Title:           headcanon dump
Author:          Anonymous
Pastebin link:   http://pastebin.com/XDiwtuv5
First Edit:      Thursday 22nd of October 2015 01:59:04 PM CDT
Last Edit:       Thursday 22nd of October 2015 01:59:04 PM CDT

The more I really think about this, the more it’s evident that… we can debate all we want, but in the end it’s all subjective anyway. Which is actually a good thing, as it leads to all kinds of story ideas. The writers gave us only so much “canon” to work with - and in varying degrees with the 4 girls.
 
Sunset has had a focal role in all three movies so far, so the writers have given us a quite a bit to go on. The Dazzles were the antagonist role in just one of those three. And even then, they weren’t given much depth beyond what was necessary to advance the plot. Adagio got the most, I think, and then Aria the least. But still nothing close to Sunset in any regard.
 
So all of those gaps beyond their canon characterization are going to be filled in by headcanon, which by nature is heavily influenced by personal taste.
 
 
On to my take on the similarities though:
 
While Sunset wasn’t forcibly driven from home like Starswirl did, she felt forced to leave as a result of her actions (I’m using that first comic as reference) - for fear of being locked up (even if unfounded) and then feeling prevented from reaching the glory she truly deserved. Your take may vary on this, but it’s how I see her.
 
Dazzlings were driven out against their will, yes, but still as a result of their actions. Both of these sets of actions were driven by pride and a lust for power and adoration.
 
Right after the end of the first movie, I imagine Sunset felt very trapped and shattered. At this moment in her development, I think she feels she’s lost a lot more than just three years of scheming. And it’s at this point in her growth that we’d need to compare her to Adagio right after RR. Sure, Twilight told the others to try helping her, but... this isn’t “home” is it? Cut off from everything she knew. How could she possibly go back after everything she’d done. Felt trapped here forever now. Without her magic. Shell of her former self.
 
I’d imagine Adagio in a similar shattered-shell and trapped mindset. Without her voice/magic, who was she? No way to get home. Stuck here in this human form after a heavy fall from pride. I agree her loss is a bit heavier and more severe than Sunset’s, so it’d take her a lot longer to pull out of it. But I’d think they’re both stuck in a similar place during those first few weeks after being shattered. Going from everyone around them eating out of their hands, so to speak, to being alone and powerless.
 
And so if there’s anyone who could “get” what Adagio is feeling, it’d be Sunset, by having been there herself (again, yes it wasn’t as severe, but there’s still some shared experience here). None of the others could even come close to understanding what Adagio is going through. And so, my take is that Adagio would (even if begrudgingly) see Sunset as a singular source of legitimate empathy when Sunset inevitably offers it to her the next time their paths cross. Sunset had the others to pull her up. So she’d at least try to do the same for Adagio and the others, given the chance.
 
Conversation ensues. Talk of ambitions and pride. Of home. Of where they are now. And of how to move forward from that lowest point in their respective memories. The path Sunset has taken from the end of EQG1 to the end of RR hasn’t been easy, but she’d talk about where it’s led her to now. And that despite everything they’ve both been through, this “better place” really is a thing, if Adagio is open to looking for it.
 
But see - this all depends on filling in the gaps in Adagio’s characterization with an eventual desire to move on and find some happiness, even if she’s in denial about it at first. Another viewer could go 180 and have her remain a bitter hardass who’s still bent on “power or die”. There’s no right answer here, as it’s all personal taste. I just don’t see this latter path as ending in any sort of true contentment for the three of them. And I would like to see my Dazzles happy when all’s said and done.