If you wanted, how would you rewrite Mirror Magic?

[KH7672 1,604]

For a special meant to wrap up Equestria Girls for the year the last one definitely left some mixed results. For those that didn't enjoy Mirror Magic, what kind of episode would you have liked to see. Remove or change Juniper's role? Remove or change Starlight's role? Remove both and go for a Sunset-Celestia Feel Fest? Or change nothing if the special was great the way it was. Explain how you would have liked to wrap up the three specials. (Keep in mind you are not changing Dance or Movie Magic).

I'll give my ideal special once I get a couple replies.

[Megas 27,572]

Probably get rid of the Juniper parts and focus entirely on Sunset/Starlight shenanigans, and throw in some Humane 6/Starlight shenanigans too

[Firedog 320]

Strange though, I thought mirror magic was the best one :/ I see a lot of people hating on it though

[Steve Piranha 29,419]

2 hours ago, Hot Rod said:

Probably get rid of the Juniper parts and focus entirely on Sunset/Starlight shenanigans, and throw in some Humane 6/Starlight shenanigans too

So would I. I would have saved Juniper's stuff for later to make her some justice, because her parts hurt that short, even by having the Sunny/Starlight part, which were the best 

[Megas 27,572]

1 hour ago, Firedog said:

Strange though, I thought mirror magic was the best one :/ I see a lot of people hating on it though

Unfortunately a lot of it is simply due to Starlight. Personally I think it's the weakest of the 3, but that's mainly due to a lackluster climax and villain. Starlight was easily the highlight

[Unlikeable Pony 2,698]

5 hours ago, KH7672 said:

For a special meant to wrap up Equestria Girls for the year the last one definitely left some mixed results. For those that didn't enjoy Mirror Magic, what kind of episode would you have liked to see. Remove or change Juniper's role? Remove or change Starlight's role? Remove both and go for a Sunset-Celestia Feel Fest? Or change nothing if the special was great the way it was. Explain how you would have liked to wrap up the three specials. (Keep in mind you are not changing Dance or Movie Magic).

I'll give my ideal special once I get a couple replies.

Break mirror magic into TWO COMPLETELY SEPERATE episodes.

Have one episode about sunset traveling back to equestria, bumming around with Starlight, and then taking Starlight back to bum around the human world before she heads back home.
That's it, and ends the first one.

Next, we do mirror magic. WITHOUT STARLIGHT. Focus instead of Sunset's worry about there not being a magical disturbance in awhile and apprehension about why they have their magic.
Next up, try and give a little more purpose and reason behind the Magic that corrupts Juniper; Establish some sort of Impending threat, like show the barrier between the worlds where the magic is leaking through and try and show that its becoming frayed, or some sort of evil intelligence that actively corrupted Juniper, or SOMETHING to make her being corrupted the tip of an iceberg and impending threat: Basically, answer starlight's question by showing a coming storm of some kind that's bigger than Juniper.

NOW have the mane six defeat or clean up the problem with Juniper with their magic; Answer the question "Why do we have these powers?" by showing how they NEED those powers to combat the magic leaking through the cracks (as opposed to how them having magic made things WORSE).
You can still finish things with a friendship speech of some kind, but do SOMETHING to show that the mane seven's abilities were required to deal with the issue of magic leaking through the dimensions.

[Ganondorf8 11,288]

I personally see it as the best of the three specials despite having obvious flaws not to mention how divisive the fandom is over it. If I were to make some changes, they would be minimal at best and involve giving Juniper a bit more of a reasoning behind her villainy. That or make this special into a two part experience so that Juniper could have her time to shine as a villain whilst giving Sunset and Starlight more time to interact with each other.

[KH7672 1,604]

5 hours ago, Unlikeable Pony said:

Break mirror magic into TWO COMPLETELY SEPERATE episodes.

Have one episode about sunset traveling back to equestria, bumming around with Starlight, and then taking Starlight back to bum around the human world before she heads back home.
That's it, and ends the first one.

Next, we do mirror magic. WITHOUT STARLIGHT. Focus instead of Sunset's worry about there not being a magical disturbance in awhile and apprehension about why they have their magic.
Next up, try and give a little more purpose and reason behind the Magic that corrupts Juniper; Establish some sort of Impending threat, like show the barrier between the worlds where the magic is leaking through and try and show that its becoming frayed, or some sort of evil intelligence that actively corrupted Juniper, or SOMETHING to make her being corrupted the tip of an iceberg and impending threat: Basically, answer starlight's question by showing a coming storm of some kind that's bigger than Juniper.

NOW have the mane six defeat or clean up the problem with Juniper with their magic; Answer the question "Why do we have these powers?" by showing how they NEED those powers to combat the magic leaking through the cracks (as opposed to how them having magic made things WORSE).
You can still finish things with a friendship speech of some kind, but do SOMETHING to show that the mane seven's abilities were required to deal with the issue of magic leaking through the dimensions.

Interesting idea to spread it into two parts. Although I have to ask, what would "bumming around in Equestria" entail. Sunset not really that unfamiliar with it not to mention there's nothing too new here (except maybe a Celestia visit) unless she just waited around for Twilight to get back. Just seems kind of odd to stay away after worrying about magic being the reason she went there.

11 hours ago, KH7672 said:

I'll give my ideal special once I get a couple replies.

So other than splitting it into two parts like a couple people replied, I'm more of a character building guy myself. I would have liked if the first half went the same for Sunset and Starlight and cut out Juniper's selfish time with the mirror for now. Then get some sences of the two experiencing the world walking to the mall talking, leading up to that advice Starlight gives Sunset. Then they both overhear Juniper planning a revenge -possibly with the mirror- and they decide to take action and confront her with a serious heart to heart to heart. Give them and the audience insight into Juniper and allow Sunset to talk about the dangers of hurting others for selfish reasons and Starlight to talk about the danger of exacting revenge. Showing these characters can use their life experiences to save someone before they become as far gone as they did. With that Juniper smashes the mirror and finds sincere friends.

Still, if they absolutely needed an evil Juniper-possibly for marketing reasons-then, yeah, an entire second part would work better.

[Thrond 3,263]

16 hours ago, Hot Rod said:

Probably get rid of the Juniper parts and focus entirely on Sunset/Starlight shenanigans, and throw in some Humane 6/Starlight shenanigans too

This is probably what I'd go with too, and maybe add something about the cliffhanger of Legend of Everfree. But I just have zero interest in anything "Mirror Magic" was trying to do, so my version would be unrecognizable. 

So first, I guess I'd need a reason for Starlight to be there in the first place. As is she adds absolutely nothing. Perhaps she and Sunset can converse about the differences in their redemption arcs: how Sunset changed fast but had to win trust compared to how Starlight has a lot to learn but is afforded a lot of patience, for instance. I'd prefer the return of pony Twilight, especially for the sake of inter-Twilight shenanigans, but if Starlight must be there, she needs a reason for her presence.

On a more fundamental level, I would need to figure out meaningful personalities for Starlight and Sunset, because they're both starting to bore the crap out of me. In particular. I'd tone down Starlight's chipper attitude to make her more consistent with the show, and I'd add a note of insecurity to Sunset's concerns so they're more than bland foreshadowing. More than anything else, what this special needed was a sympathetic character arc.

Third, and this needs the least explanation, I'd change basically every joke. They're not funny. Give me something clever. The mane six need new lines, and Juniper needs new lines. While I'm at it, nobody gets captured in the mirror, because that's just lame. 

And fourth, as said, I'd add a lot more about the portal cracking and severely scale down the Juniper Montage parts. I also wouldn't add Juniper or Starlight to the main group, because that's just unnecessarily bloating the series. I might even remove the reformation entirely, because Juniper's motivations don't make for a very satisfying change of heart, and she might be a fun recurring antagonist if given better jokes. 

[Toon4Thought 274]

I did come around to enjoy Mirror Magic on its own terms, but yeah even I admit that there were definitely a fair amount of things I would've done differently:

-Change up the pacing. It feels like we don't get enough of Starlight and Sunset interacting while the scenes focusing on Juniper and the mirror prison usually went on a bit longer than they really had to. If those scenes were trimmed, we could've easily gotten much more great stuff between the two, which I think should've been the real focus here.

-Have Starlight and Sunset team up for at least part of the climax. I was much more ticked off they didn't do this when I first saw it than I am now, since I now get why Starlight had to be the one to talk her down, but even then I can't help but feel like them showing both their strengths against her (even if Sunset does still end up in the mirror anyway) would've fully embraced the concept of putting them together. It also could've very well fixed the issue of Sunset not really having much of a reason to put her worries aside, and possibly even have her reassure Starlight not to be too afraid of what Juniper could do, essentially connecting back to the scene we did get where the opposite is true.

-Convey why Juniper turned like she did. Here, I'm mostly referring to when she said what she did was unforgivable. It just feels like there was nothing to truly convince her to admit that. Her wishing the girls out made more sense, but even then it's not conveyed nearly as well as it was in the novel, where it's made clear that she saw the girls afraid and in danger. Maybe show that right after Starlight offers her as a friend or something, and possibly a few more facial reactions from both.

-Make it more clear what we could expect to see next. I always found myself a little bugged that it doesn't really feel like it ended, especially given we have absolutely no idea what's to come next and all of the various ideas this opened the door to. It makes it extremely hard to tell whether or not they'll follow through with some of them. Will we see more of Starlight in EQG, Sunset in Equestria, or Juniper interacting with Starlight? I feel like at least one of these should've been properly telegraphed. I think the only thing that actually was foreshadowed is that some larger threat is coming, and even that is kept quite vague. I don't know, this is obviously a matter of preference, but it does suck not knowing which threads are actually going to come back.

Edited July 11, 2017 by Toon4Thought

[cmarston1 5,959]

Even though Mirror Magic is my favorite of the specials, I do agree that it would have been best to take the whole Sunset meeting Starlight and Juniper getting revenge stories as being their own specials.

The first special could involve Sunset finally returning to Equestria and befriending Starlight and relearn how to be a pony and all that jazz.  We could also have her meet up with Princess Twilight again as well.

The third special would have to deal with Juniper getting the mirror and how the magic comes from the leak between worlds and stuff.

Sunset and the girls would be still trying to deal with using their new magical abilities and by fighting Juniper they would learn how to use them more/realize they need them in order to deal with the threat of the leaking magic or something.

[Toon4Thought 274]

5 minutes ago, cmarston1 said:

The first special could involve Sunset finally returning to Equestria and befriending Starlight and relearn how to be a pony and all that jazz.  We could also have her meet up with Princess Twilight again as well.

As much as I would love to see something like that, sadly I get the impression the fact the two now have separate crews might make that a little complicated (particularly in terms of animation). There would also have to be a bit more of a framing device and/or purpose to it.

I do legitimately have to wonder how they could reasonably have Sunset spend an extended period of time in Equestria though, especially with that aforementioned detail in mind. Because it is something we really should get in some form.

[KatonRyu 1,033]

Mainly I'd add pony Twilight to it, especially since Twilight was the one who wanted Sunset to come to Equestria, but also because I ship SunLight and I would have more fuel for it if they had some more on-screen interaction. Aside from that I'd maybe make defeating Juniper a group thing instead of Starlight having to save the day. I like her, I really do, but she shouldn't be the one to save the day in every appearance she makes these days.

[Hierok 11,831]

I would get rid of the idea of Juniper becoming a demon. Let Starlight talk with her in normal human form. Why does everything needs to be a demon in order to be an antagonist?

[Philweasel 139]

I could do with Starlight and Sunset having equal part to play in the finale, and fleshing Juniper out a little more.

[danparkerstudios 26]

Well, I would put in Juniper Montage using the mirror to do what Midnight Sparkle tried to do at the end of Friendship Games; warp space by opening a lot of portals at once. That's what I was expecting.

[NotoriousSMALL 1,984]

I just want more SHIMMY GLIMMY power hour, honestly. Seeing them interacting was really fun.

[Brainstorm 4,107]

I think it's fine the way it is.

Edited August 9, 2017 by Brainstorm

[Toon4Thought 274]

Just now, I came up with an even better idea than the one I had in mind months ago. I came up with the majority of this on the fly pretty much, and I'm amazed at how well it came out.

So, this is what I would've changed, assuming the same run-time and basic story outline.

This is what I would've changed in Mirror Magic:

1) Almost entirely get rid of the mirror scenes in limbo, since when you get down to it they're more or less pointless. Just showing an occasional image of the Humane 6 inside the mirror from Sunset/Starlight's perspective would really be enough to convey what is needed for the story.

2) Also trim Juniper's scenes. One or two were kind of redundant or dragged on.

3) Spend a few more minutes with Starlight and Sunset bonding, and make it clear that they're increasingly enjoying the other's company over time.

4) Along with the scene where Starlight tells Sunset to take things as they come, add in one where Sunset gives Starlight very similar advice after they encounter Juniper. Maybe something like, "It's okay to be afraid, but never let that stop you from doing the right thing."

5) Make the moral about bonding with people who seem very different from you, as even they may end up having something strong in common. This would happen with Starlight and Sunset, Juniper and Starlight, and that little 'quick confession' exchange.

[SunsetShimmerStan 35]

On 2017-07-11 at 2:12 PM, Thrond said:

This is probably what I'd go with too, and maybe add something about the cliffhanger of Legend of Everfree. But I just have zero interest in anything "Mirror Magic" was trying to do, so my version would be unrecognizable. 

So first, I guess I'd need a reason for Starlight to be there in the first place. As is she adds absolutely nothing. Perhaps she and Sunset can converse about the differences in their redemption arcs: how Sunset changed fast but had to win trust compared to how Starlight has a lot to learn but is afforded a lot of patience, for instance. I'd prefer the return of pony Twilight, especially for the sake of inter-Twilight shenanigans, but if Starlight must be there, she needs a reason for her presence.

On a more fundamental level, I would need to figure out meaningful personalities for Starlight and Sunset, because they're both starting to bore the crap out of me. In particular. I'd tone down Starlight's chipper attitude to make her more consistent with the show, and I'd add a note of insecurity to Sunset's concerns so they're more than bland foreshadowing. More than anything else, what this special needed was a sympathetic character arc.

Third, and this needs the least explanation, I'd change basically every joke. They're not funny. Give me something clever. The mane six need new lines, and Juniper needs new lines. While I'm at it, nobody gets captured in the mirror, because that's just lame. 

And fourth, as said, I'd add a lot more about the portal cracking and severely scale down the Juniper Montage parts. I also wouldn't add Juniper or Starlight to the main group, because that's just unnecessarily bloating the series. I might even remove the reformation entirely, because Juniper's motivations don't make for a very satisfying change of heart, and she might be a fun recurring antagonist if given better jokes. 

If you think Sunset is so boring after her redemption and don't like the stories she's in, how would you come up with a good Sunset Shimmer story? Like, surely you'd know some good ideas for a Sunset Shimmer story if you're so smart.

Heck, are there any redeemed characters on the show that didn't become boring after redemption? How did Discord, Trixie, Luna, and the Changelings fare in still being engaging to watch when focused on after their redemptions?

How do other cartoon redemptions like Zuko on Avatar, Sasha and Grime on Amphibia, Amity, Hunter, and Lilith on Owl House, Pacifica and Gideon on Gravity Falls, Catra on She Ra 2018, Peridot and Lapis on Steven Universe, and Tom on Star vs fare? Did they fare better or worse than Sunset in having better redemptions and still being engaging to watch post-redemption?

Edited April 14 by SunsetShimmerStan

[Megas 27,572]

Would have been a million times better if they dropped the whole Juniper thing and just focused entirely on Starlight and Sunset hanging out

[SunsetShimmerStan 35]

On 2024-04-13 at 8:22 PM, Megas said:

Would have been a million times better if they dropped the whole Juniper thing and just focused entirely on Starlight and Sunset hanging out

We'd still need some kind of conflict to make it an engaging 22 minute special. There's never been a 22 minute episode without a conflict. 

[Sunny_Skyes 148]

On 2024-04-18 at 10:28 PM, SunsetShimmerStan said:

We'd still need some kind of conflict to make it an engaging 22 minute special. There's never been a 22 minute episode without a conflict. 

Easy. ☆~Arguments!~☆ 

Or Starlight replaces Juniper's role, take your pick.