@Grinning Cheshire  
Good call. I wound up a part of it, and it still weirds me out a little.

…. I’m just going to favorite this and leave… The comments scare me.

“This is downright silly. If anything, the Equestrians are pony-shaped humans.”
 
How is that silly? That is literally what the theme of Equestria Girls is. The pony characters as humans, complete with a facsimile of their society as rendered in a faux high school microcosm, minus magic.
 
“It’s completely apparent that neither is the case. They were not possessed at all. The “stands” or whatever people want to call them were manifestations of their monstrous power. Destroying them, and thus destroying the gems, did nothing but eradicate their ability to use magic.”
 
Yes, and in most canons, an individual’s magic and their soul are closely connected, intertwined, co-dependent, or in some cases even the same things. If you think about it, there was no reason for them to cast those projections because they did basically the same thing the girls themselves could have done in their anthro forms, to the same effect.
 
That magic was also their primary means of getting by in the hollow shells of their former lives they’d already been reduced to. They have (due to lack of necessity up until this point) no skills outside of singing (which they now also lack), doubtless a severely limited if any education, and likewise a general ignorance of how either world worked outside of their influence. They’re also apparently minors now, which in our world would critically reduce their job opportunities even if they did have appropriate education and trade skill development. And also raises the issue of legal guardianship because of the auxiliary legal mess being underage would add to the rest of their livelihoods, like getting leases on vehicles and apartments and such.
 
I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I think it bears mentioning again because it illustrates the minor but critical flaw on the writers’ parts in failing to account for the effects of the heroes’ actions on the villains. I know they’re writing for children, but children are ignorant, not stupid. They’re going to wonder what happened to the Dazzlings in the long run, especially since this is a sequel featuring the original villain’s new life, and Sunset (who should be older than Twilight, who is an adult) was given a really big hand up into her miserable position. Instead of getting similar help, the Dazzlings were booed off-stage and never seen again, so it stands to reason they’re probably facing the fate Twilight saved Sunset from, whatever that may be.

@Background Pony #2547  
It seemed to blow through one, then hit the other, but now I’m purposefully splitting hairs just to pester you. :P

@Scrounge  
Doesn’t matter much either way. The celestial alicorn thing’s blast took out both, and it’s a little pedantic to worry about whether it was a simultaneous or a domino effect.

@Background Pony #2547  
I don’t think destroying them destroyed the gems, I think it’s just the same thing happened to take out the projections, then shatter the gems. If anything, I suspect destroying the gems would have made the projections go away, but that’s not really relevant.

@Somber Star  

This is downright silly. If anything, the Equestrians are pony-shaped humans.

It’s completely apparent that neither is the case. They were not possessed at all. The “stands” or whatever people want to call them were manifestations of their monstrous power. Destroying them, and thus destroying the gems, did nothing but eradicate their ability to use magic.

@Somber Star  
I don’t see why that should “kill their souls” or anything, rather than just bringing them down to the level of normal humans. I was under the impression that the “ethereal forms” were basically constructs/puppets/weapons, shaped like what they used to be because it’s a manifestation of their power, but nothing they wouldn’t be whole without. The gems may be another story, but that’s a separate issue.

@Background Pony #2547  
Which post? Because my latest one prior to this response is mostly observation.

@Somber Star  
Urg, there’s too much headcanon in this post.

@Scrounge  
“I don’t think that’s the logical conclusion of that path, I think the logical conclusion of that path would have much uglier results.”
 
Sorry, I meant with a different starting disposition. The EG universe is basically populated by human-shaped ponies. They’re vegetarians with herd-oriented tendencies and priorities. Individualists are only accepted as long as they prove safe and entertaining. Otherwise, they’re shunned and possibly attacked.
 
“I wouldn’t say Rainbow Dash is a complete bitch half the time… Well, the pony version, anyway, the human version I agree she kind of is.”
 
I think it’s safe to say that half of even pony Dash’s screentime is her either acting in an extremely selfish and rude manner, or whining because she can’t link that behavior with its consequences. I know that’s not technically “complete bitch” territory because that’s more along the lines of Chrysalis, Magic Duel Trixie, and Movie 1 Sunset, but I’m not sure what other term applies. “Immature brat” doesn’t really fit the fact that she’s also a self-sustaining adult.
 
“I don’t subscribe to the theory that the Dazzlings were possessed. I interpreted the appearance of their fish-monster forms at the end more as some kind of projection from them manifested from their power.”
 
That’s an even darker approach than the one I proposed, because that’s like saying the counterspell alicorn thingy basically destroyed the Dazzlings’ souls, as opposed to the ethereal forms of a handful of monsters that were holding little girls captive. At least my way offers them some hope of redemption and recovery. The alternative you proposed leaves them with nothing to redeem or recover.

[hugs both waifus]

@Somber Star
 
I don’t think that’s the logical conclusion of that path, I think the logical conclusion of that path would have much uglier results. Also, the human CMC don’t seem to have issues with human Spoon and Tiara, oddly enough.
 
I wouldn’t say Rainbow Dash is a complete bitch half the time… Well, the pony version, anyway, the human version I agree she kind of is.
 
I don’t subscribe to the theory that the Dazzlings were possessed. I interpreted the appearance of their fish-monster forms at the end more as some kind of projection from them manifested from their power.
 
That’s as good a theory as any, too bad we’ll never really know.

@Scrounge  
Fair enough.
 
Compared to the older students and faculty, yes. And if Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon (who I just now noticed has the exact same initials as Sunset Shimmer) vs the CMC are any indication, nobody cares about the younger children. And yes, I totally agree on the concept of discipline, but as a society we are letting that fall by the wayside, and Equestrian society seems to live at the logical conclusion of that path.
 
As for the Dazzlings, the only thing holding them together was the apparent necessity to share their power for it to work. Now that they no longer have that power, they would split if the writers could conceive of any pre-existing groups as separate entities. As it stands, something arbitrary will probably end up holding them together, no matter how much they resent one another’s presence. Or the girls might have been friends where the monsters possessing them were not.
 
I don’t think it’s a simple manner of discovering the joys of being a bully. Her previous hometown was Canterlot after all. Nearly everypony there is an ass. No pun intended. I think part of it was an attention fixation. That’s one thing she had in common with the Dazzlings: she craved attention like it’s some kind of drug. Rainbow and Trixie have this trait too, and they’re both complete bitches at least half the time.
 
No, I think whatever it is was unique to Sunset, something that turned her into a worse person than the Blues. I mean, if you look at those three pictures, you can see her going from innocent to entitled, and finally insane. Although I’ll admit you’re right that it might be internal and mundane. After all, there’s no telling what was expected of Sunset as Celestia’s favorite pupil that was so difficult for her to deal with that she abandoned her entire world. I mean really, the only equivalents we have to that are committing suicide and surrendering completely to escapist delusions.
 
Oh wait, I think I just answered the question. From Sunset Shimmer’s perspective, she was living in an alternate reality where every year she got to be Princess for a day, a fact she enjoyed but which her mind couldn’t handle. She started to unravel. Then she dropped back in Equestria (perhaps for some hope of stability) and ran into a brand new Princess that could have been her if she hadn’t screwed up whatever she did, in a place that hadn’t been seen in over a thousand years. She started unraveling faster until finally the events of the movie (namely Twilight undoing years of work in a couple days) made her snap.

@Somber Star  
I meant plausible that she might some time in the future, and Dash would take even longer. I’m in no way arguing that it’s been made right yet, considering that even after Sunset steps up to play her part in saving the day, once it’s all over everyone still fails to even speak to her until after we’ve had time for Flash to make googoo eyes at Twilight and Trixie to be an attention whore.
 
Snips and Snails go to the same school as everyone else, can they really be considered children compared to the rest of the student body? And even if they can, don’t children need to be disciplined when they cross the line so that they don’t get the impression that doing bad things is okay? And I like Sonata too, I’m just under no illusions that she cares who gets hurt in order for her to get what she wants.
 
“My Lullabye” was also a good song from that movie, but yeah, in general it didn’t really do anything to challenge the reputation that Disney sequels have.
 
…Kind of a lateral move, but at least the Dazzlings have each other… Except they don’t like each other… Ugh. Well, the three of them right just choose to skip town or something, and at least so far there’s no sign that they want to turn it around like Sunset decided to, so it’s possible the chilly reception they’d get would be slightly less unjustified. (My hopes are pinned on them skipping town.)
 
Your link didn’t work, try >>597030
 
As for corruption? The source need not be magical, or even external. It’s possible that once she started being a bully, it made her feel strong, and she got drunk off the “power” she thought she had. Though if you consider the comics canon, even at the start she did have some… issues when it comes to dealing with others.

@Scrounge  
Plausible that she might, yes, but the point remains that she didn’t. Then again, according to the first movie, Sunset did the most damage to the relationships the Humane 5 had out of everybody. They probably haven’t forgiven her for that. Also, it’s clear they don’t know how to be friends with each other, let alone someone they have good reason to hate.
 
Yes well, that’s just how people work. Look how crazy people get about Sonata. That’s probably how the CHS characters felt about Snips & Snails. None of them are innocent of the actions they carried out while under the influence of genuinely evil superiors, yet their stupidity gets them a defense unwarranted by anything other than an instinct to protect children and people who act like them, despite the latter being the largest sources of a lot of problems.
 
That song was really the only thing I liked out of that whole movie.
 
Oh yes, the grudge is over. The staff and students have new targets for their hate and Sunset saved them from an effect similar to the one she previously inflicted on them.
 
Interesting note: if you look at the row of Sunset’s prom queen pictures
 
>>https://derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/4/10/597030__safe_solo_meme_exploitable+meme_screencap_equestria+girls_sunset+shimmer_prom+queen+meme.png
 
you can see that her descent took years and she doesn’t even look slightly sinister in the first one. Something was corrupting her. Something never addressed or even mentioned, but it is apparent that her nature by the time of the movie is not what it was when she first ran away.

@Somber Star  
IIRC, all of them wound up rubbing it in at least once, so I think it’s a question of who’d stop being insensitive about it first. To me, it’s plausible that AJ would realize “hey, I’m being a jerk to someone who already feels horrible” a decent while before Dash did. (Plus I thought it would have been weird for Rarity or Fluttershy to threaten Dash.)
 
As for Snips and Snails, I get both explanations, yours and PonyPon’s, and they’re both valid. Still bugs me, though.
 
P.S. Agree with you on feeling that Sonata is just as bad as the other two but still liking Scarcity’s story.
 
@Background Pony #2547  
““She is not one of us..[](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uparv8mZcxU)
 
@Somber Star  
The one thing I keep forgetting to say is that at the very least, the ending of the movie showing Sunset with a bunch of other students seems to imply that the collective grudge is finally over and Sunset Shimmer can start over.

@Background Pony #2547  
Regarding the tackling Rainbow Dash scene, everybody but Dash was already pissed at Dash for hogging the spotlight. Anger is kind of like a fire, and Sunset’s an easy target. Also easily forgotten, because she’s not the root of their problems. They wanted a vent and she gave it to them. I think that might be part of the reason for the way she got treated at CHS during the movie and the intervening time between the movies. Fictional high school is rife with emotional turmoil, and bandwagons are fun to jump on. Got a problem? Blame Sunset Shimmer. Everything’s obviously her fault.
 
Dash was pissed at Sunset because she was riding an attention high and Sunset killed it for her. Up to the fight following the scene, RD was really oblivious/apathetic to how her bandmates felt about her behavior, so she thought SS had just ruined a perfectly good performance.

@Somber Star  
Yeah, it is pretty tough to imagine that there wasn’t more to their repeated faux pas than just innocent forgetfulness. I think that’s intentional too, because look at how Dash acted after Sunset tackled her to maintain their scheme. Dash obviously didn’t mind that the crowd was already talking down to Sunset, she added her own criticism to the pile as well.

@Scarcity  
That was pretty nice. I’m one of the few people who think Sonata shouldn’t get special treatment just because she’s stupid, but it’s still a nice mini story.
 
 
@Scrounge  
Snips and Snails are easy to explain. Sunset Shimmer is very pretty and manipulative, and also older and smarter than them. “The poor boys never had a chance.” they thought, and shifted the blame for their actions to Sunset. It’s an easy mental retreat from the difficulty of determining morality in uncertain circumstances.
 
As far as your suggestion goes, IIRC AJ was one of the ones who “accidentally” backhanded Sunset in Rainbow Rocks. After so many months though, can we really keep allowing these slip-ups to be called accidents? There’s such a thing as gross negligence for a reason.

@Scarcity  
That was a very sweet story. What I had in mind for the Dazzlings’ post Rainbow Rocks aftermath was something similar but it involved all of them, not just Sonata.

@Scarcity  
No need for sorry’s, It such a cute story ^^

@Scarcity  
Well, I appreciate this very much. :) Thank you for taking the time to write this for me.

@Chinigan O’ Donovan  
I tried. I’m sorry.

@Somber Star  
It still would be nice to see someone get called out for being a jerk to Sunset in the next EqG, if/when it happens. For some reason, I imagine it going something like this.
 
Sunset Shimmer: “You really think we can handle them?”  
Rainbow Dash: “Hey, we beat some sense into you, didn’t we?”  
Applejack: “Speakin’ of folks who need some sense beat into ‘em…”  
(Applejack glares at Rainbow Dash.)  
Rainbow Dash: “…I think I’m gonna go get a soda now…”  
(Rainbow Dash runs off, Applejack follows and drags Rainbow Dash back by her ear.)