When the magic of friendship meets bloody murder.
Despite taking place in the most magical and beautiful land in recent cartoon history, the grim nature of the other series' stories still takes hold here, leading to a slew of unsettling moments.
Case 1: Turnabout Theatre
- Overall Concept, the victim of Turnabout Theatre, dies from being hung by a rope from up on a catwalk during a production, in full view of the audience. If this is any indication, the murders in this series are going to be more brutal than Turnabout Storm's death by electrocution.
- Overall's death also counts as this in-universe. Not only are Rarity and Coco Pommel both shown to be traumatized from witnessing it, but even Apollo (who up until this point was the least gung-ho about being transported to Equestria) is taken back by how gruesome it is. The one and only solace Phoenix can find in the situation is that Overall must have died instantly, so he didn't have to suffer.
- Prince Blueblood briefly snaps during the trial when he thinks that he's finally, finally beaten Phoenix for good, developing a terrifying look in his eyes that does not at all portray him as a shining beacon of sanity. He gets over it eventually when Phoenix manages to turn the case around again.
Case 2: Crusading for a Turnabout
- During the first part of Crusading for a Turnabout's investigation, the team checks out a small bloodstain behind the Nightmare Night statue. Athena uses a forensic flashlight to check for any blood that may have been wiped away and discovers the remains of a MASSIVE bloodstain at the front of the statue. To make matters worse, the blood already present was not the victim's, suggesting that there was another victim somewhere in the forest. Remember, Apple Bloom was investigating with the team at that time.Apple Bloom: AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!
Twilight: Apple Bloom!
Twilight: Shh, calm down, it's okay.
Apple Bloom: (Breathing heavily)
Athena: Oh... my... That's... a lot of blood.
Widget: Urp!- Worse yet, we later find out that it's Sweetie Belle's blood.
- At the end of Episode 5, Apple Bloom rushes into the Detention Center frantically. The start of Episode 6 reveals that Carousel Boutique was broken into, and when the group enters to investigate, they find traces of blood along with patches of white fur, which immediately has the already upset Rarity terrified for her cat, Opal. Thankfully it's quickly revealed that Opal is both unharmed and caused the mess of blood by fighting back against the intruder, but it's a scary moment for anyone who's ever had their home broken into while their pets were home alone.
- The end of Episode 6 has Athena facing everyone accusing her of making mistakes, chanting that she's a screw-up while she screams for the voices to get out of her head.Athena: Get out get out get out of my head! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!!!
- Episode 7 has The Reveal that Private Eye forged evidence to make Sugar Stamp seem like the guilty party in Royal Order's death. He even stabbed his "friend's" corpse in the head with the letter opener, making one wonder just how much of what we've seen of him is the truth.
- Following that unsettling reveal, Fair Devotion begins acting colder towards both Private and her childhood friend Sugar Stamp, bordering on Smug Snake while explaining away the inconsistencies with the latter's testimony. In-universe, Athena finds the change in attitude disconcerting.
- Episode 8 delivers a number of revelations that explain a great deal of mystery surrounding the murder, but the very last reveal is so utterly chilling and terrifying that it shakes Athena and even Princess Luna down to their cores. The idea that Royal Order's own son, a literal child no less, could very well be his killer haunts everyone when the evidence (or rather lack thereof) points to this conclusion.
- Athena's reaction can not be understated: as her train of thoughts slowly comes to its inevitable conclusion, she literally freezes with horror, stuck in mid-motion, wide-eyed with her irises darting everywhere. The screen behind her goes black, and the triumphant music that was playing just seconds before comes to a halt, only to leave a much more somber and terribly sinister one playing in its stead, the kind of music you fully expect from a horror film, with the faint sound of a beating heart playing the background. Athena doesn't want to be right. She desperately tries to reject her own hypothesis, even as it dawns on her that there's no other explanation, the camera closing in on her panicked expression. Twilight tries to get her attention, but Athena is paralyzed by the revelation. Even the judge wonders out loud if Athena feels ill. When she comes back to her senses, she proceeds with asking the fillies a few questions and slowly clueing the rest of the court about what she is thinking, but she does so in a hushed tone, her voice initially trembling and stammering. Even after she recovers enough to pursue, Widget betrays her inner thoughts, as the little robot remains constantly in either his "Surprised" or "Afraid" state during the whole section.
- When Luna herself connects the dots a few moments later, she completely freezes the same way Athena did. She is beyond horrified, initially barely able to articulate her own thoughts. She regains her senses in time to counter Athena's argument, in a display of complete denial and anger, but when Athena points out that Luna herself is the one who suggested that the breathing could only come from someone as small as a child, she freezes again as she realizes not only the truth but also that she is the one who clued Athena on what actually happened. In despair, she refuses that Turning Page may be examined for signs of bruising, yelling a heartfelt and panicked, "No!" at the suggestion, but the foal himself accepts it, leaving her agape.
- Before this, Athena asked Sweetie Belle why she implicated Turning Page in the anonymous tip. Sweetie Belle answers that she did so because of "what [she] overheard" before she passed out. What exactly did Sweetie Belle hear? Turning Page confessing to his mother that he accidentally killed his father.
