WMG / My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Friendship Games

Human Twilight Sparkle

Human Twilight will be the primary antagonist of the third film.

She showed interest in finding out what is going on in Canterlot High and is wearing a scientist garb and considering Pony Twilight's lack of interest in friendship before Celestia sent her to Ponyville and Human Twilight not being Celestia's student it's likely that this Twilight would have less interest in befriending the Mane Cast than Pony Twilight did. In all likelyhood she'll become a Mad Scientist who develops an obsession with studying Magic and exploiting it in the name of Humanity thus risking the discovery of Equestria and and a possible devastating conflict between the two dimensions.

It is up for the original Princess Twilight Sparkle to save the day (again) but it will be difficult since Pony Twilight and Human Twilight will hate each other.Because Human Twilight, being a scientist, won't believe in magic. Even as she sees it. Anything Pony Twilight does will be critiqued, analyzed, passed off as something science hasn't properly documented, and experimented upon, driving Pony Twilight up the wall. Bonus Irony points because this is exactly how Pony Twilight reacted to Pinkie Sense.

• Very possible in the upcoming Equestria Academy cartoon, though the "save-the-world" aspects would be downplayed.
  • Twilight Sparkle will be a stop having fun girl entirely dedicated to studying and hard sciences, and will strongly disprove of the social and creative aspects of the school.
  • Related to this, Sunset Shimmer will be instrumental in teaching her about friendship.
    • Generally jossed. She's The Dragon to the real Big Bad, but is mentally and emotionally manipulated into the role. The last part (about Sunset being instrumental in teaching her about friendship) is right though.

Human Twilight will be a well intentioned antagonist in the next movie.

However, she won't be the Big Bad, she'll just cause a lot of trouble along the way, and may possibly even be tricked into helping the actual big bad in hopes of getting information. She won't be malicious and will be shown to still have a concept of morality, which will eventually cause her to realize the harm she has caused and have a Heel–Face Turn.

• Twilight under Celesta's wing studies dark magic and casually uses mind rape spells. This is Twilight without any good influences in her life or friends as well as being human, with human/pony psychological differences already having been a plot point.
  • Correct. She just wants to know what's going on and doesn't realize her actions are causing trouble until later.

The "real" Twilight engages the Shadowbolts as to test the power of friendship of the Mane 7.

Current dolls and promos show a darker version of Twilight with a clear emblem of the Shadowbolts school logo on her. Remember "Lesson Zero"? "If I can't find a friendship problem, I'll make one?" She might not necessarily do this maliciously - and perhaps ends up recruiting more evil-ish girls from the Shadowbolts school without being aware they are evil, but that would go a long way to explain the setup from the end of EQG2 to this film.

• Jossed. All of the Shadowbolts are in the dark about what's going on until late in the film.

In contrast to Twilight Prime's backstory, Human Twilight won't have a Friendless Background

She'll genuinely see the Shadowbolts as her friends and will have at least known one of them (possibly Sour Sweet, the other archery Shadowbolt) since childhood.

• Or worse unlike Equestrian Twilight who was okay with being alone, Human Twilight will be so desperate for friends she'll be a worse doormat than Fluttershy and make excuses for whatever the Shadowbolts do.
  • The trailer is adding credence to this theory, as it shows Twilight looking depressed amongst the Shadowbolts as well as being made fun of by her teammates.
  • Jossed. She's just as friendless as Twilight was - Cadance and Spike are the only ones who seem to really care about her at Crystal Prep.

Human Twilight won't really be an antagonist.

She may be part of the Shadowbolts, but her intentions for doing so may not be for villainous purposes like the team's will most likely be. Going by her Early-Bird Cameo at the end of the second film, the only reason she even joined an athletic team in the first place was so she could investigate the strange happenings that have been going on at Canterlot High and try to figure out the meaning behind all of it in the name of science. As a result, Human Twilight will be the Token Good Teammate of the Shadowbolts.

• Confirmed. She's manipulated into the events that lead to her transforming and temporarily going mad.

Human Twilight is the Big Bad

She'll attempt to study the Equestrian Magic the group has and perhaps extract their magic in some way, but without an understanding of friendship to ground the power, she'll transform into the evil Midnight Sparkle hinted at in the toyline, sparking a "I Know You Are in There Somewhere" Fight for the group to reach out to her and help her learn control.

• Jossed. She just wants to know what's going on; stealing the magic is a complete accident, and she's forced by her principal (the real Big Bad) into using it, causing her transformation. Sunset does reach out to her and help her regain control though.

Human!Twilight transforms into Midnight Sparkle at the climax of the film, giving her shadow powers.

This makes sense because Human!Twilight is part of the Shadowbolts. This makes sense because the Midnight Magic doll is Twilight Sparkle with light teal glasses. Definitely Human!Twilight.

It should make sense that Human!Twilight will transform during the climax of the film into Midnight Sparkle, giving her shadow powers.

• Related to this, Twilight will transform into Midnight Sparkle because the Shadowbolts pushed her too much into using magic to let them cheat. Twilight, as Midnight Sparkle, will then try to have her revenge on the Shadowbolts and the rest of Crystal Prep for how terrible they treated her when she just wanted friends, leading to the Humane Six to stop her.
  • Confirmed (except for the "revenge" part).

Human!Twilight is on the Judo team

We know that Pony!Twilight is more than capable of kicking ass (enough she expected to be able to kill Cadance when still a Unicorn, or fighting off the discorded Applejack and Pinkie Pie without magic). If Human!Twilight is an athlete, would make sense for her to know how to fight.

• Jossed. She isn't good at physical activity at all.

Human Twilight is not a villain

Instead, she's The Worm Guy, who's convinced that magic is real. She only joins the Shadowbolts because she wants to go to Canterlot High to investigate the strange occurrences there and will have a squeeing "They Called Me Mad!" moment when she finds out that magic is indeed real.

• Half-confirmed. She knows something weird's going on and wants to find out what; she's manipulated into joining the Shadowbolts rather than just being among the non-competing students (which would have given her plenty of time to investigate).

Human!Twilight will simply be Twilight if she never learned how important friendship is

She won't care about building relationships (her parents and brother will urge her to make friends at some point in the movie) and instead, focus entirely on what she thinks is important. However, Human!Twilight will possibly transfer to Canterlot High and join the huMane 6 after learning that friendship is magic at the end or near the end of the movie. At which point, she'll quickly become the Twilight we know and love.

• Confirmed, although Dean Cadance was the one urging her to try and make friends.

Human!Twilight is the manager of the Shadowbolts

She's Twilight Sparkle so of course managing a whole sports team will be what she's best at, rather than playing the sports herself.

• Possibly jossed? In one of the trailers, she's shown to be against Applejack in what seems to be a race.
  • Definitely jossed. She was forced to compete by her principal.

Human!Twilight will be an Unwitting Instigator of Doom

From what the trailer shows, she is NOT a villainous character. However, it also implies that she IS somehow responsible for the magic lapsing into the Equestria Girls world again (the amulet she has seems to be magical, at any rate). And near the end of the trailer, some kind of light comes out of her amulet and she screams for help. My guess is that she'll be someone who doesn't really understand magic (and may not even believe in it, due to the fact she seems to be focused on science), and thus she'll cause harm completely unintentionally.

• Confirmed.

Twilight from Friendship through the Ages is Human!Twilight

For one thing, she wears her hair in a Prim and Proper Bun, although it fits her classical music, and she is not wearing her glasses. It is possible that Twilight wears Purely Aesthetic Glasses as part of her Shrinking Violet personality, and will ditch them after gaining some confidence. If the theory is so, the music video foreshadows the Humane six befriending their world's Twi, even if it was obvious enough.

• Jossed. During the movie, one shot from Human Twilight's POV reveals that she can barely see without her glasses.

Human!Twilight might be a Shrinking Violet...

But she's secretly a Mad Scientist during her alone time. Bonus points if she does a mad scientist-like laugh when she thinks she's alone, only to find out somebody can see her.

• Jossed. She doesn't act crazy until she gets transformed.

Human!Twilight wants friends but thinks they might be scared off because her intelligence and status.

Just like how Twilight was worried her friends might go away after she became a Princess and Alicorn, Human!Twilight will believe that her status as a Crystal Prep student, as well as possibly being the smartest student, will alienate her and prevent her from making friends despite having a desire to.

• Half-jossed. She does appear to want friends, but doesn't think they'd be scared off - her classmates shun her because they're jealous.

Human Twilight will transfer to Canterlot High after the climax

Seems possible if she befriends the Humane 6

• Confirmed.

Human Twilight's presence will force Pony Twilight out of this movie

Since The Stinger of Rainbow Rocks has Human Twilight actively investigate the magical goings-on at Canterlot High, Pony Twilight will be forced into the role of the mentor since having two Twilights running around would attract too much attention.

• Possibly, Twilight won't appear in the movie and will hear of the events in the movie through Sunset Shimmer and being glad to hear that her friends at Canterlot High befriended her alternate self.
• Jossed. Princess Twilight was caught up in her own adventure at the same time as the film's events; she shows up at the very end. She wouldn't have been able to use the portal anyway, due to Human Twilight accidentally sealing it.

Flash Sentry and Human!Twilight will bump into each other.

• Human!Twilight will react just like Equestria Twilight, possibly with more awkwardness and blushing, while Flash Sentry will be glad to see Twilight again, not aware that she's not the Twilight he knows until later.
  • Confirmed, though Flash hasn't been told (on-screen, at least) that this is the local Twilight.
  • Half confirmed. She does bump into him, but doesn't even give him a second glance.

Human Twilight won't have access to an anthro-pony form like the rest of the girls...

• She wasn't exposed to the Element of Magic like the other girls and won't be able to help them when they need her. Which will lead to a heartwarming and awesome scene where the humane six each give human Twilight a piece of their magic, allowing her to transform like them.
  • Main guess confirmed (she assumes a demonic form instead); the rest is jossed, as she hasn't assumed an anthro-pony form in this film.

Human Twilight will meet Princess Twilight

• Human Twilight will meet her pony counterpart and our Twilight will tell her about the magic of friendship.
  • Confirmed. Except they don't really get a chance to talk before the film ends, and Sunset had already told her about the magic of friendship.

Midnight Sparkle will be a massive case of Who's Laughing Now?.

Like Sunset's demon form and Nightmare Moon, it will act on her dark side (in Sunset's case, it was her lust for power, and in Nightmare Moon's case, it was Luna's envy.) And what's likely to happen when a social outcast's dark side is let loose?

• Confirmed. She goes rather crazy and intent on going to Equestria to learn about its magic, not caring who gets hurt in the process.

Twilight will be expelled from Crystal Prep...

The board at Crystal Prep will have seen Twilight transform into Midnight Sparkle and possibly harm her fellow students. She'll be expelled from Crystal Prep for cheating and harming another student but Twilight won't care. Principal Celestia will take her in and enroll her as a Canterlot High student.

• Jossed. She transferred to Canterlot High with full approval of Dean Cadance.

Possible reasons why Twilight is an outcast at Crystal Prep...

• Part of the reason why she's an outcast at Crystal Prep is due to the video Sunset made to humiliate Princess Twilight in the first Equestria Girls movie. Cue a scene where Sunset says she forgot to take it down and apologizes to Human Twilight.
• She's far smarter than the rest of the student body and yet, acts like she's nothing special while the rest of the students act like spoiled brats with huge egos.
• Celestia isn't her mentor. Instead of having the kind and wise Celestia looking over her growth, Twilight has Principal Cinch, who manipulates her with the rest of the Shadowbolts into releasing Equestria magic. Without Celestia or somebody with just as much authority to protect her, Twilight was left to be bullied by students jealous of her talents.
• Human Twilight comes from a poor family and is currently attending Crystal Prep on a scholarship. The other students who came from wealthy or powerful families think she doesn't belong in their school, including Principal Cinch.
• There is no reason. The students at Crystal Prep just don't like her.
  • Her classmates are just jealous of her intelligence.

Human Twilight is only on the Shadowbolts because she can use magic.

Would explain why they let somebody with Twilight's lack of physical prowess compete in the Friendship Games, an event Crystal Prep wants to continue winning even if they have to resort to cheating.

• Jossed. Principal Cinch wants her on the team because her brother (a Crystal Prep alumnus) was a member. Twilight only agrees to participate when Cinch threatens to torpedo her application to an independent research program.

Midnight Sparkle will declare that Twilight Sparkle is dead, and Midnight was born in her place

Bonus points if she explicitly says that the Shadowbolts who bullied her were the ones who killed Twilight.

• Jossed.

Midnight Sparkle will be an Enemy Without

Midnight Sparkle will be Twilight's repressed feelings of anger and hatred towards her situation and the explosion of magic will give form to those feelings, creating the villain Midnight Sparkle.

• Jossed. Twilight physically transforms, like Sunset did in the first film.

The students at Crystal High apologize to Human!Twilight for the way they treated her.

The Shadowbolts

The Shadowbolts are not Villains

While they might technically be Psycho Rangers, they will not actually be villains. At worst, they will be a Worthy Opponent or Friendly Rivalry. They will team up with the Wondercolts at the climax to fight the actual villain of the movie.

• For the moment, the 'friendly' rivalry is pretty much jossed. The entire student body of Canterlot High shows little more than apathy at best for Crystal Prep and it's team due to having consistently lost the games every single time, leading to a distinct lack of interest in the games at all. This might change depending on how the movie itself plays out. For the moment, the Shadowbolts are basically the 'someone better' in Always Someone Better to the Wondercolts, who are none too happy about it, from all indications.
• Most likely completely jossed now with the release of the soundtrack, “Unleash the Magic” a Villain Song for Principal Cinch and the Shadowbolts. They peer pressure Twilight into unleashing the power of her amulet telling her if they lose it'll be her fault, as well as using both her status as an outcast and her desire to learn about magic against her.
  • Half-confirmed. They're jerks, but not outright villainous; it's their principal who's the real Big Bad.

The new girl with pink and green hair (Sour Sweet) will be the villain.

The synopsis implied that the Shadow Colts will be the villains. This sounds pretty boring and predictable, and it's odd that Sour Sweet get's to be on the front of merchandise over any of the main characters. The only other characters that do get major focus in merchandise are either villains (the Dazzlings), pre-established characters (the CMC, Trixie) or related to pre-established characters (the Snapshots). So, my guess is that she's going to befriend the Humane Six, but reveal she only did for magic or whatever.

• Jossed. She's part of the Shadowbolts, but they're relatively minor compared to the real Big Bad.

The human version of King Sombra will be involved

Their school is called CRYSTAL Prep after all. Bonus points if somehow we also get the human versions of Cadance and even Shining Armor in on this as well.

• Confirmed for Cadance and Shining Armor, Jossed for Sombra.

The Dazzlings are Crystal Prep students

What happened to the Dazzlings after the end of Rainbow Rocks is unknown. Perhaps sometime after they ran off, they heard about the Friendship Games, and decided to join Crystal Prep to try and get revenge on the Humane 6 with help from the students of Crystal Prep, including Human Twilight.

• They aren't seen in the film, save for flashbacks (and one set of posters).

The Shadowbolts will have a Heel–Face Turn.

If they do end up turning Human Twilight into Midnight Sparkle by pressuring her into using Equestrian magic in their favor, the climax could be that the Shadowbolts team up with the Wondercolts after realizing that they've pushed her too far and that Equestrian magic is a force that is beyond their understanding or control. Furthermore, once things are resolved, they could undergo some Character Development and become much nicer to the Wondercolts so that the Friendship Games, perhaps learning from their experience that they're not so different after all.

• Confirmed.

Other

Shannon Chan-Kent, the singing voice of Pinkie Pie, will voice the villain.

The villain of the first film was voiced by Rebecca Shoichet, the singing voice of Twilight. The villain of the second film was voiced by Kazumi Evans, the singing voice of Rarity. It only makes sense the next film will continue this tradition.

• Jossed. Iris Quinn (in her first Pony role) voices Principal Abacus Cinch.
  • However, Shannon Chan-Kent does voice Lemon Zest, one of the Shadowbolts.

The Villain will not be from Equestria

This time it will be a native of EQG!Earth who has managed to tap into Equestrian magic for their own purposes.

• Half-confirmed. Cinch is from Earth, but she can't use magic herself - she just manipulates human Twilight into using it.

The villain will disrupt the connection between the worlds

Either by getting rid of the connecting book or the portal itself.

• Confirmed. Twilight accidentally disrupts the portal, but it's restored by the end.

The movie's stinger will concern EQG 4 and/or the MLP: FIM motion picture

Or perhaps lead into an Equestria Girls TV series.

• It has both Twilights meeting.

Sunset Shimmer will face a Sadistic Choice: Staying on Earth or returning to Equestria

I wonder if this is something they’ll touch upon in the third movie. They should, at any rate. It’s a conflict ripe to be explored. Now, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – it’s kind of a waste keeping Sunset in the humanverse (and only in the movies). At this point, she’s earned her ticket back to Equestria and I’d love to see her attempt to reconcile with Celestia, which is one place that Twilight really can help her.

Of course there is the problem of the fact that Sunset never fit in in Equestria. She had no friends and no one she cared about except Celestia. Arguably it was never really "home" to her. The Humane Other 5 obviously can’t cross over without risking damage to the multiverse, so if Sunset returns permanently she’ll be all alone again except for Twilight and maybe Celestia and possibly Cadance, all of whom are Ascended Princesses and wouldn’t have much time for her. Anyway, coming back would be particularly hard on Sunset, since Twilight would certainly introduce her to the Other Five, who are like Sunset’s current friends but not the same, merely serving as a reminder of what she gave up.

It’s also a conflict very relevant to the target demo: the likelihood that when you move, you’ll lose all your friends. Not as big a certainty in this era of social media, but still can happen. Actually, it may be too relevant to kids (like the never-aired ep of Sesame Street that dealt with divorce), so Hasbro may realistically want to avoid it.

• It's less of a sadistic choice and more of a choice between two good ends, her friends or her home and family. Sure she can only have one but it's a happy ending either way. Also being the rulers of equestria has never stopped any of them from having personal relationships.
• Jossed. Sunset going back is never discussed.
• Well, semi-jossed. She considers it for a moment but the portal is accidentally closed by Human Twilight.

The third film will contain a subplot of Flash Sentry feeling guilty for how he treated Twilight in the second film.

It would be a good way to finally give him some Character Development.

• Jossed.

The third film will feature Human Sunset Shimmer as well as Human Twilight.

Since she never went through pony Sunset's character development, she'll still be an Alpha Bitch, preferably at Human Twilight's school. She'll get unwillingly tangled up in the conflict of the third film, and end up going through a lot of torment because of the other characters, to the point where she becomes extremely sympathetic, despite her flaws.

• Jossed. She's completely absent.

The Dazzlings will be one of the opposing teams.

As mentioned previously, the Dazzlings might decide to transfer over to Crystal Prep and manipulate the competition from behind the scenes in order to get revenge on the Rainbooms (sans Princess Twilight).

• Jossed. They're completely absent.

Sonata will get a Heel–Face Turn in either a future episode or a new movie.

Hasbro seems to listen to fan input (ie: giving fan favorites screentime), so Sonata, who has become an Ensemble Dark Horse, will be given the opportunity to reform.

Swimming will be a real world replacement for flying.

It just kind of makes sense.

Cadance and Shining Armor's EQG variants will appear

The Shadowbolts are from Crystal Prep, which suggests the Crystal Empire. This would be reason to include the two - as well as establishing a reason that human Twilight stays near her brother.

• Confirmed for Cadance, as her human self appeared in a teaser shown at SDCC.
• And, confirmed for Shining Armor - he has a brief appearance, and is mentioned as an alumnus of Crystal Prep.

Unlike the previous two films, Pony Twilight won't play as big an important role in this one.

After the Humane 6 learn about Human Twilight and how she's part of the Shadowbolts team, Sunset will contact Pony Twilight about this and ask her to come help again. However, Pony Twilight will think it would be too risky for her to return this time as she'd feel that coming in contact with her human counterpart may cause a time-space paradox, which leaves Sunset and the rest of the Humane 6 to handle this problem on their own.

• This could be supported by the conspicuous absence of Pony Twilight Sparkle from the doll line-up. Instead we have Human Twilight Sparkle.
• Confirmed. Princess Twilight only cameos in The Stinger due to being busy with other stuff in Equestria.

The girls will learn how to transform without music.

It wouldn't make sense for them to play music and sing while playing sports.

• The opposite will happen. At least one or all of the games will be a music number sung by the participants, most likely Rainbow Dash singing about how awesome she is and how she's definitely going to win.
  • Partially confirmed. Rainbow is shown to transform when she tried to get the school psyched up for the Friendship Games. It appears that this is actually going to become a possible plot point in the movie, as the trailers do show Sunset talking about magic occurring in random places during rallies and the like.
  • Confirmed. They pony up by embodying their respective element.

The location of "Human Sunset" will be revealed.

Sunset Shimmer is one of the few main characters who's EQG counterpart has not been shown. We might get a comment from Human Twilight asking her why Sunset is not at Crystal Prep or something.

• Jossed. She's completely absent.

Sunset's human counterpart is a Shadowbolt and Twilight's friend.

To contrast Pony!Twilight's antagonist relationship with Pony!Sunset, Human!Twilight and Human!Sunset will be friends, and Human!Twilight will call her in as a ringer near the climax of the film, sparking a face-off between the two pairs.

• Jossed. She's completely absent.

The rest of the Mane Six from Equestria will be accompanying Twilight this time.

We haven't seen pony!Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie go through the portal to help out Twilight, due to potential confusion that may occur if each pony were to run into her human counterpart. However, since we now know that Human!Twilight will play an important role, perhaps Pony!Twilight also runs the risk of running into her human counterpart. As a result, all of the Mane six now are able to run into their human counterparts, so Twilight just decides to bring them along on her next adventure...just in case.

• Jossed. Pony!Twilight is the only one there, and only briefly.

The Humane 6 will quickly figure out that Human!Twilight is not their Twilight.

The Humane 6 sans Sunset react to Human!Twilight being a Shadowbolt with Et Tu, Brute? but Sunset will figure out that isn't their Twilight. Only for Sunset to explain that there is an Applejack, a Rarity, a Fluttershy, a Pinkie Pie, and a Rainbow Dash in Equestria meaning that there logically should be a Twilight here.

• Pinkie already seems to have figured it out due to how she reacts when she's shown meeting Human!Twilight in the trailers. The group probably also figured this out offscreen, since Twilight did make it obvious she recognized Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Applejack right away in the first film. Sunset probably clued them in that there are likely pony counterparts in Equestria between the first Equestria Girls and Rainbow Rocks. Rarity also refers to human!Twilight as 'Our world's Twilight'. So they probably already know they have counterparts on the other side of the portal.
  • Confirmed. They quickly realize she's not Princess Twilight.

The Principal of Crystal Prep is the human version of King Sombra

Following the trend above about the relation of Crystal Prep and the Crystal Empire. Since Crystal Prep's Shadowbolts are the antagonists for the film, why not have the Empire's evil former ruler be in charge at the time? So we'll see interactions between Principle Sombra with Principle Celestia and Vice Principle Luna.

If Sombra ends up the Big Bad, Greater-Scope Villain, or Man Behind the Man for the film, expect for his Vice Principle or intern to be Cadence. Also expect Shining Armor to be the Head of Security at Crystal Prep. Sombra will likely end up arrested for whatever scheme the film gives him, putting her as the new Principle.

Oh, and there should be at least one joke with a member of the Shadowbolts remarking that Principle Sombra's high expectations for the team feels like slavery.

• Jossed. Sombra isn't mentioned; Principal Abacus Cinch is the Big Bad.
  • Though unlikely, she could be the human version of Queen Chrysalis. It's a stretch, but both names start with a "C".

If Sombra's the main villain...

Then one of the portals created by Twilight's amulet will lead to the remains of the Equestria Sombra, leading to the Human!Sombra absorbing his fallen counterpart's memories and magic.

• Doesn't happen.

Any of the previous villains could cameo as a human.

Pretty self-explanatory.

• Jossed.

The new villain will either be voiced by: Tim Curry or Voltaire.

Why? For no other reason than to give them a kick ass villain song.

• Jossed. It's a woman.

Special Agent Sweetie Drops will be involved.

Both the Equestrian and Human versions of Sweetie Drops will be secretly watching over and influencing the events of the film. The two will have also known each other, and worked together in the past. Also, both Lyras will be unwittingly thrown into the mess as well.

• Unlikely. Celestia says in the first film that Twilight would know more about the world beyond the mirror than even she does, indicating she's probably never gone through herself, and probably hasn't let anyone else go through either. Whether that's due to events depicted in the "Reflections" arc of the comic depicted in the past, or simply because she had no idea what would happen if someone else went through since Sunset hadn't come back for years until the events of the first Equestria Girls is up for debate. But if Twilight is supposed to know more about the human world than Celestia, it's unlikely Sweetie Drops has been through it. Otherwise Celestia would have been able to give Twilight a bit more information to go on about the place. And she would likely have gotten said information through Sweetie Drops if she'd been sent through before.
• Jossed.

Sunset Shimmer won't accept Human!Twilight at first...

She'll compare Human!Twilight to the one she knows and be disappointed.

• Confirmed. She realizes what Twilight's doing (unintentionally, but still), and gets pretty mad at her.

Ditzy/Derpy will be important to the plot.

In much the same way Vinyl was in Rainbow Rocks.

• I'm sorry, don't you mean Muffins?
• Jossed. She makes minor appearances.

We will get to see the pony versions of the Humane 5 and/or other human characters.

If Human!Twilight is opening portals to Equestria everywhere, someone's eventually going to go through one of them, either by accident or out of curiosity. Their pony versions will probably have some sort of different features to distinguish them from their Equestrian counterparts.

• Jossed.

Sunset Shimmer's Human counterpart will appear and fall through one of the portals to Equestria.

• Possibly as a stinger.
• Jossed.

The Dazzlings will reappear, and will pull a Heel–Face Turn and fight alongside the Wondercolts.

• With the fate of the Dazzlings still up in the air, and Sunset Shimmer also pulling a Heel–Face Turn, this could work.
• Jossed. They're completely absent.

Discord will make a cameo

• The final question in the recent Comic Con panel seems to indicate that he will in fact make an appearance. Perhaps he will be in one of the portals Twilight accidentally opens. I'd like to see him warn Twilight to keep her research of Equestrian magic under control, knowing full well how dangerous it can be to a world ill-prepared to deal with it. Maybe Sunset Shimmer will walk in on their conversation and Sunset, having absolutely no idea of Discord's reformation, will accuse her of allying herself with Discord in order to bring Crystal Prep to victory, thereby leading to this shot from the trailer.
• Jossed. He's completely absent.

The Dazzlings will reappear, but in a very minor role that has no major impact on the plot.

To be blunt, I feel that the films rely too much on fanservice to to avoid bringing them back. But I also feel that the plot as presented is too crowded for them to have a major part. You've got six new antagonists at minimum. The Dazzlings can show up, but not in any "take-over-the-world" capacity or otherwise have a huge role. At worst, they have a brief background cameo. At best, they have an extended scene that explains what they've been up to, but otherwise doesn't affect the plot. Like say, Human Twilight tries to interview them to find out more about magic.

• Well, they do make a short cameo as a stylized drawing during Dash's pep rally song. So there's that at least.
• Alternatively, they might make an appearance during The Stinger, where they may be seen applying to get into Crystal Prep and are implied to have learned about the rivalry between said school and Canterlot High. This could set up a potential sequel where both the Shadowbolts and Dazzlings team up to get revenge on the Rainbooms and Canterlot High in an “Enemy of our enemy is our friend” scenario.
• Jossed. They're completely absent.

Moondancer's human counterpart will make a cameo...

And will be a Crystal Prep student like Twilight who sits next to her in classes.

• Jossed. Moondancer doesn't appear.

Spike...

Speaks during the Unleash The Magic song. There's two possibilities here. One, Human Twilight used magic to give her Spike the ability to talk. Two, and the more likely possibility, is that it's the Equestria Spike, sent by Princess Twilight since she can no longer go to that world because of the confusion two Twilight's would cause.

• Confirmed. Spike the dog was zapped earlier on, and gained the ability to talk.

Cinch will be fired and replaced by Cadence in the end.

To mirror how Cadence became the ruler of the Crystal Empire, Cinch will be fired or possibly arrested for forcing Human!Twilight to use magic to cheat (which likely goes horribly wrong if the merchandise is any indication) and replaced by Cadence.

• Or possibly, Twilight's situation at Crystal Prep will come to light, courtesy of Cadence or even Celestia. Cinch will be fired because not only did she not stop it, she joined them.
• Or Cinch chose to resign and transfers herself into another school where she'll continue her methods and try to beat Canterlot High again and/or beat Crystal Prep for turning against her in the next Friendship Games.
  • When last seen, she's merely stormed off.

Rainbow Dash transformed because of her loyalty.

The girl's magic is evolving to the point that they only need to exhibit their Element in order to use their magic. Rainbow Dash's pep rally exhibited loyalty towards her school and that's why she transformed. That, or because she was singing, which was shown to be a trigger in Rainbow Rocks.

• Effectively confirmed.

Cinch is the mother of Human!Starlight Glimmer.

Who is "Sweeten Sour"?

The drum majorette who appears alongside Rainbow Dash in the "CHS Rally Song" has Odango Hair, like Sour Sweet does during the archery competition, and she looks almost exactly the same as Sour Sweet except that she doesn't have skunk stripes or Youthful Freckles. Before the movie was released, some fans theorized that she was Sour Sweet in disguise, infiltrating CHS. Since the movie never follows up on this, perhaps she's a relative of Sour Sweet?

Post-Movie Guesses

Princess-Twi's "time travel" thing she was involved in during the course of the movie was the Season 5 finale.

Based on the previews that show Starlight Glimmer might try to go back and interfere with the Rainboom that caused the Mane 6 to get their cutie marks.

If Sunset ever goes back into the pony world, she's going to have wings.

And she won't notice at first, and it will be funny.

Cinch will resign early after this and Cadence will take over Crystal Prep.

Things definitely seem to be changing for Cinch after Friendship Games. The rampage of Midnight Sparkle has clearly drawn the ire of the student body, so she will lack the iron grip she once had. This plus the inability to achieve a true victory in the Friendship Games and inability to bring down CHS without destroying her reputation means she has lost practically all of her influence and the best she can do to retain any dignity she has left is to resign and leave Crystal Prep for good. Dean Cadance is naturally the most likely candidate for the next principal, and her more affable personality will make the school a much nicer place during her administration. Twilight and her new friends can even help give her advice on how to change everyone's attitude.

• Dance Magic confirms that Cadance becomed new principal of Crystal Prep.

Sunset ascended to Alicornhood.

Her transformation was different than any we'd seen before, and put her on even footing with Midnight Sparkle, who seemed to be a Nightmare or similar entity. Not to mention the Hot Wings...

Sunset is...

• The Element of Friendship
• The Princess of Magic
  • Perhaps Herald of Magic. She's not the one rightfully chosen to be the Element of Magic, but she serves under its rightful holder.
• The Princess of Forgiveness
• The Element of Empathy, as suggested by Meghan McCarthy

Sombra is the Greater-Scope Villain.

Since he isn't the principal of Crystal Prep, he could possibly be the head of the school board.

• Or he's the old evil principal who mentored Cinch, or one of the founders of the school.
• Superintendent Sombra has a nice ring to it.

Sunset either lives with or was given a place to stay by Principals Celestia and Luna.

They seem to be fully informed about all the crazy pony magic stuff going on at the school now, they should know that she's a runaway from another world by now. And (of course) it would be cute.

• Even though future entries showed Sunset living in her own apartment, it could still be possible that she lived with Celestia and Luna before she buyed her own house.

Cinch is a high ranking Canterlot elite in Equestria

While Crystal Prep is meant to be the EQG-verse's Empire, the general snooty behavior among the students and disdain towards Canterlot High (which is more closer to Ponyville than Canterlot) makes the school feel more like Canterlot's counterpart. Perhaps Cinch is one of the higher ranking elites in the city and her position allows her to spread her nasty influence to many of its citizen. Cinch also holds animosity towards Celestia, seeing her as an inferior ruler and that she deserves her position. The spread of her influence is her attempt to erode Celestia's influence in Canterlot.

• Alternatively, she was a high ranking Canterlot elite until an incident caused Celestia to strip her of her rank, which led to her being replaced by the more affable Fancypants.

Moondancer is Human Twilight's Unknown Rival.

Moondancer is the second smartest student at Crystal Prep and will believe that she and Twilight were Friendly Rivals. When she demands to know why Twilight left Crystal Prep, Twilight will respond with a very honest "Do I know you?"

If Midnight Sparkle had been successful in destroying the world, she would have been defeated by her pony counterpart and her friends anyway, though it would still be a Downer Ending

While Midnight Sparkle is very powerful, the Mane 6, using the powers of harmony, could defeat her and put an end to her madness. for bonus points, pony Twilight is the actual bearer of the element of magic. Thus, she can defeat her own counterpart with the rainbow powers.However, before the battle, she had destroyed another world, killing the humane 6, students, teachers, etc. Despite depowered/stoned/banished/redeemed/killed Midnight, countless lives have been murdered and everypony, especially pony Twilight, are going to mourn the loss.

Twilight will stay at Crystal Prep

There's a One Was a Smart Magical villain with a dusk themed name But Got Over It limit, and we never see Twilight's parents or brother agreeing to let her change schools. Alternately, Sunset's outgoing, bitchy tendencies and her tendency to seek knowledge for a purpose instead of for its own sake will be played up more.

• Jossed. She transfers to Canterlot High.

Human Twilight is not the Element of Magic

Pony Twilight had just as bad eyesight as her human counterpart...

But she got it fixed while still young by unicorn magical eye surgery.

Rainbow Dash's guitar is a magical item by now.

Ever since it changed colors the first time she used it in "Guitar Centered", it's been infused with a sliver of magic. That's why it can still plays even when unplugged.

"Equestria Girls 4" is the finale of the series and will introduce human Sunset Shimmer

Based on The Stinger of Friendship Games, the fourth movie is being set up to explore the possibilities once characters from alternate dimensions meet their counterparts. This will play a major role and human Sunset Shimmer's involvement will factor into this. It is the finale of the series because it will repurpose the unused "homesickness" arc from the third movie and give reason for Sunset and her human counterpart to switch places with the human Sunset winding up in Equestria, sealing the portal in the process. This in turn would make Sunset's indecision about going back to Equestria for her and allow her to accept this is where she needs to be with the friends she made in the human realm. Meanwhile human Sunset will have a new start in Equestria with a blank slate And the Adventure Continues.

Midnight Sparkle's rampage is what allowed the Mane 6 to defeat Starlight Glimmer.

Since the Season 5 finale is overlapping with Friendship Games, it would be possible. Midnight Sparkle tearing rifts from the human world to Equestria could very easily disrupt the time loop Twilight Sparkle mentioned at the end of the movie. Such a disruption could have been a Spanner in the Works for Starlight Glimmer's plot, causing it to destabilize and unravel, leading to her defeat.

The final, wasteland, world in Cutie Remark part 2 is the future that would result from Midnight Sparkle getting to Equestria and stealing magic from everyone a la Tirek.

Somehow she is able to steal the portal magic without Pony-Twi coming back, and she proceeds to go into Equestria, which is full of magic, and steals everything in sight and releases it to become a true monster, even if it was never in her heart, because at that point neither Crystal Prep nor CHS is all that big on Friendship, so she has even less of a reason to revert

All magic causes transformations in the human world

Whether the magic of friendship, dark magic, or anything in-between. The reason for this is because the human world was never designed for magic(or at least it's such a minuscule amount it doesn't come up in life). Now that humans have been discovering otherworldly magic, something has to change. They have the will to use it, but not the physiology, so the magic itself converts the host into a form suitable enough to properly channel it.

Midnight Sparkle is really a HABIT-possessed Twilight

HABIT decided to have a little fun in another dimension while waiting for news from Vinnie.

Cinch is the human world equivalent to Chrysalis

She's in a position of power, set up as a darker mirror to Celestia, manipulates those under her power to further her own desires, cares little for her subjects, held power over Cadence and had her subjects turn on her when her selfishness was exposed for what it really was.

The Shadowbolts are more than just an Opposing Sports Team to the Humane Six

Considering the show is on hiatus this might not happen. But it’s clear the Shadowbolts are Evil Counterpart to the Humane Six. All they need is their own Twilight and Sunset. That being said, there has to be human counterparts of villains like Sombra, Chrysalis, or Tirek who’d be just as evil as their Equestria counterparts. If they were to get a burst of equestrian magic and make geode necklaces out of them, the perfect candidates to wield them would be the Shadowbolts. Sour Sweet being the wielder of rudeness or cruelty in contrast to Fluttershy, Sugarcoat’s geode magic will make her a constant liar, in contrast to honest Applejack. Indigo Zap’s geode will make her have a Chronic Backstabbing Disorder as contrast to the loyalty of Rainbow Dash. Sunny Flare will wield greed instead of generosity, contrasting Rarity. Lemon Zest is a tough one, a clear counterpart of Pinkie Pie whose geode might make her a gloomy maniac. The only ones missing are a Twilight counterpart and Sunset counterpart, of which I suggest Adagio Dazzle and Aria Blaze, respectively. If this were to happen, it would probably be a lengthy special or film. One of the human counterparts of Tirek, Chrysalis, or Sombra discovers equestrian magic that creates 7 geodes. Eager to start whatever evil plan they have in mind that the Humane Six are fooling, they grab the geodes and start searching for people to form The Psycho Rangers with. After a while, they discover the Shadowbolts and decide to give them 5 of the geodes, forming necklaces with them. While searching for the remaining 2 counterparts, the Shadowbolts discover their magical abilities, similar to the Humane Six. Sour Sweet, instead of being able to talk to animals, can mind control them. Sugarcoat has invisibility instead of super strength. Indigo Zap can teleport. Sunny Flare can make bursts of energy rather than barriers, and Lemon Zest can sonic scream. The Humane Six will engage into battle with them as the Shadowbolts go Dark Magical Girl. The film will end with the Humane Seven defeating Tirek/Chrysalis/Sombra whatever villain, but failing to stop the Shadowbolts from keeping their powers. It’ll end with a short scene of 2 new members arriving, possibly Adagio and Aria. Everything after this will probably be about the Shadowbolts and Humane Seven fighting over their world’s fate.

• Jossed, given that Shadowbolts changed their ways at the end of Dance Magic. Plus, I doubt that Shadowbolts would've joined that villain given the horror they expressed when they saw Twilight transforming into Midnight Sparkle and later the chaos she unleashed.

Majorette and Sour Sweet are twin sisters.

And surprisingly Sour Sweet doesn't have any antagonistic relantionship with her sister, despite the fact that she attends rival school and has a very different personality than her own.