"You didn't know that you fell, now that you're under our spell..."
WARNING: Spoilers Off applies to Nightmare Fuel pages.
- "Let's Have a Battle (of the Bands)":
- The Dazzlings come in with this incredibly eerie and spooky song, sowing chaos and competition among all the students, who start infighting, each suddenly wanting to climb their way to the top of the heap. They're clearly working some sort of magic from their jeweled necklaces, and the room fills with sickly green fog, which the necklaces seem to be absorbing.
- The scary part is that the song is the antithesis to the first film's "Cafeteria Song": the exact same situation of a musical number stirring up the student's passions into an eager flash mob, but the polar opposite message in the lyrics. With one song, the Dazzlings are tearing down the school spirit and unity that Twilight brought to the school, turning it into anarchy. The entire thing is heavily implied to be a Hate Plague.
- The occasional close-ups of Adagio Dazzle's eyes flashing green.
- The entire student body joining in, with a much deeper-voiced choir than we usually hear in MLP.
- What makes the entire scene work so well is that it's the first phase of their Evil Plan, and at first they seem to just be typical human villains, then the supernatural aspects begin showing up. The shot of Dazzle's eyes lighting up comes off as a Wham Shot and is all the more frightening for it.
- The whole siren theme, with them pretty much seducing the students into a fight. Them having No Sense of Personal Space in a really creepy way doesn't help either. At one point Adagio walks down an aisle caressing every student's head as she passes by like they're her possessions for her to play with (which is weird normally, but Nightmare Fuel if you're the kind of person that does not like to be touched).
- They're ancient Sirens that once plunged Equestria into strife and disharmony, allowing them to nearly take it over until Star Swirl the Bearded banished them to the human world to defeat them because they would be powerless there. Except they weren't, and after Sunset brings magic to Canterlot High they begin to rebuild their power to terrifying levels.
- The girls go straight to Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna to get the Dazzlings kicked out after seeing their evil power in action. Celestia and Luna brush it off as Sunset trying to make someone else look bad out of spite and say how nice it was for the Dazzlings to put on a performance for them... and their eyes glow green, showing they're under the Dazzlings' spell too. Adagio was smart enough to brainwash them first.
- "Under Our Spell"
- Quite the sinister song, even more so than "Let's Have a Battle". The latter could at least be interpreted as a motivational, if morally corrupt number, where as the former feels more like the villains are gloating over a victory you never saw coming. From the lyrics alone, the moment you're listening to the song, you are snared in their web, and by the time you realize it, it's already too late. The way the song is presented in the film, it could also be seen as them singing directly to the Rainbooms, who are shown rapidly falling apart during the montage. The Dazzlings are that much closer to getting what they came for.
- Even scarier? If you look at "Let's Have a Battle" that's exactly what happened to the student body, and likely to the viewer the first time viewing. The supernatural aspects and brainwashing didn't happen at the beginning of the song: they happened half way through. The first half was the hook, by the time they began brainwashing, everyone was already listening to the song. Celestia and Luna blissfully staring and the students swaying as the Dazzlings sing doesn't help much. This is what the Dazzlings plan to do to everyone on Earth if not stopped.
- The Cutie Mark Crusaders' appearance in the song. Their rocker getup combined with their wide eyes and the nice view of all their teeth makes them look crazy, Sweetie Belle's in particular makes her look like a serial killer. Not helped when the lights go out and all you see is their wide-open eyes.
- While "Let's Have a Battle (of the Bands)" started their Hate Plague and got the students motivated for the contest, here we see just how much it is really getting to them. Hardly anyone is smiling or appears to be having fun, and the losers in the battles are propelled back violently. Everyone is so far gone that they don't seem to care that they are hurting their fellow students, and arguments are breaking out more frequently to the point even Derpy has to be restrained from hurting Bulk. Plus, like Adagio said, this isn't even what they can do at full power. If the Dazzlings are able to turn Nice Guys like Bulk Biceps, Derpy, and even Flash Sentry this far then imagine what they could do if they got the chance to really cut lose at full power.
- The end of "Under our Spell" has a scene of the various bands fighting, which then zooms out from Adagio's gem, and Adagio doing an Evil Laugh.
- The dazzlings song has a pretty generic chorus, which makes a random line about them ruling over you all the creepier.
- "Welcome to the Show":
- The Dazzlings' part in this dueling number with the Rainbooms definitely counts. Not only is the beat and tone freaking terrifying, the Dazzling's opera-like singing borders on Ominous Latin Chanting at times and their dialog isn't much more calming at all. It's definitely the most ominous number for them. They sing it as they obtain their true power again, transforming them into anthro forms and allowing them to begin their take over. It also allows them to summon avatars of their true forms, which are pretty frightening in their own right.
- At the following lyrics, you can see the crowd crouch and grimace. It's not simply lyrics.The Dazzlings: Feel the wave of sound, as it crashes down! You can't turn away/we'll make you want to stay!
- The Transformation Sequence. Good lord, the Transformation Sequence! Their amulets glow bright red and cover them in red energy, the Dazzlings turn monochrome and sprout pony ears and longer hair like the heroines, then suddenly a layer seems to crack off of them, demonic wings emerge from their backs and their eyes glow red. Much like the Dazzlings themselves, there is just something inherently wrong about it all, which makes it all the more unsettling than the simple act itself. A major factor is that while the Rainbooms actually transform, with the Dazzlings, it's more like something is being released.The Dazzlings: Now you need us, come and heed us, nothing can stop us now!
- The fact that the Dazzlings were able to do this by perverting The Power of Friendship by getting the Humane Five to fight so they could steal their magic!
- Notice how, just before the Dazzlings change, some students in the audience freak out and try to shield themselves before they become brainwashed. They knew what is happening, even for a little bit. That alone is terrifying, but think about the implications of that.
- Not helped by the fact that they were also brainwashed in the last movie, or the fact that they briefly break free when the Rainbooms start playing, only for the Dazzlings to put them under again.
- What they sing before attacking the Humane Six:What we have in store
All we want and more
We will break on through
Now it's time to finish you! - The last bit is made worse in the stand-alone music video, which removes the Humane Six entirely. As such, the verse and their avatars' attacks are directed at their enthralled, helpless audience. Cut to a shot of the audience with an ominous, rising red glow in the foreground... then cut back to the Dazzlings, followed by the final fade to black.
