Starlight Glimmer or Sunset Shimmer?

[Tao 7,571]

I'm more of a Shimmer fan but yet she has own life in EQ world and maybe having her come back for a ep or two would be nice to have her in pony form for a bit.    Mostly I just to want to see what they will use Glimmer for as the eps roll out and I don't think she is going to be a "mane" cannon but maybe  a 2ed background pony they can use such as we see in the CMC and Spike or a few of the other ponies.

[Sidral Mundet 1,666]

So it's finally come down to this

Honestly I'm more surprised it's taken this long for a thread like this to appear on this site.

 

And like most of these topics everyone get the answer wrong. The real answer is Moondancer

Edit: Okay so I can't get two separate images up, go figure.

 

But seriously Sunset Shimmer for me by a wide margin, Sunset's my second favorite pony. For one thing, much better color choice and design. But really I empathize with her far more than I do Starlight. Sunset in my eyes earned her redemption while Starlight got handed one. Sunset had to overcome her past and not let it define her. Her regret feels more natural since everyone is holding her past against her and even her friends treat her like an outsider. With Starlight nobody, and I mean nobody, care in the slightest about Starlight's past except Starlight. Also Sunset interacts and talks with the Mane 6 and has a decent chemistry with them, something Starlight doesn't have given roughly the same screen time, though this is mostly a criticism at the time of writing, it could easily change in the future with other episodes. But yeah Sunset Shimmer all the way.

Edited April 14, 2016 by Sidral Mundet

[Castle Bleck 19,332]

Sunset, but only because I've had more time to get to know her better.

 

However, as of The Crystalling, Starlight looks to be on her way into that category as well.

Edited April 14, 2016 by A.V.

[Razpul 55]

I would have preferred Sunset, but I love how the show handled Starlight's reformation.

[Cleverclover 1,526]

Starlight, easily.

 

She at least has a bigger place in FiM than Sunset, who has and who will always have absolutely no place in FiM. 

[Magnus Orion 0]

On 4/15/2016 at 8:02 PM, Cleverclover said:

Starlight, easily.

 

She at least has a bigger place in FiM than Sunset, who has and who will always have absolutely no place in FiM. 

That's a bit harsh, no?

Although i am biased, as sunset is overall a better person/pony

[Babyyoshi309 1,829]

20 minutes ago, Magnus Orion said:

That's a bit harsh, no?

Although i am biased, as sunset is overall a better person/pony

That is exactly the problem. Sunset Shimmer was basically completely evil until she got shot in the face with a friendship laser. Than all of the sudden, she was a never-do-bad angel who just wanted to be forgiven. 

Starlight on the other hand, actually had to be talked out of doing evil. And even when she was "reformed", she still had ruminants of her old self (such as rushing to use magic to solve problems).

So Starlight is a much more realistic and better character.

[Midnight Blaze 98 1,138]

I used to be more of a Starlight fan, but I’ve moved towards Sunset now.

[MontagnaMagica 307]

If we could go back in time and erase Equestria Girls, but keep Sunset Shimmer's character design and backstory (being a former student of Celestia who went rogue), I would have preferred Sunset Shimmer.

 

Equestria Girls is its own franchise and, to those of us who aren't exactly fans, it is its own canon, and we can easily ignore it. If Sunset Shimmer ever appears in FiM, it will ruin that; we would have to accept that Equestria Girls was canon, and yikes, I don't like the sound of that.

 

If you haven't guessed already, my answer is Starlight Glimmer. Her redemption was sloppy, I will concede that. But in almost every other aspect, she is a brilliant character. What I like about her is that she's impulsive, yet shows self-doubt, and gets along with ponies that others wouldn't give much of a chance (Maud, Trixie, and to an extent, Discord). Starlight is relatable, and gives the show new directions to explore. It's exciting again!

[CypherHoof 26,482]

32 minutes ago, Babyyoshi309 said:

That is exactly the problem. Sunset Shimmer was basically completely evil until she got shot in the face with a friendship laser. Than all of the sudden, she was a never-do-bad angel who just wanted to be forgiven. 

I think that is a bit of an oversimplification; Sunset was never evil per se, but was ambitious, as many teens are - wanting to claw her way to the top, no matter who she hurt or used along the way.  EqG (with the exception of the Sirens) do seem to follow that formula fairly frequently - the level boss is overwhelmed by Equestrian magic and acts out their dominant emotion, and that is even true of Sunset again in the third movie (although the emotion she becomes an expression of there is her desire to fix things).

So EqG1 Sunset was an ambitious pony-teen who once she got her hands on Twi's crown became a power-crazed demon, but that wasn't her any more than Midnight Sparkle is SciTwi - but it IS a part of her, and one she was rightly ashamed of in subsequent movies.  Her redemption came not from being hit with the Rainbow Bitslap of Harmony but from the fact that, at the end, when Sunset was defeated and alone, Twi literally reached out a hand to her and offered her a better path and the support of her group.

She then worked hard to earn the forgiveness of those she had wronged, and has done well, although as the EqG franchise is a movie one, we don't really get enough screen time with her to see much of that.  Forgiveness and then trust/respect took time, and she is not taking that for granted, even in the fourth movie.  she is a nicer person for giving up her ambition, even if it does mean the Waifu Thief is hitting on her again

 

32 minutes ago, Babyyoshi309 said:

Starlight on the other hand, actually had to be talked out of doing evil. And even when she was "reformed", she still had ruminants of her old self (such as rushing to use magic to solve problems).

Starlight, being a FiM character, gets a lot more space for us to see her development; Not unlike Chrysalis, she took a tactical defeat and withdrew to come back stronger for it; I find it interesting that she sees her second encounter with Twi as a defeat, when in fact Twi showed her what she was doing was wrong, and she herself chose to step back from the edge of the cliff she had taken all of Equestria to the brink of.  But there are strong parallels here too; while she didn't get a Rainbow Bitchslap, her actual redemption came from Twi offering her the chance to gain the friendship of the group.  In many ways, Starlight had it easy compared to Sunset (she didn't have to fight for the forgiveness of the Equality villagers, despite the fact the wrong she did them was much greater, and given her apparent position as Twi's pupil, she automatically starts from a better point with the bulk of the ponies she meets, who have no way of knowing her previous crimes) but in others, that makes it harder for her; as she expresses to Sunburst, she lives with the constant fear that any new friends she makes will discover what she has done and re-evaluate their friendship with her, which makes it hard for her to risk being hurt by reaching out to anypony (which was her original problem anyhow, of course) and explains her frequent missteps in that area (which, given that was supposed to be what Twi was teaching her, doesn't reflect well on Twi)

 

32 minutes ago, Babyyoshi309 said:

So Starlight is a much more realistic and better character.

Starlight has had more screen time to develop in. I am looking forward to what they do with the shorts, but the incredibly brief initial set leaked recently doesn't bode well.

Personally though? I think both are interesting characters that I like and would like to see more of. SunShim had less to come back from/make up for, and it was all upfront (so harder to get started, but no nasty surprises down the line). GlimGlam by contrast went badly off the rails, and can't even blame an overdose of Equestrian magic for that; she really needs counseling for her mental problems which she isn't getting, but at least with her position as Twi's student and the backstop of the Mane 6 (and more recently, Trixie, maud and Sunburst) she has a great deal more stability and support in her life now, which must help a lot.

[Hierok 11,831]

1 hour ago, MontagnaMagica said:

Equestria Girls is its own franchise and, to those of us who aren't exactly fans, it is its own canon, and we can easily ignore it. If Sunset Shimmer ever appears in FiM, it will ruin that;

It is already canon thanks the season finale.  The sirens banishment was shown.

(2200)

Edited November 4, 2017 by Hierok

[CypherHoof 26,482]

1 minute ago, Hierok said:

It is already canon thanks the season finale.  The sirens banishment was shown.

50/50 on that. Yes, the siren banishment is now FiM canon, but that doesn't make EqG canon by extension - many canon FiM items are referenced in EqG but that is a one way street (at least so far). That said, I would love to see a pony SciTwi episode in FiM

[ShootingStar159 2,155]

21 minutes ago, CypherHoof said:

I think that is a bit of an oversimplification; Sunset was never evil per se, but was ambitious, as many teens are - wanting to claw her way to the top, no matter who she hurt or used along the way.

 

 

Sunset tried to murder Twilight at the end of EQG, and didn’t even care if her friends got caught in the blast too. That’s something not even Tirek ever did. There is also zero evidence Equestrian magic negatively effects Equestrians turned human. It didn’t drive the Dazzlings insane, for example, nor did it negatively effect Sunset in Friendship games.

[Hierok 11,831]

5 minutes ago, ShootingStar159 said:

Sunset tried to murder Twilight at the end of EQG, and didn’t even care if her friends got caught in the blast too. That’s something not even Tirek ever did. There is also zero evidence Equestrian magic negatively effects Equestrians turned human. It didn’t drive the Dazzlings insane, for example, nor did it negatively effect Sunset in Friendship games.

You are forgetting that that was demon Sunset. At the begin of her transformation you see the real sunset crying and resisting at the crown.

36 minutes ago, CypherHoof said:

50/50 on that. Yes, the siren banishment is now FiM canon, but that doesn't make EqG canon by extension - many canon FiM items are referenced in EqG but that is a one way street (at least so far). That said, I would love to see a pony SciTwi episode in FiM

I rather see Sunset in FiM. Sci-Twi was never a favourite of mine if compared to her pony form.

[CypherHoof 26,482]

2 minutes ago, ShootingStar159 said:

Sunset tried to murder Twilight at the end of EQG, and didn’t even care if her friends got caught in the blast too. That’s something not even Tirek ever did.

Tirek wanted the Alicorn magic - so killing Twi would have been counterproductive. There is no reason to assume he wouldn't have killed to get it.

 

4 minutes ago, Hierok said:

You are forgetting that that was demon Sunset. At the begin of her transformation you see the real sunset crying and resisting at the crown.

Indeed so, which is my point - In each movie other than RR, the upgrade comes with loss of control; In LoE, this is actually relatively benign (Gloriosa's dominant desire is to protect the camp and the campers, even against their will) but in each case, the character is an expression of a single desire, rather than their normal personality.

 

2 minutes ago, ShootingStar159 said:

There is also zero evidence Equestrian magic negatively effects Equestrians turned human. It didn’t drive the Dazzlings insane, for example, nor did it negatively effect Sunset in Friendship games.

The Dazzlings aren't a good example. Not only are they feeding on the magic gradually and in a manner they are used to doing, but they are doing so exclusively via their crystals, rather than directly.  I would (and do :D) argue that FG "Angelic" Sunset was dominated by a positive desire, hence her appearance and actions - but was nevertheless dominated by that desire.

20 minutes ago, Hierok said:

I rather see Sunset in FiM. Sci-Twi was never a favourite of mine if compared to her pony form.

That still wouldn't make it canon though, just add another character to FiM that is referenced in EqG; of course, you could then have Pony-Sunset reference EqG things, which would then make those canon, but I think a native EqG character in FiM would do better (and I really doubt SciTwi would go to Equestria without Sunset with her, so you can have both :D)

[ShootingStar159 2,155]

4 minutes ago, CypherHoof said:

Tirek wanted the Alicorn magic - so killing Twi would have been counterproductive. There is no reason to assume he wouldn't have killed to get it.

He could have easily killed her, and her friends, after he got the magic, but he didn’t.

Sunset could have ignored Twilight and her friends after she got the crown, but she choose to kill Twilight instead.

6 minutes ago, CypherHoof said:

Indeed so, which is my point - In each movie other than RR, the upgrade comes with loss of control; In LoE, this is actually relatively benign (Gloriosa's dominant desire is to protect the camp and the campers, even against their will) but in each case, the character is an expression of a single desire, rather than their normal personality.

The only real discernable difference between Sunset and Demon Sunset is her appearance. She was nowhere near the insanity of Sci-Twi or Gloriosa’s corruption, she still had her own original plan, and she’s was still following it.

 

12 minutes ago, CypherHoof said:

I would (and do :D) argue that FG "Angelic" Sunset was dominated by a positive desire, hence her appearance and actions - but was nevertheless dominated by that desire.

That implies that both Sci-Twi and Gloriosa’s desires were negative. Wanting to understand magic, and wanting to save her familiy’s camp are, at worst, neutral. I don’t think their desires mattered, that amount of magic corrupted their good intentions and made them evil.

Sunset was already twisted before she put on the crown, if it had corrupted her, she would have been an obviously more deranged person than she was.

[Jade Fire 7,059]

starlight ^-^                 

[Barpy 2,225]

Honestly, I liked it more without them, maybe they could be there for some small scene or something, but good old mane 6 only adventure  

[Concerned Bystander 2,902]

1 hour ago, CypherHoof said:

50/50 on that. Yes, the siren banishment is now FiM canon, but that doesn't make EqG canon by extension - many canon FiM items are referenced in EqG but that is a one way street (at least so far). That said, I would love to see a pony SciTwi episode in FiM

We already did, it was called Amending Fences, don't be fooled by the fact that SciTwi had dyed her hair and was going under the assumed name of Moondancer.

Also yes, the introduction of a bit of common history between the two branched of the franchise falls far short of making EQG canon in FiM, the only way that will happen is if something that happens in EQG in the current timeframe directly affects something going on in FiM at the same time, or is at least directly referenced in FiM.

Edited November 4, 2017 by Concerned Bystander

[SaburoDaimando 1,196]

Lemme say this.  I HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE HAAAAAAAAAAATE choosing between Sunset or Starlight.  They both have their own strengths and weaknesses.  I enjoy both of them so much, that I did a drawing to protest the Sunset/STarlight wars.  In fact, one day I hope Rebecca Shoichet and Kelly Sheridan did a little vocal session poking fun at their base.

Now, you may wanna ask me again if My Little Pony gets its own Musou gaming series.

[Le Trotteur Sauvage 13,051]

Sunset Shimmer. Sunset Shimmer because I think that she's more different from Twilight than Starlight. Starlight and Twilight are exactly the same and I don't know why they did this because it's useless to have twice the same character ! Usually, this kind of characters can exist but only in one episode, like Lightning Dust that was really similar to Rainbow Dash. Or Cheese Sandwich ! Can you imagine one of those two becoming a permanent character ? That'd be useless, we already have a Pinkie Pie and a Rainbow Dash, no need for an other !

[Babyyoshi309 1,829]

@CypherHoof What exactly is Sunset's personality?

Not her backstory, her PERSONALITY.

She has none, the only thing her character has is her arc of wanting to be redeemed. Than in the 4th movie, after that arc is complete, she just kind of gets pushed to the side and SciTwi gets the focus. 

[KrazyDashie 1,847]

glimglam ftw! I mean starlight! <3

 

*looks at the sunset fans* oh.

[ShootingStar159 2,155]

4 minutes ago, KrazyDashie said:

glimglam ftw! I mean starlight! <3

 

*looks at the sunset fans* oh.

This thread was made just after the season six premier, so most people were still uncertain of Starlight. There was a more recent poll that actually had Starlight edging over Sunset, but the option for both was the clear winner. I’ll see if I can dig it up.

Edit: here you go

 

Edited November 4, 2017 by ShootingStar159

[heavens-champion 1,905]

On 4/14/2016 at 3:17 AM, Vulcan said:

 Sunset shimmer, Her turn to the good side was similar to that of Zuko, memorable and sweet.

Sunset as Zuko. All that was missing in Rainbow Rocks was her asking herself why she was so bad at being good.

But to answer the question, I like both. Not much of a contest.

Edited November 4, 2017 by heavens-champion