equalized" town. She appears to be their leader and may be our [[BigBad villain]] for the episode. Not to mention the fact that she looks like a cross between Aria Blaze and Suri Polomare, which is NOT a good sign...]]
** There's also a point where [[spoiler:ALL of the equalized ponies start cornering the Mane Six, still wearing their creepy, creepy smiles]]...

** For a while, Hasbro have been releasing short teasers for Season 5. For the most part, they didn't show anything special... [[spoiler: until they got to [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yESDQWm8M7o Rainbow Dash's]] where they not only showed her with the exact same Cutie Mark but also unable to fly faster than the average pegasus. It's only a few seconds, but it's more than enough to raise a few questions about this society.]]

** [[spoiler: As Rarity mourns the loss of her cutie mark, she's crying ''black-colored tears!'']]

** [[spoiler: As Rarity mourns the loss of her cutie mark, [[https://derpiboo.ru/790412?scope=scpe8e647207cdb1847e065876c509f863450213f86a she's crying ''black-colored tears!'']]

** She then follows it up by deleting Pinkie's mouth from existence.

* Similar to in Magic Duel, we have something magical that can cause major problems if somepony cares to use it, with nothing keeping anypony from using it other than a bunch of thorns [[FridgeHorror and somepony used it before.]]

* The concept of of a insane Twilight. Mental damage [[HeWhoFightsMonsters after defeating Discord]] and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking not sending as many Friendship Lessons as usual]] causes her to break. She causes everypony to go after a single doll, and she becomes a Alicorn later on. [[MaskOfSanity Just how long until she snaps again?]]

** They actually show what Tartarus looks like in the Season4 finale. [[spoiler: Averted for the most part, as it looks like a generic underground prison]]

* And then there's piece of ParanoiaFuel. [[spoiler:Because the girls had to give up the Elements of Harmony to save the Tree of Harmony, they've lost their only means of keeping Discord in check. Yes, Fluttershy could simply threaten to not be his friend anymore, but we can't be sure how long that'll last.]]

* The concept of of a insane Twilight. Mental damage [[HeWhoFightsMonsters after defeating Discord]] and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking not sending as many Friendship Lessons as usual]] causes her to break. She causes everypony to go after a single doll, [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie and she becomes a Alicorn later on.]] [[MaskOfSanity Just how long until she snaps again?]]

** '''"[[VoiceOfTheLegion BE STILL!!]]"'''

*** [[spoiler: And it manages to actually get him sick. While it is funny to see him getting his just desserts, it's not as funny when you start asking yourself what kind of creature could do that to a RealityWarper MadGod?]]

* The concept of of a insane Twilight. Mental damage [[HeWhoFightsMonsters after defeating Discord]] and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking not sending as many Friendship Lessons as usual]] causes her to break. She causes everypony to go after a single doll, [[AndJohnBecomesAMonster and she becomes a Alicorn later on.]] [[MaskOfSanity Just how long until she snaps again?]]