@Scrounge  
Exactly, and either way to forgive or be forgiven is too minor and specific to be an overall nature.
 
The ability to forgive others is too circumstancial based on different moralities, or, If taken to the extreme to forgive everyonev is incredibly dumb
 
The flipside, the ability to be forgiven or desire forgiveness, is not exclusive to anyone who makes a mistake. And if THAT is taken to the extreme, that one recieves forgiveness easily withough effort is a horribly written character.
 
Forgiveness is what she seals to a degree.
 
Empathy is how she seeks it and every other aspect of her life.

@Joseph Raszagal  

 
Pardon the necro, but wouldn’t having the Element of Forgiveness imply that she’s forgiving, as in she forgives others?

Sorry if this is a bit of a necropost, but he basically confirmed it 100%  
https://twitter.com/ishiH3Art/status/809622290967080962

@Cirrus Light  
I was trying to ignore it because it’s basically her superpower now, but as Goku once said, “Yeh”.
 
I MEAN, HOW HARD IS IT TO BE LESS OBVIOUS THAN GOKU? GONGRATS ON BEING SO RIDICULOUSLY STUPID THAT YOU WOULD TECHNICALLY FAIL AN IQ test.

@Joseph Raszagal  
And there was that whole thing in Everfree when she could touch somepony and become an empath or read their memories or something like that.

I do think that Sunset’s “element” would be akin to empathy. After all, an Element like “forgiveness” would imply a lot of things, a great deal of them nasty; and while she did do something really, really bad (you know, like trying to raise an army to take over an alternate world), it also implies that she’s had to be forgiven over and over again.
 
And if that were the case, well, why forgive her at all? If someone’s going to screw up nonstop, possibly in violent ways, you should probably just stop forgiving them entirely.
 
While she showed absolutely no signs of empathy during her brief run as a villain, she’s taken great strides since then and displayed a strong compassion for those around her. Particularly, when Human!Twilight transformed and had to be coaxed down from her madness, Sunset implicitly told her that there was a better way. She knew that there was a better way because she had been in (Crazy)Human!Twilight’s proverbial shoes before.
 
She empathized.
 
Then there’s the scene while they were at Camp Everfree (still a great name for a camp, and yes, I’m sticking by that even if it were in our world) where she tells Human!Twilight that magic hadn’t worked out well for her the first time either; that she herself had become a demon too. She basically admitted what she’d done and stated that magic itself wasn’t an evil force; it’s how you use your magic that counts.
 
I love that scene. I pretty much love all of the Sunset and Human!Twilight scenes.
 
What I’m getting at, and I know that I’m both saying it outright - and - beating around the bush at the same time, is that I totally get the whole “Sunset is the Element of Empathy” thing. I think it really works, especially with the scenes we’ve been given. In all honesty, and it feels super weird to say it, but she’s probably my favorite character in the Equestria Girls movies.
 
She was a villain, but she’s tried hard to be better than that. To better herself and help those around her. To understand those around her.
 
And, personally, I think she’s succeeded. Good on ya, Sunset. You did that dangerous thing that most of us are way too afraid to do… You tried to better yourself.
 
If anybody disagrees, that’s completely cool. This is just how I feel. And honestly, drunk as I am, I feel really, really good right now. I might just toke up to feel even better in a minute. Try not to judge me too harshly for it, you mothers from the 1950s.
 
Thanks for letting me talk and vent and whatever-the-heck I’ve been doing.
 
Always remember, movies and shows exist so audiences can have fun. The creators hope you’re having fun while watching them. And, if I’m lucky and the stars have aligned just right… then maybe you’ve had fun tonight. I hope you did.

@AquaDrop  
Wow, what an argument. Bravo.

AJ - Honesty, others were honest to her.  
Fluttershy - Kindness, others are kind to her.  
Pinkie - Laughter, others laugh at her.  
Rainbow Dash - Loyalty, others are loyal to her.  
Rarity - Generosity, others gave her stuff.  
Twilight - Magic, others used magic on her.
 
I hope you see now that this whole Forgiveness thing doesn’t work at all and while you are free to think whatever you want, it’s made up nonsense. Sunset does not represent any element.

I hope the Ponyville Five one day decide to go against Twilight’s wishes and jump into the mirror to meet their counterparts (so that something crazy happens when the Rainbow Power interacts with the EG!Eyes of Heaven. >:3 )

WDC since you’ve doing hell of damage control to separate the 2 world

@Chuy-kun  
Sunset was born in Equestria, Celestia was convinced Sunset could be her successor before Twilight, Celestia and Luna never learned about the 7th element or how all 7 together are in a league of its own, and Sunset is a resident of both words.
 
That, along with her cutie mark, and its possible she’s the 7th of both worlds. Empathy does sound like a bridging element after all….
 
They’ve already declared EG canon, which means they can basically declare EG canon with FiM at any time they want.

The fandom has long speculated that Sunset Shimmer could represent either Empathy or Forgiveness. With this tweet from Ishi Rudell, along with an earlier panel discussion by Meghan McCarthy, it is confirmed that Sunset Shimmer represents Empathy. This illustrated Sunset Shimmer’s character development from Rainbow Rocks to Legend of Everfree.
 
That has got me thinking about Starlight Glimmer, despite her mixed reception among the fandom. Given her redemption arc in Season Six (and possibly next season…), could Starlight Glimmer potentially represent Forgiveness? Not only did Starlight Glimmer have to earn forgiveness from the Mane Cast and the inhabitants of Our Town, she also had to learn to forgive herself for what she did in the past.
 
Sunset Shimmer = Empathy  
Starlight Glimmer = Forgiveness (?)

again…called it and it was obvious since Rainbow Rocks…seven colors in a rainbow…Rainbow and Harmony are seven letter words…Sunset is basically the original Twilight…Red is the only color besides green ever missing from the harmony rainbow(not counting the fact that Equestria Rainbow Dash has a red jewel because her aura is blue) So now we have the 7 elements of harmony: Magic, Laughter, Honesty, Generosity, Loyalty, Kindness & Empathy…at least in the human world…now there is just need for a 7th in Equestria Cough Cough Starlight Glimmer Element of Justice Cough Cough

Headcanon is canon.

@Ponyko  
At no point has anypony told you truth and opinion are separate concepts, I presume. <_<

@Background Pony #B0E3  
Clearly we are going to have to disagree on this point.

@Ponyko  

 
Actually, reaching out to others is the key to the entire movie continuity. Knowing when others need you to step up feels a bit more consistent to empathy than forgiveness.

@Dustcan  
I respect your opinion, but disagree on both points.  

@Background Pony #FABB  

Wait, is Sunset Shimmer being written out of the EqG storyline after this movie?

@Background Pony #7DD0
 
No the events are canon as they’re affecting Twilight and she learned from them. She never said the events were directly canon.

@Background Pony #FABB  
Meghan McCarthy stated that the movies do not impact the events of FiM as in you won’t see anything that takes place in the mirror world in Equestria. It’s been that way since the first movie so whatever characters or events in this film are insignificant to the show.  
However Meghan did state that the events are canon. So it’s not so much non canon as much as it’s canon G4 events ignored by the show

@Ponyko
 
Two problems with the whole “Element of Forgiveness” or “Redemption” headcanons:
 

Whether they’re “elements” or not hardly matters since Equestria Girls is heading toward firmly being non-canon in FiM anyway, with the latter series all but saying it never happened given some of the comments this season.
 
Plus this movie was the first one to have no real ties to Equestria aside from the magic. At this point I don’t ever expect to see any pony characters or Equestria again.

I’ve said it before, and I’m gonna say it again, to me personally Sunset Shimmer should be the Element of Forgiveness! Why is this so hard for people to grasp, She was forgiven in the first movie, she forgave herself in the second movie, she forgave twilight in the third movie. What more is there to say, being able to forgive someone is vastly more important in a friendship than empathy. Empathy is part of forgiveness, you get no where just empathising with people who have vexed you.
 
¬_¬ tldr: Sunset Shimmer is the Element of Forgiveness! anything else is just silly.

@Chuy-kun  
Where? On EqG~~”Earth”. Who? Sunset Shimmer.
 
The real questions are where is the EqG~~”Earth” Element of Empathy, and will having two Elements of Empathy in one dimension and none in another throw anything out of balance?