- Some point out how Sunset's plan can be easily foiled by the princesses, Discord and more. Thing is, for all she knew, Celestia was the only one who'd be in her way, given she left WAY before the start of the show. Without the Element of Magic, the Mane Five would be toast as well. Not to mention how even then, her brainwashing could very well extend to the Princesses and all who oppose her.
- Sunset's age is questioned given that she clearly left before Twilight was discovered as a filly. With the mirror, she was changed into a human body so she could blend in with her environment and, given that it was a high school, she was given the body of a teenager. Not to mention, she could've forged her age when applying to school.
- Time may also pass differently between the two worlds so maybe 10-20 years in Equestria would be only a couple years in the human world.
- There are some fans who've voiced disappointment that the character Megan (the human friend of the G1 ponies) doesn't even make a cameo in the film. Only thing is, she does! In a roundabout way at least. If you look closely at the disguise Rarity tries on Twilight after Sunset Shimmer's smear video. Notice the blonde hair and frilled outfit? It's something very similar Megan's character design. It was actually a rather subtle and clever way to sneak in a cameo.
- In IDW's comics, Megan is also stated to attend/have attended in the high school on some fliers (and to have also visited Equestria, back in the Equestrian library's restricted section).
- The humans in this realm having bizarre skin coloration makes more sense when you remember that the original ponies didn't have realistic coat colors either.
- Something to realize about Sunset Shimmer's skin tone: Her skin is somewhat orange-yellow. Applejack and Fluttershy are orange and yellow, respectively. Applejack and Fluttershy represent Honesty and Kindness. How was Sunset first described by Princess Celestia? "She was a former student of [mine] who began her studies not long before Twilight did. However, when she didn't get what she desired as quickly as she'd liked, she turned cruel and dishonest" Cruel and dishonest, the exact opposite of Applejack and Fluttershy.
- As insensitive as it sounds, Spike becoming a dog might be because he is a different species than a pony. While that's the obvious bit, the next bit requires a little thought: Spike has been Twilight's confidant and assistant. You could even consider him to be one of her best friends. What are dogs known for being? Not to mention how he's treated throughout the series brings to mind a certain quote.
- An alternate idea is that: Spike, a bipedal creature, is reversed when he goes through the mirror, and becomes a quadruped. Twilight, a pony, goes through the mirror, and becomes the opposite: a biped.
- An alternate alternate idea: The main thing Spike contributes here is his loyalty. Do you know what other animals are known for their loyalty? Dogs!note
- Princess Celestia mentioned that if too many others accompanied twilight on her quest, it would upset the balance of the alternate universe. It could be argued that one extra being (in this case, Spike) caused a fluke in the transformation, and thus became a dog instead of a human.
- Additionally, Pinkie Pie mentions that there is a Twilight Sparkle human living in a separate town who owns a dog. Thus, pony Twilight is simply morphing into her human counterpart and likewise, Spike is merely changing into what AU!Spike already is.
- Also, if Spike had become a human child, Twilight carrying him around would make everyone think she was a teenage mother. Is that REALLY something parents would want their children to see?
- Or that he was her little brother.
- It would be unusual for the school to let her take a little boy with her, so she'd have to hide him, and it's easier to carry a puppy in your backpack than a child.
- Pony ages don't seem to be a direct translation to human ages so he may or may not be eligible for highschool. Cheerilee is implied to be the same age as Rarity, yet here she is part of the faculty, Photo Finish is an adult, yet here she's a high schooler. And while Spike is chronologically older than the CMC, he's considered a baby by dragon standards, so... who knows?
- Spike is Twilight's best friend, her first friend that wasn't significantly older than her, and the one who is always there for her, even when nopony else is. Naturally he'd be the creature nicknamed man's best friend. Spike's devotion to Twilight is also more dog-like than human-like; Owl's Well that Ends Well is a prime example of this. Dogs are often characterized as terrified of their owner abandoning them over the tiniest things (leaving the house, leaving them at the vet, getting another pet), and Spike spent the entire episode deathly afraid that Twilight didn't need him anymore, which as we learn in the Crystal Empire episodes, is his absolute worst fear. Spike is also shown to be the most concerned for Twilight at any given time (think of when he worried about Twilight failing the test Celestia gave her, or everything in Lesson Zero). Also, for added fridge brilliance, think of the Diamond Dogs, and what Spike has in common with them: attraction to Rarity (though the Diamond Dogs' was entirely unromantic), a deep, greedy love of gemstones, and a dislike for being clean. There's also the fact that Twilight, before she met the rest of the Mane Six, did not treat Spike as a friend so much as a pet assistant, and that's the point in life where actual human Twilight is in her life. Oh, and also, Spike-the-dragon does sleep in a dog basket in Twilight's room. Just... throwing that out there too. Though the most likely, if mundane, reason is simply the fact that Spike is a very common dog name, at least when it comes to media, so that's what the showrunners went with, and it has nothing to do with anything else but his name. note
- Spike is a dog. Dogs are known for their loyalty. Rainbow Dash is the Element of Loyalty. Remember those jokes from Return of Harmony, about Spike being the new Rainbow Dash?
- An alternate idea is that: Spike, a bipedal creature, is reversed when he goes through the mirror, and becomes a quadruped. Twilight, a pony, goes through the mirror, and becomes the opposite: a biped.
- A lot of people have been complaining about the movie's high school setting because the characters are being aged down. Twilight has already finished school and the Mane Six all have jobs and responsibilities high school girls really wouldn't have. At first, it looks like they're being made younger to appeal to the target audience more, except from what we've seen ponies develop much faster then humans. Pound and Pumpkin Cake said their first word at about a month old. The characters aren't being aged down, their ages are just being converted from pony to human years. Pony years don't convert in a linear way to human years. Them being at the same school also makes sense if you consider that in Real Life there is no universal schooling system, and in some places high school starts at age 12/13, which is around the CMC's canon age.
- A yearbook picture of the human Humane Five shows them to be about the same age as the CMC. Applejack mentions that it was a picture taken during the "Freshman Fair," so it's plausible that the Crusaders are first-year students at CHS.
- It could also be possible freshman could ninth grade, but still be a grades 6-12 school, which does happen in real life. It even does explain Sunset's time in the human world a bit since she could have arrived in 7th or 8th grade. Combined with the idea some of Sunset's three dance portraits could be from Spring Fling (likely Spring-Fall-Spring for least amount of time before the movie), it does allow Sunset to still be a sophomore or junior when this movie happens even with 3 dances.
- Another problem with this mostly-sound theory is Sunset Shimmer. She's about the same age as Shining Armor, who's a commissioned military officer in Equestria. Yet on "Earth" Sunset is the same grade as Twilight.
- Time may also pass differently between the two worlds so maybe 10-20 years in Equestria would be only a couple years in the human world which meant Twilght likely caught up with or maybe even surpassed Sunset in age by the time the first movie happens.
- Also you could say that the mirror makes sure that you blend in with your environment (not just Earth in general but the specific location like Canterlot High) which would be wise of the portal's creator. It lead to a High School so Twilight became a student by chance.
- It is worth noting that there is no real point of schools beyond elementary existing in Equestria (besides very specialized ones) when it's normal for a mark on your butt to tell you what your calling in life is by the time you hit puberty. So the pony and humans versions of the Mane Six can be the same ages but have one group be considered adults while the others still kids.
- A yearbook picture of the human Humane Five shows them to be about the same age as the CMC. Applejack mentions that it was a picture taken during the "Freshman Fair," so it's plausible that the Crusaders are first-year students at CHS.
- The mirror is said to open every 30 moons, or approximately every 2.5 years. The first two seasons of Friendship is Magic were 26 episodes each; the third was 13, half of the original season length. 1 + 1 + 0.5 = 2.5.
- Also, while it's not 30 years, the movie did come out during MLP's official 30th Anniversary.
- Social media and internet videos are not just a part of the setting, but they also actively reflect the principal characters' themes. Sunset Shimmer is shown to be particularly adept at breaking friendships and isolating others, and makes what is essentially a political attack ad to discredit, single out and humiliate Twilight. How do the Humane Six, using the same social media apparatus to respond, show everyone that Twilight is truly a fun, inclusive and cheerful friend of everyone? They organize a flash mob.
- Not to mention that Friendship Is Magic owes much of its success to Youtube, so including it in the movie was a given.
- Twilight's attempt to "gallop" as a human. Instead of what probably most humans would do if trying to run on all four, with their hands fully open and palms down (as one learns when crawling as a baby), Twilight runs with her fists balled up, knuckles down, effectively making her hand a hard "hoof" to run on.
- Knuckle-walking is how gorillas, orangutans and chimpanzees move when they need to hurry, but, according to The Theory of Evolution, said evolution made knuckle-walking impractical for humans. Twilight balls her fists to emulate a hoof several times throughout the movie, and it's clear that she has no idea what to do with her hands (i.e. "these things")—probably because she never learned the gestures that humans usually master around age five.
- Twilight's human counterpart never making an appearance initially seems like a nice way to keep the two from meeting, but it does make sense when Pinkie mentions that Twilight is off in another city. Twilight was the only one that wasn't part of the group originally, and only joined under Celestia's urging/trickery. In this universe, Celestia is a principal rather than god-princess, so unless Canterlot High is on par with Punahou it's pretty unlikely Twi would move just for the tutoring.
- Another theory could be that given Twilight's studious personality in Equestria, possibly making her the smartest pony in Ponyville, the human Twilight from the human world never appeared at the high school because she studied harder than others and skipped a grade or two. Probably even skipped high school or just went to a private and advanced academy by earning a scholarship.
- It's also a mechanism for if the series gets picked up. Human-Twilight transfers to Canterlot High, leading to a few "Oh hey, you look familiar" moments and then settling into the series proper, facilitating this series while ensuring Twilight Sparkle can still appear on the regular show. After all, TS was only there for three days, only the rest of the Humane Six would really notice any differences.
- As of Friendship Games, AU Twilight goes to Canterlot High. It's more like how Twilight moved to Canterlot eventually, AU Twilight is moving to Canterlot.
- At first it seems a bit odd that Twilight would risk cutting herself off from Equestria forever by calling Sunset's bluff. Then you realize Sunset couldn't have damaged the mirror; even if she tried to hit it with the sledgehammer, it would have just gone through the portal. Twilight called Sunset's bluff because she realized that SS couldn't carry out her threat, and then gave another reason (still fully true and such) to discourage her from finding another way.
- Twilight first meets Rarity when the later drags her into a room and begins trying to disguise her as a means of countering Sunset Shimmer's character assassination. At the time this is a bit puzzling since Rarity doesn't know Twilight yet. But later at after the climactic battle Rarity agrees to give the reformed Sunset a chance if she apologizes for the spring dance. That implies it was Rarity who was Sunset's last victim - which is why she jumped at the chance to help Twilight before they'd even properly met.
- In a roundabout sense, it also shows her Element of Harmony. It was very generous of her to give her what had to be (knowing Rarity) some expensive clothes to wear.
- Sunset Shimmer mentions that she soundly defeated the last girl who tried to compete with her at the Fall Formal. Per Word of God, it was Rarity. Still, Sunset Shimmer has won several times by now (there are at least three "winning" portraits of her in Celestia's office) so it's not implausible one of the other girls she defeated was Trixie. After all, she's using Snips and Snails as her minions and given what we know of their characters, they tend to be the flunkies of whatever pony/person bullied them last. Which, in the Equestria-universe, was Trixie.
- Twilight is not necessarily dumbfounded by the concept of a computer - but one that operates with a keyboard and via a monitor screen. From (at least) "Feeling Pinkie Keen", there are computer-like machines in Equestria (including those Twilight has used), but ones that likely run on punch cards and with visual output spat out by lights, dials, and lined paper.
- Which makes sense, since the Ponyverse's technology level is mostly pre-industrial, with some relatively advanced technology due to magic.
- The Genre Shift from Highscool UA to Magical Girls is a Fridge Brilliance when you consider that is something they have been doing regularly in FIM.
- If you strip away the fact they are in high school and the final confrontation, much of Twilight's tribulations on the human side reflect what one would expect to deal with as a leader - that is, she comes to realize by the end of the film that she has the leadership abilities she would need to rule Equestria because of what she overcame in the human world. Such trials include being attacked by political opponents and set up for defeat, dealing with conflict both within her trusted circle of friends and with the population of her realm (the school here), and putting trust in her friends to support her. We've seen Twilight conquer all these before pre-Princess, but this is, assuming no discontinuity from Magical Mystery Cure to this, the first time she's had to face it as a proper Princess. Of course, she didn't learn anything about flying while in the human world, so that's still left to be seen...
- Additionally, the film acts as a microcosm of Twilight's ordeals in the premiere of the series — thrust into a new world where she doesn't know anybody and doesn't know what's expected of her here. That she stays afloat on her own, thrives, and reunites the friends she knows, shows her character growth from the premiere when she wanted nothing to do with them.
- YMMV on this, but: when Celestia is giving us the exposition about Sunset Shimmer, she says something along the lines of how Sunset Shimmer used to be Celestia's student but she went bad. Taking that in hand, go back and watch Cutie Mark Chronicles from season 1, notably with Twilight's section. Celestia notices the huge magical outburst, and from the look on her face, thinks it's Sunset Shimmer acting out!
- That, or because Sunset is supposed to be gone by this point as she predated Twilight as Celetia's student and Twilight became her student that very day, she thinks it's Sunset returning.
- Sunset Shimmer clearly liked to screw with people, but she seemed to go out of her way to destroy the friendships of the human versions of the Mane Six. That sure would be a wise precaution to take if she thought there was even an outside chance that those five would be able to wield some version of the Elements of Harmony against her.
- Using the IDW short as a starting point, Sunset becomes fully aware of the Mirror's function and its opening cycle. We're also never told how many days the portal stays open - it could have been open for a week prior to the Mane Six arriving in the Crystal Empire. In any case, there's sufficent Beyond The Black time for Sunset to have planned ahead, crossed over to learn what's going on since she left, learning about Twi and the crown, and cross back to prepare the fake.
- The novelization states that the mirror is open three days, and that Sunset was lurking around the palace all day before Twilight came in, although the novel is so different from the completed film that it's probably not a good source of canon.
- Sunset's plan to control the school hinged on the different cliques not getting along. Since every member of the Humane Five was in a different clique, splitting them up was a necessity to prevent the students from uniting.
- Human Sunset Shimmer's shirt is purple. What's another color commonly identified with sunsets?
- And what do you call the time immediately after sunset?
- When attempting to frame Twilight for destroying the dance decorations, rather than using Photoshop or any equivalent, Snips and Snails simply cut Twilight out of physical photographs and pasted her into the new photos. Who could possibly have enough dexterity to cut a person out of a picture by hand so finely that the alteration isn't obvious? The one with the scissor cutie mark.
- It's not immediately clear why Principal Celestia took Twilight's crown and offered it up as the crown for the Fall Formal Princess. It's also not clear how Fluttershy knew that it didn't belong to Sunset Shimmer, or why Twilight didn't tell Celestia that the crown belonged to her and ask for it back... until you realize where Sunset Shimmer's replica came from.
- If you look closely, Human Fluttershy wears makeup. Why? Because it shows how she's possibly insecure with her looks.
- When Twilight first comes through the mirror and is transformed into a human she is fully clothed. It obviously wouldn't work for a kid's movie to have her come through naked, though it does seem very considerate for the mirror to whip up an outfit for her. Watching again though, Princess Luna gives her a pair of saddle bags just before she steps through. When she returns she is in a different outfit and comes back without the saddlebags. The mirror just changed the bags into a dress! (Though the Fall Formal dress apparently didn't change into anything when she crossed through.)
- The plot makes sense - it made a Genre Shift from a Slice of Life to a High School work. Idiot Ball and Adults Are Useless are huge parts of High School themed works.
- Rewatched the explanation of how Sunset broke up the HuMane 5. It seems like a typical case of Poor Communication Kills typically associated with teenage girls and often found in the original show. However upon closer examination, the situation was more than that. It hit the girls in their most prominent personality traits.
- Applejack asked Rainbow Dash to get the softball team to appear at her bake sale. Not one player from the softball team showed up and Applejack's pride was hurt because she looked like a liar to everyone. Applejack's honesty was put into question.
- Somebody told Rainbow Dash that Applejack's bake sale had been moved to a different date. Rainbow Dash and the softball team went instead on that date and thought Applejack canceled on them. Rainbow Dash's loyalty in a friend was crushed.
- Fluttershy held a silent auction for the animal shelter. However, it was all ruined when Pinkie Pie brought all sorts of noise makers to it. Fluttershy got hurt and felt that Pinkie Pie didn't take anything seriously. Fluttershy felt that Pinkie was being unkind.
- Pinkie Pie supposedly got a text from Fluttershy that said she wanted a big party, not a silent auction. So Pinkie Pie brought a lot of stuff to make it so. When Fluttershy reacted the way she did to Pinkie, she felt that Fluttershy was being a real meanie to her. Pinkie felt that Fluttershy didn't care for fun or laughter.
- When Rarity volunteered at a school function, she supposedly got emails from Pinkie Pie saying that she had plenty of volunteers. Rarity then found out later that Pinkie Pie did all the decorations for these events all by herself. Rarity felt her generosity was being spat at.
- Given the facts, it's no wonder they didn't talk things through or suspect anything. Sunset hit them at their core elements and they broke. This falls in line with the fan theory that ponies react badly when their core "special talent" fails them.
- The only two of the original five that seem to still tolerate each other at the start are Pinkie Pie and Applejack. Could be coincidence, but it could be that since their AU selves are both earth ponies who grew up on farms, they have a little something in common that keeps them from falling out completely.
- At first listen, "A Friend For Life" (The credits song) seems like something Twilight would sing, but listening closer to the first verse reveals that it is Sunset Shimmer instead (Part of the initial confusion may come from the fact that Sunset is voiced by Twilight's singing voice):I couldn't see what was right there in front of me
Turned my back and my mind off track, yeah
You saw a world, there was something new entirely
Helped me to see all the possibilities.- The first lyrics could very well be Twilight reminiscing about how she was before meeting the Mane Six and how much she changed because of it.
- The possibility of that song applying to the either of them, does highlight how similar the two of them are.
- A common complaint about the movie is that Twilight didn't just explain the whole thing to Principal Celestia. While Twilight does explain to Spike later that explaining that she is a pony princess from another world is a completely outrageous idea, it has been suggested that simply showing Spike, a talking dog, to Celestia would have been all the proof she needed. However upon giving better thought on it, this quick fix solution in reality would not only not work but might actually undermine Twilight. The problem is that Fluttershy in the previous scene, actually tells Twilight that she has to hide Spike in her backpack since the school has a "No Pets Allowed" rule hence why Fluttershy keeps her own animal friends hidden. So before Twilight can show a talking dog to prove she is not a crazy person, she has to show or at least mention she has a dog to the principal of a school with a "No Pets Allowed" rule. An act that at worse might get Twilight banned altogether from the school.
- Of course, even if she saw Spike speak, it's easy to see her being jaded enough to stubbornly disbelieve Twilight's story. It would be something like this "Ventriloquism is not a shortcut to the Fall Formal crown".
- She believed her enough to call in the cavalry.
- A talking dog might prove that Twilight isn't crazy and hint at the existence of magic, but it doesn't prove that Twilight is from another universe or, most importantly, that the tiara belongs to her. Twilight has no evidence that it's hers, which is why she needs to win it fairly. Though, she might have been able to claim it if she'd brought the replica and explained that they'd gotten mixed up but then she would have to state how they are different which would lead back to the pony-magic thing.
- People point out how Sunset intends to bring brainwashed teens into her world where'd they'd be overpower by the Princesses and even Discord. Those same people forget what she did to Snips and Snails and what she could do to her army. And even then, would Celestia be able to risk harming others being controlled against their will?
- Though Sunset may've implied that her Demonic form was intentional, you could interpret her words as wanting to use the Element of Magic only but it (seemingly) retaliated against her dark nature, manifesting it as her Demonic form. Going by her transformation and her tears, that little tidbit caught her by surprise.
- There's also the possibility her demon form drove her insane. She clearly lost track of the positive qualities she had, such as not wanting to kill Spike but being willing to do so later. Her plans might simply have come from being driven mad.
- Speaking of the Element of Magic, Sunset wasn't really using it so much as wearing it. When Twilight was in danger from Sunset and it shielded her, still recognizing her as its true bearer in a semi-sentient manner. And, being a combination of all the other five elements (Friendship is Magic, remember) and recognizing the Mane Five's human counterparts, it distributed said elements to their (humanized) bearers, even giving them equine traits as they each knew them as.
- Alternatively, Twilight is finding her place as the alicorn goddess of Magic and is able to control the magic through raw power and divine right.
- The IDW comic reveals that Sunset Shimmer wanted more than anything to be a princess of Equestria, but Celestia knew she wasn't ready and refused. That's why she makes herself princess of the Fall Formal every year in the human world — to fill the void of the position she could not have in her homeland. She makes herself a princess the only way she knows how, by manipulating and lying instead of learning about friendship.
- Adding onto this, the comics also imply that Celestia is grooming Sunset Shimmer to be a princess, but refuses to go forward with her lessons due to Sunset's obvious attitude problems. But, Sunset Shimmer is convinced that she is destined for greatness, perhaps to be as great as Celestia. The thing is, look at Sunset Shimmer's cutie mark — it's a star-shaped sun. And she's the student of the Princess of the Sun. Remember all those fan theories about how a pony would cope with not being able to live up to the special talent that their cutie mark represents? If Sunset Shimmer really was convinced by her position and cutie mark that she was destined to be Celestia's equal, it throws her obsessive behavior, hatred for Twilight, and her desire to conquer Equestria into a new light.
- Another factor to think about is how Twilight ascended. The Elements. It's entirely possible that Sunset's original plan before going insane was to become an Alicorn and return to Equestria like THAT, but her inner darkness corrupted her, resulting in her demon form.
- Billy Joe Cobra makes a cameo in this movie because he just wanted some attention while his show was on hiatus.
- Episode 41 even explains how everyone could see him.
- If you look closely during part of the film, you'll see a portion where Sunset Shimmer actually has a few pictures of herself winning the crown three years in a row, with the first looking more sweet and innocent and has a nice smile on her face while the crown is smaller and more humble, the second with her dressed more elaborately with a larger crown but also looking more smug, and the third the most elaborate, the biggest crown, and looking tyrannical. These may hint that Sunset Shimmer isn't naturally as mean as she acts during the film, showing how her need to be on top slowly corrupted her. It's quite possible the smile she shows in the first picture is genuine, that she saw life in the EQG universe as a fresh start for her and legitimately won that year's crown on her own merit, only turning to manipulation and character assassination when her massive sense of entitlement couldn't take having to give it up to someone else or go through the trouble of winning it again.
- Flash Sentry's sudden and immediate appearance with the evidence to clear Twilight of Sunset's faked charges seems contrived until you realize that he used to be Sunset's boyfriend, and probably knows exactly how she operates.
- Also, in addition to that: a lot of people who watched the movie complained about how that problem was resolved too quickly, with only a couple minutes from the dance being found destroyed to Twilight getting her name cleared. That's because it wasn't supposed to be a subplot about Twilight being accused; it was supposed to be a subplot about the dance decorations being destroyed and the school having to come together to fix it! It has the added of wrinkle of forcing Twilight to come clean to her new friends about her past so they understand the urgency. Twilight being accused was only added to avoid the plothole of nobody questioning who destroyed the decorations, and we all know Sunset would try to get Twilight accused of it.
- Also, in addition to that: another complaint was how the human world had computers and modern technology, yet the incriminating photos were just two photographs cut up and glued together. Why not use a computer to alter the pictures? Two possible reasons. The first is that it's implied that it was Snips and Snails who did the photos, not Sunset, and... well, they're not the sharpest knives in the drawer. The second is that, even if Sunset was the one to do the pictures, she couldn't risk working with them in the school library because someone might see her. And she couldn't work on them at home or somewhere else, because it's the same day and she couldn't just ditch school. (Well, she could, but in a scenario like this, she might not want to risk getting caught and therefore getting detention.)
- Also, in addition to that: The incriminating photos were cut and glued rather well. Snips was one of the people working on that. His cutie mark as a pony is a pair of scissors, so take that as you will.
- While Sunset's Heel Realization seems to come out of nowhere, when you think about it, it makes sense. Sunset outright said she never had any intention of hurting Spike at all; these qualities help show that Sunset, although already guilty of several horrible misdeeds, isn't fully Beyond Redemption. However, her demon form reveals ALL of her hidden pride and hostility and, with her true emotions exposed for all to see, her unholy form tried to outright kill Twilight and the group, and her transformation has tears streaming down her face instead of victorious cackling. Her demon form was that bad of a person, the logical extreme of Sunset's personality, something she hadn't counted on. And when defeated by the Elements, Sunset is returned to sanity and realizes how bad a person she could be. She saw her inner evil manifest and didn't like what she saw.
- Her demon form may have been the human-equivalent of a Nightmare.
- Adding to the above, remember that part of the reason Celestia treated Sunset as she did was she realized Sunset's lust for power and where it'd lead. When she was returned to sanity by the Elements, Sunset had just seen the monster Celestia had been afraid of her becoming and might have realized Celestia was right.
- Between the two extremes of Pinkie Pie's Entertainingly Wrong assertion that Twilight is psychic and her later, 100% accurate "hunch" about Twilight's big secret, there's a brilliant moment that showcases just how warped Pinkie's mind actually is. She's apparently encountered the human world's versions of Twilight and Spike - and interacted with them enough that she knows Spike's name - but she doesn't ask Twilight if they've met before, she asks if Twilight has a twin sister who has a dog just like hers. The possibility that this is the same girl never occurs to her. She's Too Dumb to Fool and too brilliant to mistake someone for someone else just because they happen to be identical.
- Pinkie Pie met original human Twilight Sparkle before. There's no reason to assume she's lying or being insane at that moment or as many fans like to put it, "being Pinkie Pie". People are confused because logically, if you were to meet someone who looked identical to the other person including having the same dog, you would assume they're the same people rather than twins. When they met, human Twilight must've told her the name of her dog. Pinkie Pie being Pikie Pie, she asked her a bunch of seemingly random questions and came to the conclusion that human Twilight has some connection to the pony world. Why? She's seemingly psychic and Insane Troll Logic. Her "hunches" are never wrong, after all.
- According to this post, Sunset Shimmer's Cutie Mark represents the special talent of accomplishing and exceeding her goals. That would explain everything: her fantastic magical abilities back in Equestria are what an unicorn whose special talent is complete and total success has by definition; her awesome ego comes from her knowing nothing but success; her Face–Heel Turn is the result of an epic Cutie Mark Failure Insanity Syndrome born of not progressing as fast as she would have wanted and getting a most ambitious goal (becoming an Alicorn) only for her mentor to flat-out tell her she couldn't do it; and her Heel–Face Turn in the end came from seeing why she couldn't become an Alicorn and accepting she couldn't succeed at everything. The last part would also mean all of this could have been avoided by just bringing Sunset to a therapist... But we already know There Are No Therapists in Equestria from Twilight's issues (assuming of course that Sunset would have accepted it, given her ego).
- Human Pinkie's comments about Twilight being psychic may seem silly, but considering Twilight uses telekinesis normally, this is correct as it's considered a psychic power.
- Ever noticed the order in which Twilight says the Elements' names when she and her new friends are about to defeat Sunset Shimmer? It's Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty and Magic – the same order in which they manifested before defeating Nightmare Moon.
- Ever wondered why ponies have technologies such as scissors and typewriters, which are clearly designed for human hands and not hooves? Well, the mirror is your answer! This also explains why despite the ponies having such technology, they aren't really advanced enough to invent computers and electronics: they're not sure how any of the stuff works. All they know is how to mass-produce them and copy them, likely through magic. Also, magic is probably a factor in why they haven't advanced so much.
- Towards the end of the film, it starts to become really obvious that Sunset Shimmer's "plan" is little more than a hastily put together temper tantrum. Breaking up the HuMane Five was done mostly out of spite for their failed friendship instead of any actual strategy and after her plot with the Fall Formal fails, she resolves to just kidnap Spike (who she would never hurt) and break the doorway to Equestria. Then when that fails, she freaks out and then just tries to beat up Twilight so she can take the crown. All because Sunset's not a supervillain, she's just a very angry and emotionally unstable woman that wanted a piece of her old life back. She never intended to hurt anybody because she's a naturally a good person and she never performs any real, lasting villainy until the crown corrupts her and even then the scheme she cooks up is so bad it would never even work since she tries to march over an army of teenagers to take over the land of magical horses.
- Go back and watch the very first scenes - before Twilight sets hoof in ponyville - and observe her behavior. Twilight is shown to be startlingly unfriendly with Spike, seems to be more concerned with being right than the possible fate of Equestria, is briefly implied to hold herself above her peers and above all, she is arrogant. Her attitude in these few scenes strongly reminds one of Sunset Shimmer: just how close did Twilight come to becoming a second Sunset Shimmer?
- Keep in mind, though, that Celestia said that Sunset Shimmer turned nasty because she wasn't getting what she wanted from her apprenticeship. Twilight, however, was exactly where she wanted to be, and doing exactly what she wanted to do. Sunset Shimmer wanted power, but Twilight just wanted to be a good student. To be fair, it has been shown that this drive can have unfortunate consequences, she never does anything out of malice like Shimmer does.
- Furthermore, Twilight's behavior stems less from arrogance and more from the fact that she finds her studies more important than friends. And she does care about the fate of Equestria, and that's why she cares so much about being right. She's annoyed about being told to make friends since, well, that does seem unimportant compared to the prospect of eternal night. She was a bit brusque and demanding with Spike, but it was likely due to her being preoccupied and driven than anything else. Not to mention that she was polite enough to stay and eat with the Apples when she absolutely didn't have to and that she apologized for scaring Fluttershy's birds away. Being asocial doesn't automatically mean you are a jerk. Give Twilight some credit.
- To add to the above, when she first arrives in Ponyville the first thing she does is thank the guards who pulled her chariot. Even though she's a bit of a recluse she knows to be Nice to the Waiter.
- She actively tried to make friends with Fluttershy, she was nice to Apple Bloom, realized she was being short with Dash and attempted to calm down and be more reasonable, etc. Plus, to me at least, she came off as more shy around those other students than arrogant.
- Sort of Meta-fridge horror here, but at one point of the movie, Sunset Shimmer got Snips and Snails to record Twilight trying to get used to her new human body and then uploading the results to Youtube to humiliate her. The fridge horror lies in the fact that we're essentially doing the same thing with our pony videos.
- The human universe has a Twilight somewhere. How's the video affecting her? Especially if she's running for Princess of the Fall Formal in her school?
- The Element of Magic, the tiara Twilight uses to harness the Power of Friendship ends up corrupting Sunset Shimmer, turning her into a demon and leads to her brainwashing the other students and turning Snips and Snails into demons too. Yes, we can say that it is maybe due to her being the improper bearer and Twilight shows that she can still use the Element's true power even with Sunset wearing it, but the Element of Magic was able to corrupt another person. It makes the Elements of Harmony sound a lot more frightening if placed in the wrong hands.
- I think it's more of a "power corrupts" or "brings out the true you" thing. Sunset Shimmer just wanted the power it gives, and was willing to force it out by cutting it off from the other elements. If just putting it on could do that to anyone not Twilight, why did she not just put it on in Twilight's bedroom? Perhaps in the absence of the other elements, Magic, which seems to be the keystone of the six, merely poured its power into sunset. What happened when it did so was all her own desires taking form now that she had that power. Twilight takes pride in being a powerful magician, but she doesn't have any truly negative desires, and really doesn't want too much more from her life than she already has. Hell, just being a princess is both much more than she ever expected, and than she's really comfortable with.
- In fact, this might be just because Sunset activated the Element of Magic without the others. If we envision frienship as a Relationship, what is a relationship in which you are not honest with, feel no loyalty towards, do not show kindness to, do not share laughter and joy with and are not generous towards the other party? That is an all take, no give Relationship: a relationship of domination. And what's the personality power of domination? Mind control.
- The whole idea of a widely known as good artifact like the Element of Magic or the other Elements as shown in Friendship Games and Legend of Everfree also being able to corrupt used to be frightening. It's also safe to say that they're more neutral forces than good, as nearly all magic tends to be.
- If all of Twilight's friends have human counterparts, as do Twilight herself and Spike, in the human world, then Sunset Shimmer must have her own counterpart, as well. But what happened to her? What did pony Sunset Shimmer do with human Sunset Shimmer?
- She might not live in the same place, same as Twilight. Still concerning, though, given that Sunset has had at least two and a half years to think of this issue and explore the... possibilities.
- To be fair, the only pony counterpart Sunset Shimmer would likely recognize is Principal Celestia, with Luna imprisoned as Nightmare Moon and forgotten behind that legend and just about all the other CHS counterparts either living in Ponyville or otherwise outside her experience. One similar person is more easily explained as coincidence rather than assuming everybody has a counterpart.
- If human Sunset is out there, she's probably unfriendly at best. The experiences that caused pony Sunset to turn over a new leaf would never have happened to her, and so she would likely have remained cruel, manipulative, and power-hungry. In the time since the Fall Formal, she may have even gotten worse. If so, hopefully the Sunsets will never meet; pony Sunset's heart might break from finding out that human Sunset is exactly who she fought so hard to not be any more.
- She might not live in the same place, same as Twilight. Still concerning, though, given that Sunset has had at least two and a half years to think of this issue and explore the... possibilities.
- Leave it to high school to turn Fluttershy's shyness into this. Pony Fluttershy already had to deal with a lot of crap througth her life, including bullying. But Human Fluttershy had to suffer it even longer! Whereas Pony Fluttershy could rely on the Mane Six to help her with bullies and/or just go back home if she faces a bully, Human Fluttershy had no way out. She couldn't leave the school, Sunset Shimmer (and probably other bullies) may have intimidated her into remaining silent, and her friends have splitted off thanks to Sunset. And, whereas is not that likely Pony Fluttershy would have met bullies every day of her life (or at least her adult life), Human Fluttershy was quite more likely to find bullies every day at school. Hadn't Twilight come, would it have been shocking that she would have been Driven to Suicide?
- So Twilight clearly got a hamburger at the cafeteria to blend in with the rest of the lunch crowd. Let's hope she never finds out what's inside a burger, shall we? (hint: veggie burgers aren't green.)
- Why would she need to never find out? Not only there is a lot of hints MLP ponies are omnivores, real life horses are perfectly capable of eating a burger, too. Horses are not cows, it's irritating how many people get this wrong. As for Fluttershy being vegetarian, not only she sees no problem in feeding live animals to other animals (show) or finds predator attacking and devouring prey 'fascinating' (comics), she also keeps chicken to sell eggs (and possibly for meat for her predators), so she clearly has no problems with the idea and is nowhere near squickable Prone to Tears a lot of fans paint her as. If she is vegetarian, it's purely on preference, not default state.
- Have y'all forgotten Applejack rounding up cows and sheep in earlier episodes?
- Said cows and sheep demonstrated the capacity for speech, so they're sapient and have equal rights in Equestrian society to ponies, donkeys, mules, and (at least in Spike's case) dragons. That said, the cows probably provide milk and sheep probably provide wool, though perhaps with their vocal consent rather than how we humans do it.
- Twilight Sparkle is roommates with Spike and has a pet owl. Owlowiscious is said in the show to be a carnivore. While eating a cow might be disturbing until she finds out that they aren't sapient beings, Twilight Sparkle is not a stranger to people eating meat.
- Sort of more in the Fridgejerker department, but there's the fact that Human Flash Never Got to Say Goodbye to Twilight.
- Another "Fridge Tearjerker:" The CMC are still best friends, even when the HuMane Five are angry at each other. Applebloom and Sweetie Bell are the little sisters of Applejack and Rarity, two girls who are angry with each other and are close to outright hating each other. Now, clearly it hasn't affected their friendship, but just imagine what it's like to be best friends with someone, and then both your relatives begin to despise one another. Even if they weren't told to stop being friends, it must have been horrible to go
- Keeping in mind Sunset Shimmer's actions, rewatching Lesson Zero adds a subtle element of horror when Celestia arives: as angry as she sounds, she was probably assuming that Twilight had started down the same path as Sunset Shimmer (Twilight had just Mind Raped half of Ponyville, albiet accidentally) and was prepared to fight her most beloved pupil, possibly to the death, to protect Equestria from danger.
- What if Twilight had eaten some chocolate? It's different stuff from Equestria's, due to differences in biochemistry. Would the Mirror have eliminated any poisonous substances, or would Twilight have needed urgent medical attention?
- We've seen ponies eat a number of foods that equines at best, have trouble digesting, and at worst, are outright toxic to them (Twilight's daffodil and dandelion sandwich from Ticket Master, or the quince Pinkie Pie offers Spike in Owls Well That Ends Well). It would seem that our pastel ponies are made of sterner stuff than horses in the real world. Either that, or Ponyville's restaurants and bakeries are actively trying to kill their patrons.
- We see Derpy drinking directly from a chocolate fountain in Pinkie Pride. Unless that's the canonical reason for her derping, pretty sure Equestria ponies are not affected by chocolate. Also, Gustave Le Grande and Mulia's entry for a baking contest where the judge was Princess Celestia involved judicious amounts of chocolate, so unless they were foreign assassins, chocolate probably doesn't have any negative effect on them.
- Let's just bring up the fact that the Element of Magic caused Sunset Shimmer to go mad with power. The Element of Magic, Twilight's element that embodies friendship just turned someone into a fireball-lobbing demon which nearly killed its previous wearer. We should probably be glad that Twilight chucked them into the Tree of Harmony, otherwise we would have had an Equestria version of Midnight Sparkle.
- Good thing Sunset never followed up on her threat to smash the portal back to Equestria and just gave up. Considering how the rest of the FIM series would go, it's safe to say that without Twilight Sparkle and the Element of Magic, Equestria would have been destroyed multiple times over.
