Zero, imo

@Raevyn Song
While rewatching this episode, I feel sorry for poor Masquerade, the VHS version I watched, I heard her cry (the long uncut version) compare to the muted version on Youtube. I did not feel traumatize back then, but after watching this, I feel sorry for Masquerade, I still even remember her crying sound till this day after watching this scene.

As a child of the 80’s I can say we were made of sterner stuff. This did not Traumatize us, it got us talking and excited to see the next episode.

However if that clip is too much for anyone, stay clear of the G1 pilot episode of Rescue at Midnight Castle, (which I think was turned into a movie) because by today’s standards it gets dark, and fast.

those horrible plants

Lauren Faust grew up with this

@SoDirtyalp  
Oh god, now I can’t unhear that. XD

There’s another episode where a baby pony falls on mud, struggles to stay afloat, then sinks. Cue happy theme song.

Prove that mlp is not for kids show

CUE HAPPY THEME SONG!
 
(It’s been around longer than you think.)

…was that a little moan right before the end credits theme?

Also,

This image is blocked by your current filter - click here to display it anyway

your current filter.

. Aaagh!

I thought that somebody’d made a G1 end credits joke for a minute. Nope. That’s just 80s cliffhangers work, folks!
 
The whole scene draws out Masquerade’s failed escape for longer, with some great horror-escalating background music and the Flories’ taunts as she gets inexorably drawn back to them. There’s a wonderful sense of discomfort to it. As an aside, it looks like they really understood how awful hog-tying and, yes, bridling these intelligent and articulately kind little ponies would be, yet they chose to play with it in a very direct way.
 
I get some good nightmare vibes from as well. I think it’s the the unsettling perspective combined with the silhouettes. The Day of the Triffids melds with Watership Down and a zillion B-movies for a minute. Love that they game some proper thought towards giving the kids some cinematic thrills back then.

Poor Masquerade. The baddies from MLPnF were pretty nasty.

I hate how much I’m laughing at this, because the implications are kind of fucked up. XD