”What if when they find out just how different I really am...?”
- Princess Celestia's tone when she describes why the mirror was kept in the Throne Room of Canterlot Castle. Every day, she'd look at the mirror, hoping that Sunset Shimmer would return, that a pony she took under her wing would walk out of it and come home seeking her guidance. When she says, "Obviously, this is not what has happened," you can hear the resignation in her voice, almost as if failing to keep Sunset Shimmer on the path of Harmony was second only to the Nightmare Moon incident as her greatest failure.
- This is made all the more noticeable in Sunset Shimmer's Origin Story in the comics.
- A milder example in the "Strange New World" sequence. Sure, it's funny seeing Twilight try to get used to her new body, but the poor girl's in a situation out of a nightmare, and it shows: if you look at how she holds herself throughout the sequence, particularly in the beginning, she's completely terrified. And for good reason; she's trapped in an alien world, in a body she can barely keep standing upright and has none of the powers that she's relied on for her entire life, she's surrounded by these lanky, bipedal...creatures, and barring Spike, she's completely alone. She can't even contact the other five. And the icing on the cake is that she's on a strict time limit to boot: if she screws up, she's stuck there. She won't be able to get back to Equestria for at least two years. She'll be trapped in this "strange new world".
- Flash Sentry being seemingly rejected by Twilight. In reality, Twilight is reacting to the fact that the Fall Formal has been moved past the Celestial Deadline, but her reaction ("Nononononono..."), comes right after Flash asks her to the Fall Formal. On top of that, this is also right after Flash helped clear Twilight's name after Sunset framed her for the mess in gym. His reaction says it all:Flash: One "no" would have been fine...
- Human Fluttershy at the start of the movie. Since the Humane Six had had a falling out prior to Twilight's arrival, Fluttershy appears to have been left completely alone. The first time we see her, she's being cornered and viciously bullied by Sunset Shimmer. Luckily, Twilight swoops in to tell Sunset off. Then we see a flashback to that morning wherein Fluttershy is trying to recruit volunteers for the animal shelter and is completely ignored by the crowd of students. It's a totally stereotypical scenario, and yet it's still so heartbreaking to see Fluttershy in high school.
- It doesn't help that her reaction to being ignored is curling up, burying her face, hugging her knees and crying, completely shattering the sadly quite prevalent idea that shy or introverted people don't want attention or company.
- And to make it worse, she has no one to help her feel better. She break up with the only friends she had at the school. And someone like Fluttershy mustn't be alone. Specially in high school.
- Finally learning just what drove a wedge between the Humane Six. Its already a somber moment due to Twilight's recent humiliation by Sunset, but then Rarity accuses Fluttershy and Pinkie of constantly insulting her dresses and designs. Things escalate when Fluttershy accuses Pinkie of ruining her silent auction for the animal shelter with her partying, which in turn causes Pinkie to accuse Fluttershy of misinforming her about what kind of event she wanted. And Twilight is caught in the middle, forced to watch these versions of her best friends spew such hateful words at each other.
- How Sunset broke up the friendships that all of us have come to see as unbreakable, simply by way of a few fake e-mails and stolen phones. The real tearjerking part is that it can very easily happen to one of us.
- As Twilight returns to Equestria through the portal, human Pinkie Pie tries to go after her only to run smack into the statue when the portal closes. As she gets up, Pinkie says "Bummer." She and the rest of the Humane Five have a dejected look on their face, looking like they're lost without Twilight. They've barely gotten to know her, and already have to watch her go.
- Sunset Shimmer's Villainous Breakdown. The fact that she doesn't go back with Twilight is also rather tragic — it implies she doesn't want to face Celestia. Combine it with the first entry on this page and it just reeks of Poor Communication Kills.
- Not to mention what happens during her transformation; a sharp eyed viewer can see tears streaming down her face just before she turns into a demon. Either she was losing her mind, very scared, very regretful, or very much in pain. Or all of them.
- When Twilight sees a zombified Flash Sentry, she gets a brief expression of heartbreak on her face.
