Rewriting Starlight Glimmer's Redemption

[TheDarkMare1939 11]

During the early days of MLP: FIM when Seasons 1 to 4 came out, I enjoyed watching the show despite some of its flaws. When Starlight Glimmer first appeared during Season 5, I thought that she was A very cool villain and the whole concept of equality made me excited to see what she'd do as a new villain. However, when Starlight got redeemed during The Season 5 finale...I wasn't the biggest fan of it.

Now, Starlight Glimmer's redemption received very divisive reactions, from what I remember. Some Fans of MLP liked Starlight being an addition to The Mane 6, and some people hated how Starlight was forgiven very easily because of how sick her actions are. I can understand where both sides are coming from, and I'm sort of in the middle with the divisive reactions. On one hand, Starlight did have a few adorable moments post-redemption, but I wouldn't be lying if I said that her redemption wasn't written that well in my opinion to make me get invested in her.

However, I'm not gonna waste my time ranting about it, since I've seen enough valid arguments about Starlight's redemption, and I'm gonna do my own take on how Starlight's redemption could've worked:

Season 5 Finale (The Cutie Remark Part 1 and 2)

Part 1 and 2 of The Cutie Remark were pretty great and entertaining to watch, but I think the way that Starlight Glimmer's motivation was revealed and how her redemption was handled kind of ruined Part 2, and the show itself, In general, going forward after that. So most aspects of The Cutie Remark Part 1 and 2 would remain the same, but what would change for Starlight's redemption is when she reveals her true motivation to Twilight Sparkle and Spike during their battle through time. What would happen instead is that Starlight reveals to Twilight and Spike that she used to have A lot of friends during her childhood growing up, but when Sunburst and her friends got their cutie marks, except for herself, it leads to them moving away and Starlight was left on her own.

Starlight started to get bullied by others due to her being Blank-Flanked and not getting her Cutie Mark, and it leads to her starting to study magic obsessively and teach herself everything, even the most forbidden spells, not just to get her mark, but also in an attempt to get revenge against them. Starlight Glimmer's past self concludes that all the magic in the world is moot because cutie marks are all that matter to everyone because they were so obsessed with them when she was a kid.

This is where Starlight got the idea of creating the Equality Village because no cutie marks = no bullying, and she'll secretly become more powerful than everyone there, anyway, making for some dramatic irony. Starlight tries to commit A travel spell, but it backfires, so she can help Twilight repair the damage, and possibly saves her life in the process.

She turns herself in, and when Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack learn what Starlight was trying to do, they don't instantly forgive or accept her so easily, but it would be rightfully deserved since Starlight did put Twilight and Spike in danger. I know that one of the themes of MLP is supposed to be forgiveness, which I understand, but It shouldn't just be handed on A silver platter without actually having to earn it, and I think The Mane 6 not trusting Starlight just yet until she earns forgiveness from them would be a fair way of showing that Starlight won't be accepted so easily.

I mean, Sunset Shimmer from the first Equestria Girls movie didn't get accepted right away for her actions and had to earn everyone's trust and forgiveness, so if the writers of the show had Starlight go through that same kind of character arc of earning the right to be trusted and forgiven, then her redemption could've been more effective. So instead of being made a "student of friendship" and being accepted so easily by The Mane 6 and The Villagers, Twilight, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna decide to sentence her to Do Community Service going into Season 6.
 

Season 6

So during the start of Starlight Glimmer's redemption arc, The Princesses, The Mane 5, and Starlight's Village wouldn't trust her so easily, but during Season 6, she would stop relying on Magic so much in order to solve her problems and issues. Starlight would be doing community service to make up for her actions, and during so, Community service for Starlight can give her things to do that actually make her interesting, like for example, she can try to share her goals, wants, needs, feelings, desires, quirks, habits, fears, than just saying that she likes Kites. Not only would Starlight Glimmer try making amends with Twilight, but with her friends as well. Starlight can bond individually with the Mane 6, but she would have to earn their trust instead of it being handed to her.  

Then during the episode "Every Little Thing She Does", which is towards the end of the episode, Starlight decides she wants to do some soul searching on her own for awhile by Traveling Equestria, and try making amends with the Villagers that she wronged long ago, but she would eventually return. The Season 6 finale storyline would then be The Mane 6 working with Starswirl The Bearded and The rest of The Pillars to take on Stygian, who is now corrupted as The Pony of Shadows, and Princess Luna can take Starlight's role when trying to reason with Stygian instead.

The Mane 6 and The Pillars resolve their conflict with The Pony Of Shadows in a similar way to how the show did it, but with Starlight's role replaced with Princess Luna, and Twilight is left upset when she sees Starswirl The Bearded and Stygian reconcile after Starlight left. The Season 6 finale can end with Starswirl The Bearded and The Pillars assuring The Mane 6 that since they were able to reconcile with Stygian and find their own ways home, they can with Starlight as well if they just give her some time.

      Season 7

A few things that can happen during Season 7 in this rewrite is Starlight have A few of her own standalone episodes to flesh her out more and focus on her redemption, and Starlight reuniting with her old Village and trying to make amends with the people that she wronged during the time she was A villain can be its own standalone episode. Perhaps Trixie could also encounter Starlight when she does a magic show for her Village, and their friendship can start when that happens, Except maybe have it NOT be toxic, Trixie not being so overly Smug, and have Starlight and Trixie actually bond.

As for The Season 7 Episode "A Royal Problem", with Starlight being away from Equestria to trying to earn trust back from her Village, Maybe Instead, It can be A Standalone flashback episode of when Princesses Luna and Celestia were mentored by Stawswirl The Bearded when they were teenagers, and the whole premise of their cutie marks being switched can be done by Starswirl instead. The Season 7 finale storyline would have Chrysalis return as the main villain, but Starlight being the main hero can be A bit stronger now with her redemption arc being more fleshed out.

The team that Starlight Glimmer assembles to take on Chrysalis and save her captured subjects in this would consist of Starlight, Spike, Trixie, Discord, Thorax and Twilight Sparkle, with Starlight and Twilight putting their new friendship to the test to save the ones captured by Chrysalis. After Chrysalis gets defeated, Starlight finally becomes worthy of forgiveness to Twilight and everyone in Equestria.

Things like Starlight's reunion with Sunburst, befriending Maud Pie, and helping The Mane 6 can happen in Season 8 instead.

What do you guys think of these ideas?

Edited August 7, 2021 by TheDarkMare1939

[JMTV99 1,353]

On 2021-07-28 at 2:23 PM, TheDarkMare1939 said:

During the early days of MLP: FIM when Seasons 1 to 4 came out, I enjoyed watching the show despite some of its flaws. When Starlight Glimmer first appeared during Season 5, I thought that she was A very cool villain and the whole concept of equality made me excited to see what she'd do as a new villain. However, when Starlight got redeemed during The Season 5 finale...I wasn't the biggest fan of it.

Now, Starlight Glimmer's redemption received very divisive reactions, from what I remember. Some Fans of MLP liked Starlight being an addition to The Mane 6, and some people hated how Starlight was forgiven very easily because of how sick her actions are. I can understand where both sides are coming from, and I'm sort of in the middle with the divisive reactions. On one hand, Starlight did have a few adorable moments post-redemption, but I wouldn't be lying if I said that her redemption wasn't written that well in my opinion to make me get invested in her.

However, I'm not gonna waste my time ranting about it, since I've seen enough valid arguments about Starlight's redemption, and I'm gonna do my own take on how Starlight's redemption could've worked:

Season 5 Finale (The Cutie Remark Part 1 and 2)

Part 1 and 2 of The Cutie Remark were pretty great and entertaining to watch, but I think the way that Starlight Glimmer's motivation was revealed and how her redemption was handled kind of ruined Part 2, and the show itself In general going forward after that. So most aspects of The Cutie Remark Part 1 and 2 would remain stay the same, but what would change for Starlight's redemption is when she reveals her true motivation to Twilight Sparkle and Spike during their battle through time. What would happen instead is that Starlight reveals to Twilight and Spike that she used to have A lot of friends during her childhood growing up, but when Sunburst and her friends got their cutie marks, except for herself, it lead to them moving away and Starlight was left on her own.

Starlight started to get bullied by others due to her being Blank-Flanked and not getting her Cutie Mark, and it lead to her starting to study magic obsessively and teach herself everything, even the most forbidden spells, not just to get her mark, but also in an attempt to get revenge against them. Starlight Glimmer's past self conclude that all the magic in the world is moot because cutie marks are all the matter to everyone, because they were so obsessed with them when she was a kid. This is where Starlight got the ideas of creating the Equality Village because no cutie marks = no bullying, and she'll secretly become more powerful than everyone there, anyway, making for some dramatic irony. Starlight tries to commit A travel spell, but it backfire, so she can help Twilight repair the damage, and possibly saves her life in the process.

She turns herself in, and when Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack learn what Starlight was trying to do, they don't instantly forgive or accept her so easily, but it would be rightfully deserved since Starlight did put Twilight and Spike in danger. I know that one of the themes of MLP is supposed to be forgiveness, which I understand, but It shouldn't just be handed on A silver platter without actually having to earn it, and I think The Mane 6 not trusting Starlight just yet until she earns forgiveness from them would be a fair way of showing that Starlight won't be accepted so easily.

I mean, Sunset Shimmer from the first Equestria Girls movie didn't get accepted right away for her actions and had to earn everyone's trust and forgiveness, so if the writers of the show had Starlight go through that same kind of character arc of earning the right to be trusted and forgiven, then her redemption could've been more effective. So instead of being made a "student of friendship" and being accepted so easily by The Mane 6 and The Villagers, Twilight, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna decide sentence her to Doing Community Service going into Season 6.

Season 6

So during the start of Starlight Glimmer's redemption arc, The Princesses, The Mane 5, and Starlight's Village wouldn't trust her so easily, but during Season 6, she would stop relying on Magic so much in order to solve her problems and issues. Starlight would be doing community service to make up for her actions, and during so, Community service for Starlight can give her things to do that actually make her interesting, like for example, she can try to share her goals, wants, needs, feelings, desires, quirks, habits, fears, than just saying that she likes Kites. Not only would Starlight Glimmer try making amends with Twilight, but with her friends as well. Starlight can bond individually with the Mane 6, but she would have to earn their trust instead of it being handed to her.  

Then during the episode "Every Little Thing She Does", which is towards the end of the episode, Starlight decides she wants to do some soul searching on her own for awhile by Traveling Equestria, and try making amends with the Villagers that she wronged long ago, but she would eventually return. The Season 6 finale storyline would then be The Mane 6 working with Starswirl The Bearded and The rest of The Pillars to take on Stygian, who is now corrupted as The Pony of Shadows, and Princess Luna can take Starlight's role when trying to reason with Stygian instead.

The Mane 6 and The Pillars resolve their conflict with The Pony Of Shadows in a similar way to how the show did it, but with Starlight's role replaced with Princess Luna, and Twilight is left upset when she sees Starswirl The Bearded and Stygian reconcile after Starlight left. The Season 6 finale can end with Starswirl The Bearded and The Pillars assuring The Mane 6 that since they were able to reconcile with Stygian and find their own ways home, they can with Starlight as well if they just give her some time.

      Season 7

A few things that can happen during Season 7 in this rewrite is Starlight have A few of her own standalone episodes to flesh her out more and focus on her redemption, and Starlight reuniting with her old Village and trying to make amends with the people that she wronged during the time she was A villain can be its own standalone episode. Perhaps Trixie could also encounter Starlight when she does a magic show for her Village, and their friendship can start when that happens, Except maybe have it NOT be toxic, Trixie not being so overly Smug, and have Starlight and Trixie actually bond.

As for The Season 7 Episode "A Royal Problem", with Starlight being away from Equestria to trying to earn trust back from her Village, Maybe Instead, It can be A Standalone flashback episode of when Princesses Luna and Celestia were mentored by Stawswirl The Bearded when they were teenagers, and the whole premise of their cutie marks being switched can be done by Starswirl instead.

The Season 7 finale storyline would have Chrysalis return as the main villain, but Starlight being the main hero can be A bit stronger now with her redemption arc being more fleshed out. The team that Starlight Glimmer assembles to take on Chrysalis and save her captured subjects in this would consist of Starlight, Spike, Trixie, Discord, Thorax and Twilight Sparkle, with Starlight and Twilight putting their new friendship to the test to save the ones captured by Chrysalis. After Chrysalis gets defeated, Starlight finally becomes worthy of forgiveness to Twilight and everyone in Equestria.

Things like Starlight's reunion with Sunburst, befriending Maud Pie, and helping The Mane 6 can happen in Season 8 instead.

What do you guys think of these ideas?

I gotta say, you deserved a gold star!

In my personal opinion, I wasn't too crazy about Starlight Glimmer. When I first saw her in Season 5, I thought she was a very interesting villain. Once Cutie Remark came, I was very disappointed because it makes her motivation seems so petty. It's one thing to hate on cutie marks, but it's another when you are making an entire village having ponies having the same equal cutie marks all just because Sunburst got his cutie mark than her and act like a cry baby about it. That's just so pathetic. Not to mention, it's a complete ripoff of Apple Bloom's story from Call of the Cutie. I can't believe that I didn't notice that until now. Man, that pisses me off. Sunset may got a half ass redemption, but at least Rainbow Rocks did make up for it because the movie shows that she earns it. And good backstory, on top of that. I really don't see that in Starlight.

But then again, her post-redemption is no better, either. As she can be so impulsive that she doesn't know how to control herself. You can argue that Twilight can be impulsive at times, but at least she move past that as she learns and grow as the show goes on. Starlight, on the other hand? She constantly messes up just for the sake of plot convenience or just for the sake of a joke. That's why I don't like Every Little Thing She Does because it basically make Starlight unlikable by brainwashing the Main 6 instead of, you know, talking to them like actual people. So it makes absolutely no sense to me when she doing those things.  Not to mention, a couple of episodes later, Starlight befriends with Trixie. So, it makes her friendship with the Main 6 completely pointless. Don't get me started on Royal Problem.

Another thing that I hated about Starlight, is that the writers were trying way too hard to make her a sympathetic puppy dog who's right about everything at using the expense of other characters. No Second Prances is a good example of this. Why would the writers make Twilight so unlikeable to Trixie when she already forgiven her in Magic Duel? It comes across as the writers trying to subvert the audience's expectations by saying "you know, as great as Twilight forgives Trixie,..............buuuut what would happen if she doesn't?"  "Or better yet, what if Trixie came back... and befriends with Starlight?" (GASPS) That's a perfect idea! Hey, Nick Confalone? Wrote that episode!"

It feels like the writers was trying to have a cake and eat it too with no concrete plan on what to do with Starlight. They originally wanted have Starlight be the new main character in the second half of the show with a new Main 6, but Hasbro rejected it. So the staff was trying to working around with it by having the Student Six, and you know the rest. It was such a hot mess.

Such a shame that Starlight was completely wasted a character since she had so much potential to be a really good character. Instead, she was Twilight 2.0

But that's just me. If you like her, that's great. I wish she could've done so much better.

With that said, if I were to rewrite Starlight, here's how I do it:

- Scrap the whole time travel story and have the story take place in the current time. Have Starlight's backstory be a young filly who think cutie marks are the antithesis of way a life. She think cutie marks can change a person and their talents is a waste of time. She study very hard, all day, all night, to perform new spells, and tricks to take away cutie marks all to herself. Instead of this horseshit backstory about Starlight crying over Sunburst got his cutie mark, have Starlight not having friends because all she needs is magic and studying. Very similar to Unicorn Twilight, but more sinister and evil and manipulative and using her magic to her advantage. Saying things to Twilight that she want to be just like you before she was a princess. Twilight emotionally backed out because she realized how much she's changed and she don't want to become the next Starlight. Starlight and Twilight having this huge fight, battling each other, blah blah blah blah, and have Twilight said to Starlight that 'do you think everypony would care about you? Do you really think cutie marks are nothing special?" That kind of psychological thinking leave Starlight doesn't know if Twilight was right or there's more to cutie marks than she thought it was. Starlight defeated and powerless and left completely emotional. She thought cutie marks can change a person, but she didn't realized that cutie marks doesn't make a person who they are. Instead of having Twilight being a mentor to Starlight, have Starlight leave Ponyville and go back to her village because 1. she needed some time to think about it. And 2. she wanted to start her life over by learning what cutie marks was about and making amends the village ponies. However, the village ponies were unsure about forgiving Starlight after what she did. Starlight apologized to everypony that she hurt. She learned that there's more to cutie marks than just being the antithesis of a way of life. She would never take away other ponies' cutie marks with her magic. For now, she would learn to control herself and not do it again. The village ponies understands and let her take Community service and have some time for herself.

 

- If you wanna have the Main 6, have them visit the village in a couple of episodes to see Starlight has changed. Give the village ponies personalities and backstories about how they got their cutie marks, including Starlight. However, Starlight used to have a cutie mark for being the first young filly to have powerful magic in her hometown. She thought she's gonna be the most powerful unicorn there is, but now she's regrets it. At least Starlight realized that's all in the past, and she'll use her powers for good instead of evil.

 

- If you want Trixie to come back, have an episode continue after Magic Duel in which Trixie moves on and start a new life. Then, she comes to Starlight's village, and she think she wants to preform a new magic show. When she met Starlight, she noticed that she got some mad skills, that Trixie think that's a good idea to have her as a partner. They get along very well, and they become good friends. Trixie didn't have friends when she was young. Starlight didn't make friends when she was young, either. Both of them have become great buddies. Instead of Twilight not forgiving Trixie for no reason, Twilight comes to visit Starlight and she was surprise that Trixie returned. Trixie was also surprise that Twilight came back since she was a alicorn. Starlight was confused and tell them that they know each other. Twilight tells Starlight it was a long story. Trixie tells Twilight that she needed a friend and Starlight had a lot in common with her. She really needed a partner to help out with her magic show. Twilight see that Trixie had changed and she fully understand and respect her decision. Trixie smiled and embraced with a hug. Starlight joins along.

 

So that how I rewrote her.

What do you think?

Edited July 29, 2021 by JMTV99

[TheDarkMare1939 11]

15 hours ago, JMTV99 said:

I gotta say, you deserved a gold star!

In my personal opinion, I wasn't too crazy about Starlight Glimmer. When I first saw her in Season 5, I thought she was a very interesting villain. Once Cutie Remark came, I was very disappointed because it makes her motivation seems so petty. It's one thing to hate on cutie marks, but it's another when you are making an entire village having ponies having the same equal cutie marks all just because Sunburst got his cutie mark than her and act like a cry baby about it. That's just so pathetic. Not to mention, it's a complete ripoff of Apple Bloom's story from Call of the Cutie. I can't believe that I didn't notice that until now. Man, that pisses me off. Sunset may got a half ass redemption, but at least Rainbow Rocks did make up for it because the movie shows that she earns it. I really don't see that in Starlight. And good backstory, on top of that.

But then again, her post-redemption is no better, either. As she can be so impulsive that she doesn't know how to control herself. You can argue that Twilight can be impulsive at times, but at least she move past that as she learns and grow as the show goes on. Starlight, on the other hand? She constantly messes up just for the sake of plot convenience or just for the sake of a joke. That's why I don't like Every Little Thing She Does because it basically make Starlight unlikable by brainwashing the Main 6 instead of, you know, talking to them like actual people. So it makes absolutely no sense to me when she doing those things.  Not to mention, a couple of episodes later, Starlight befriends with Trixie. So, it makes her friendship with the Main 6 completely pointless. Don't get me started on Royal Problem.

Another thing that I hated about Starlight, is that the writers were trying way too hard to make her a sympathetic puppy dog who's right about everything at using the expense of other characters. No Second Prances is a good example of this. Why would the writers make Twilight so unlikeable to Trixie when she already forgiven her in Magic Duel? It comes across as the writers trying to subvert the audience's expectations by saying "you know, as great as Twilight forgives Trixie,..............buuuut what would happen if she doesn't?"  "Or better yet, what if Trixie came back... and befriends with Starlight?" (GASPS) That's a perfect idea! Hey, Nick Confalone? Wrote that episode!"

It feels like the writers was trying to have a cake and eat it too with no concrete plan on what to do with Starlight. They originally wanted have Starlight be the new main character in the second half of the show with a new Main 6, but Hasbro rejected it. So the staff was trying to working around with it by having the Student Six, and you know the rest. It was such a hot mess.

Such a shame that Starlight was completely wasted a character since she had so much potential to be a really good character. Instead, she was Twilight 2.0

But that's just me. If you like her, that's great. I wish she could've done so much better.

With that said, if I were to rewrite Starlight, here's how I do it:

- Scrap the whole time travel story and have the story take place in the current time. Have Starlight's backstory be a young filly who think cutie marks are the antithesis of way a life. She think cutie marks can change a person and their talents is a waste of time. She study very hard, all day, all night, to perform new spells, and tricks to take away cutie marks all to herself. Instead of this horseshit backstory about Starlight crying over Sunburst got his cutie mark, have Starlight not having friends because all she needs is magic and studying. Very similar to Unicorn Twilight, but more sinister and evil and manipulative and using her magic to her advantage. Saying things to Twilight that she want to be just like you before she was a princess. Twilight emotionally backed out because she realized how much she's changed and she don't want to become the next Starlight. Starlight and Twilight having this huge fight, battling each other, blah blah blah blah, and have Twilight said to Starlight that 'do you think everypony would care about you? Do you really think cutie marks are nothing special?" That kind of psychological thinking leave Starlight doesn't know if Twilight was right or there's more to cutie marks than she thought it was. Starlight defeated and powerless and left completely emotional. She thought cutie marks can change a person, but she realized that cutie marks doesn't make a person who they are. Instead of having Twilight being a mentor to Starlight, have Starlight leave Ponyville and go back to her village because 1. she needed some time to think about it. And 2. she wanted to start her life over by learning what cutie marks was about and making amends the village ponies. However, the village ponies were unsure about forgiving Starlight after what she did. Starlight apologized to everypony that she hurt. She learned that there's more to cutie marks than just being the antithesis of a way of life. She would never take away other ponies' cutie marks with her magic. For now, she would learn to control herself and not do it again. The village ponies understands and let her take Community service and have some time for herself.

 

- If you wanna have the Main 6, have them visit the village in a couple of episodes to see Starlight has changed. Give the village ponies personalities and backstories about how they got their cutie marks, including Starlight. However, Starlight used to have a cutie mark for being the first young filly to have powerful magic in her hometown. She thought she's gonna be the most powerful unicorn there is, but now she's regrets it. At least Starlight realized that's all in the past, and she'll her powers for good instead of evil.

 

- If you want Trixie to come back, have an episode continue after Magic Duel in which Trixie moves on and start a new life. Then, she comes to Starlight's village, and she think she wants to preform a new magic show. When she met Starlight, she noticed that she got some mad skills, that Trixie think that's a good idea to have her as a partner. They get along very well, and they become good friends. Trixie didn't have friends when she was young. Starlight didn't make friends when she was young, either. Both of them have become great buddies. Instead of Twilight not forgiving Trixie for no reason, Twilight comes to visit Starlight and she was surprise that Trixie returned. Trixie was also surprise that Twilight came back since she was a alicorn. Starlight was confused and tell them that they know each other. Twilight tells Starlight it was a long story. Trixie tells Twilight that she needed a friend and Starlight had a lot in common with her. She really needed a partner to help out with her magic show. Twilight see that Trixie had changed and she fully understand and respect her decision. Trixie smiled and embraced with a hug. Starlight joins along.

 

So that how I rewrote her.

What do you think?

I 100% agree with your criticisms of Starlight, and I like how you did your own take of fixing Starlight's redemption. I think it's pretty good.

Edited July 29, 2021 by TheDarkMare1939

[JMTV99 1,353]

5 hours ago, TheDarkMare1939 said:

I 1000% agree with your criticisms of Starlight, and I like how you did your own take of fixing Starlight's redemption. I think it's pretty good.

Awww thank you.

[Megas 27,629]

Change Starlight’s backstory completely. At this point anything would a step up from the *insert genuinely offensive insult here* excuse they actually came up with.

Aside from that? Honestly just switch Shadow Play and TWABA. Starlight had a much bigger presence in S7 than S6 and I feel after 2 seasons more people would warm up to Starlight being the hero in TWABA if she had both more time to build and better use of said time 

Edited February 24, 2022 by Megas

[Rushing cash 836]

Your idea for her backstory is good, would have worked better than what they went with. While I don't think her backstory is bad, but it is certainly did not live up to the expectations. I think her redemption moment wasn't bad, but what happened right after was a mistake. Instead of finishing the episode with the song and the epilogue where she in 2 minutes bonds with everyone they should have left that for a couple of episodes in season 6, that way it would have felt more fleshed out and not forced down our throats. If they showed that she is trying to make amends and many even the main 6 still don't trust her instead of ending with such a 'everything is perfect' scene in season 5 would make a more convincing story and helped many fans accept her quicker. As for what happened later on in the series I am okay with it, it showed us that she is still a bit messed up (especially season 6) and struggling to get rid of her old habits. 

They could have gone on a little different route in S5 finale, with choosing 1 alternate future and focusing on it (I would have liked to see more of Sombras and NMs futures, or maybe create a future with starlight becomig a big figure, maybe defeating Celestia or becoming an alicorn through stolen magic), with starlight coming with twilight into that future, realizing eventually she is destroying not only Twilights life, but everyones else too and so eventually helping twilight return to the original time line.   

[Goat-kun 2,527]

I wouldn't rewrite her redemption. I'd erase it from canon entirely and go forth with Tirek-Cozy Glow story straight from the start of season 5. I mean, just look around the fandom. How many people do you see going on about rewriting those villains? Exactly. The only "major" complaints are about Cozy backstory and how she was disproportionally punished compared to other ponies.

[Evil Pink One 13,506]

One good fix on starlight is just let starlight tell her story on the spot and not go to the past when she was a filly.... She'd tell her story on the waste land.... That way her telling the story there can give a bad atmospheric feel and by only telling, Fans can make their own imagination on what happened.

[TheDarkMare1939 11]

On 2021-07-31 at 11:46 AM, Goat-kun said:

I wouldn't rewrite her redemption. I'd erase it from canon entirely and go forth with Tirek-Cozy Glow story straight from the start of season 5. I mean, just look around the fandom. How many people do you see going on about rewriting those villains? Exactly. The only "major" complaints are about Cozy backstory and how she was disproportionally punished compared to other ponies.

 

That's not A bad idea. I think that would've worked, but did you like my take on Starlight Glimmer's redemption, at least?

[Goat-kun 2,527]

On 2021-08-04 at 9:38 PM, TheDarkMare1939 said:

That's not A bad idea. I think that would've worked, but did you like my take on Starlight Glimmer's redemption, at least?

It still doesn't make me feel bad about her. She remains a conceited brat that hurt others cause of minor social issues and got away with it. And she's still the main character of your story instead of Mane 6. This adds nothing to their journeys.

[TheDarkMare1939 11]

On 2021-07-30 at 10:36 PM, Starforce said:

I quite like it. But I'll give you my own, and see what you think of it. 

In Starlight's youth, she was a lousy blank flank that struggled with everything when she was younger. She was bullied for having a blank flank and was deeply hurt by this. Her grief turned into rage that she directed to those bullies, and so she turned introverted. There was one pony however, that saw Starlight as an equal. That was Sunburst, who was also a blank flank. Starlight was initially extremely closed off and had a hard time opening up to because of her grief. Eventually the 2 became friends after she opened up.

Starlight came up with the idea of a society where everyone was equal and nobody treated anyone else differently. She blamed cutie marks for this and wanted to find a way to destroy them from everyone. When Starlight learned of this talent and improved her magic, that is when she got her cutie mark first before others. After FINALLY receiving her cutie mark she became extremely self centered and egotistical. Sunburst hadn't gotten his cutie mark yet. Starlight stole the cutie marks of the bullies and locked the cutie marks away in jars, and stole the cutie mark of the mayor of the town and gave it to Sunburst, despite him not wanting anything to do with her any longer. She had thought about what she would replace ponies' cutie marks with, that would be an equal sign.

Sunburst gathered a mob of ponies to chase Starlight out of the town, this deeply hurt and made Starlight feel extremely betrayed. She however, blamed herself for this. In her grief, she tried to remove her own cutie mark but no matter what she did - it would always come back. She also blamed Sunburst for this as well. She ran away from the town.

Eventually, Starlight would build her own town in the desert and convince ponies she met that would stay behind. She would have made them accept 'equality'...which in all reality would make them her slaves and brainwash them into her loyal servants. Starlight then she found a scripture that said, “If anyone where to claim the Mark of a Princess for one self, then he or she will become an Alicorn and be worshiped”. Starlight then came up with a new scheme that she would hunt down a Princess and claim her cutie mark for herself an alicorn get revenge on those who have wronged her and purge the world of Cutie Marks. She also planned to make herself the only pony with a Cutie Mark and special talents so that she can be better and far more superior than others, because by now, her grief turned into pure ego.

All would be well for Starlight Glimmer until Twilight Sparkle arrived in her town. Everything would end up being the same, Starlight would run away into the cave that she knew very well. 

Starlight would sneak into Twilight's castle in an attempt to steal Twilight's cutie mark. She makes a fatal flaw in this plan, Twilight's friends ended up finding her out but Starlight would overpower them, and capture them. Starlight Glimmer forced Twilight to give up her cutie mark, but Starlight also stole the cutie marks of the mane 6 and became an all powerful alicorn Princess.

The mane 6 tried to use the elements of harmony against Starlight but that fails. Discord, Celestia, and Luna among others eventually overpower and defeat Starlight. Forced to return the cutie marks she stole, she would revert back to her normal form. They also took Starlight's ability to take cutie marks. She would agree to reform...a few days later...she ran away and escaped capture. She planned to destroy the mane 6 and reclaim her powered up form once and for all.

Not bad. Your take of making Starlight remain as a villain looks interesting. 

On 2021-07-29 at 3:59 PM, JMTV99 said:

Awww thank you.

You're welcome. 

Also, I got an idea for an alternate ending to MLP's Magical Mystery Cure episode if you wanna hear it.

[JMTV99 1,353]

20 minutes ago, TheDarkMare1939 said:

You're welcome. 

Also, I got an idea for an alternate ending to MLP's Magical Mystery Cure episode if you wanna hear it.

Sure. Go for it.

[TheDarkMare1939 11]

12 hours ago, JMTV99 said:

Sure. Go for it.

Alright, then. It's a rewrite of Magical Mystery Cure that I found. You can read it here:

https://mlpforums.com/topic/191748-my-rewritten-version-of-magical-mystery-cure/

 

[Ring Team 123]

I didn't know this thread existed, probably because back then I was a bit disconnected from the fandom. But here's how I would rewrite the character and fixed it. It was posted here last year, but still.

Quote

First, I want to clarify that I like the idea of having a new main character that happened to be a villain. That’s why I like Sunset Shimmer and Tempest Shadow. I love Tempest Shadow because she ended up seeing value in friendship at the end of the film. And as a result, to save Twilight and her friends, she sacrificed herself. I also like Sunset Shimmer for the same reasons, even though I wish Rainbow Rocks was much more focused on her than the music concert, which is a pity.

My main problem with Starlight Glimmer is that, from a narrative and dramatic point of view, she’s painfully underwhelming. My first problem is that it was very weird that they wanted to show a unicorn that was for some unexplainable reason more powerful than an alicorn such as Twilight (to the point where she can take away the cutie marks). I think a scepter that would allow her to do that type of magic would have been more interesting, like the alicorn pendant of Trixie in season 3.

And now that I mention the cutie marks, I think it completely rewrote the established rules and lore about cutie marks. It severely invalidates the personal aspect and the point of having a cutie mark. When you have a talent, you perfected it and you make a living with your own talent and effort, that doesn’t matter anyway because Starlight is gonna take that away from you whenever she wants and however she wants. And I think it shouldn’t have been this way. It’s like painting the face of God. Better yet, it’s like playing God.

It also didn’t make sense that she only appeared in 2 episodes out of 26 in season 5. When “Make New Friends but Keep Discord” came out and it ended with the main characters in a party, I was one of the few people who asked “shouldn’t they be chasing Starlight? She might cause more problems”. Back then, a couple of people answered me (in a very condescending way, I must add) that “we can have other types of episodes, they can make later another episode of Starlight, this is a slice of life TV show”. And I’d agree if it wasn’t for the fact that we never got an episode about Starlight until the very end. I didn’t understand why people were hyped when we don’t know too much of her during the entire season 5 until the final episode.

After 7 or 8 months of lack of episodes about Starlight, we got Cutie Re-mark. Starlight got into Twilight’s castle (that has no security whatsoever for some reason) and uses a time spell because apparently she’s powerful enough to make a time travel spell. Twilight is struggling to find her. After 3 or 5 what ifs (including a scene of Chrysalis where she doesn’t have her altered voice from A Canterlot Wedding), we learned something about her: Her motivations, her goals, her intentions, why she does the things she does… After 7 or 8 months of absolute silence, we finally know her backstory.

Her best friend moved away when she was a foal and now she’s evil.

That’s it. The episode doesn’t share her motivations in detail, it doesn’t fully explore the relationship between Starlight and Sunburst, it doesn’t show any kind of progression, nothing. After 7 or 8 months, a reveal like this was underwhelming. And, out of nowhere, Twilight forgives her and, with no progression, she became a new main character.

They had a chance of developing her. But I’d assume they would do it in season 6. What we essentially got was Starlight being socilly awkward while she’s learning friendship, like Twilight in the early seasons (which doesn’t make sense because she managed to convince the filly Rainbow Dash to not trust Twilight back in Cutie Re-mark). It doesn’t make sense for a unicorn that was able to manipulate an entire town and to get respect from everyone in Cutie Map. It’s hard to like her when she has moments like forcing Big Macintosh to talk to her with quotes like “I can’t be friends with somepony who doesn’t talk”. Why would you love a character that says things like this?

 

Then we got Every little thing she does. After seeing some episodes in season 6 that suggested a change for the better in Starlight (like A Hearth’s Warming tail), we got an episode where Starlight, for no reason, decided to go back manipulating Twilight’s friends, even after she was forgiven back in Cutie Remark. Her will to finish her friendship homework as quick as possible doesn’t fit with her desire of redemption. And now that I mention it, it doesn’t make sense that a unicorn that was able to manipulate an entire town now is clumsy at doing that.

You could argue that she ended up redeeming herself in the season 6 finale, but I didn’t think that episode was satisfying. I don’t think the Mane 6 would be so defenseless at a point where they can defend themselves, especially after fighting against the changelings in season 2.

After that ending, I watched a little bit of Celestial Advice. After some exhaustion, fatigue and disappointment with the season 6, especially with Starlight Glimmer, some flanderized characters, the redesign of the changelings and how Chrysalis was treated as a joke, I stopped watching the show. 3 years and a half later, in the pandemic era, I decided to give it another chance, but even after season 6 I had many problems with Starlight in her episodes, specifically three common problems:

1. Like Every little thing she does, Starlight uses her magic to manipulate everyone or swapping cutie marks without any consent to achieve her goals, including getting stressed to create dark magic and manipulate more ponies, like All bottled up, A royal problem and Uncommon bond.

2. In episodes like Rock solid friendship, she says she doesn’t like to be judged even though she has no right to say it considering the events of Cutie Map, Uncommon bond and Every little thing she does. You can't manipulate someone and pretend you don't like to be judged.

3. Unlike Rainbow Rocks and the 2017 MLP film, no one (absolutely no one) questions Starlight’s intentions despite the fact that she’s obviously dangerous. The show clearly questions Discord because he was evil. That makes sense. But the entire Ponyville and Canterlot don’t give the same treatment for Starlight.

She seems to be mostly selfish and possesive, which are features I don’t associate with a character who is supposed to have a redemption arc. In Road of Friendship, she traded Trixie’s home and she gets angry at her because she cried for what Starlight did, which makes it incredibly hard to like her. The show has lots of moments like this with Starlight, including the short where she manipulates Twilight that was made in 2019.

Basically, Starlight using her magic to manipulate ponies and swap cutie marks in an abusive way to achieve her goals and being a jerk with her new friends is really bad. Not to mention her constant negligence and lack of discipline, which makes her even less relatable, less tolerable, less likeable and less empathetic. I mean, even TV Tropes describes Starlight as “the biggest Base-Breaking Character in the show”.

 

So, what could fix these issues?

The most common suggestion I’ve read in some threads was to still maintain Starlight a villain. And, while it’s a good idea, I think it would be too major to be considered a relatively small change. I agree she’s dangerous enough to still be a villain, you just have to see what she can do. But I think making her a villain with no mercy would be a bit senseless judging from her very simplistic backstory, and also the fact that I don’t want to pitch a different TV show. I still think it’s very irrational for her to be against the world just because “her friend moved away”. Again, this is the type of content you would write in one day, maybe less time.

I’ve read a comment that says that “Twilight manipulated Ponyville in Lesson Zero” and because of that, people shouldn’t be that hard on Starlight. And that’s true. However, Twilight only did that at the end of the episode and it was only for 2 minutes. It’s not like it’s the entire premise of Lesson Zero. There’s much more stuff going on. However, I think Starlight should have been more critiziced because:

1. She was a villain in the first place.

2. Considering the first point, she’s supposed to learn friendship instead of keep manipulating everyone with magic as she did in Cutie map.

Another popular comment I’ve read that defends her was that Starlight making mistakes is essentially her character, that this is the point of her. But I think it’s senseless. Using magic to solve friendship problems and/or learning about friendship not only is a boring solution (especially considering that she creates powerful magical spells with worrying ease), but it also shouldn’t be a solution for a character who was previously a villain. As we saw in episodes such as Every little thing she does, A royal Problem and Uncommon Bond, she uses her magic as the main method to solve a problem. Not only it’s creepy, but it also reveals a possesive nature in Starlight that is disturbing. Not to mention that I've read a Starlight fan complaining about Sprout in the movie because "he needs to earn redemption", which doesn't make sense after parising a manipulative character. So the "mistakes argument" didn't make any sense in the first place.

The idea of Starlight having to manipulate everyone after Cutie Remark just because “that’s the point of her” defeats the purpose of her redemption arc. When you have a character like this, I have a hard time believing the “accepting the character the way she is” argument, especially when she can do dangerous things. You can’t act like her redemption arc is meaningless for the sake of keeping her manipulating everyone and ending the discussion like nothing happened. That contradicts the whole idea of what Friendship is Magic is about.

So, instead of using magic to manipulate everyone to achieve her goals, I think the best approach for Starlight Glimmer would be to give her a reason to redeem herself.

My proposed solution would be this: Instead of being an overpowered unicorn, I think her magic should be dependable on a scepter or a magic amulet, kinda like Magic Duel. Without it, she wouldn’t harm anyone, she wouldn’t create dark magic whenever she gets stressed and she wouldn’t be that dangerous on her own. This type of horrific spells would make sense in an ancient scepter.

 

Instead of 2 episodes, she should get 6 episodes that are distributed in season 5, kinda like the elements of harmony episodes in season 4. In those episodes we would get to know who Starlight is by having Twilight and some of her friends go in a quest. With Starlight running away in Cutie Map, it would make sense that they would go after her, since that she’s dangerous. With 6 episodes, Twilight would get to know her past, where she came from, who her best friend is, who her parents are, what type of pony she was, etc.

Instead of becoming a manipulative villain because her friend moved away, Starlight had a manipulative mother who, since her childhood, taught her that this is how she would succeed in life and that’s how the world works. That severely affected her view of the world. As for Sunburst, he would have the same experience and the same type of mother, but with the difference that he solved his family issues. That way you can talk about empathy as a central part of the show later.

In the season 5 finale, Twilight takes a huge effort to help her, that it’s not her fault, it’s because of her mother. She can be whoever she wants, she doesn’t have to be manipulative with everyone, she can be like Sunburst. By knowing what happened to him, Starlight finally listens to her, she says “I’m sorry”, Twilight says “let me help you” and we will get a new character properly introduced.

 

In season 6, instead of manipulating anyone, Starlight would have a reason to be better. Knowing that Sunburst solved his personal problems to get better, she desires to be like her best friend, but there’s a twist: In The Crystalling, when Sunburst discovers what she has previously done, he decides not to see her, because, to him, she’s dangerous. He will say: “If you really have changed, then prove it”. Like Sunset Shimmer in Rainbow Rocks, the show should be consequent to Starlight’s actions, it should show a cause and an effect. By considering Sunburst her best friend, Starlight would do her best to be a better pony.

So, most of her episodes would be her learning about friendship, but they shouldn’t feel like Twilight from season 1, it should be like her own episodes. So, not socially awkward, no book obssesions, just a character that slowly opens up herself with her new friends. When it comes to the villains, she would overcome them by ingenuity, not an excessive use of magic. And, in the season 6 finale, when Sunburst realizes that Starlight has got better, he will consider her as a friend. And the next seasons will have these two going into adventures together. And now that they’re together, Starlight would see the benefits of her growth and her change.

Having an approach like this would allow Starlight to actually learn friendship, learn from her mistakes, fighting against her inner demons and, overall, be better without affecting the flow of the show and splitting the fans.

With all this said, I’m not saying that the Starlight fans (either vocal or calm fans) are wrong or anything like that (from my experience, My Little Pony is important for very different reasons for very different people, and that’s great). I’m saying that, in order for her to learn from her mistakes, redeem herself and be relevant, the writers (especially Josh Haber) needed to take away features from her such as being negligent, being possesive, having powerful magic and swapping cutie marks like nothing, which is kinda where the problem is here.

That's my take.

[SunsetShimmerStan 36]

On 2021-07-28 at 2:23 PM, TheDarkMare1939 said:

During the early days of MLP: FIM when Seasons 1 to 4 came out, I enjoyed watching the show despite some of its flaws. When Starlight Glimmer first appeared during Season 5, I thought that she was A very cool villain and the whole concept of equality made me excited to see what she'd do as a new villain. However, when Starlight got redeemed during The Season 5 finale...I wasn't the biggest fan of it.

Now, Starlight Glimmer's redemption received very divisive reactions, from what I remember. Some Fans of MLP liked Starlight being an addition to The Mane 6, and some people hated how Starlight was forgiven very easily because of how sick her actions are. I can understand where both sides are coming from, and I'm sort of in the middle with the divisive reactions. On one hand, Starlight did have a few adorable moments post-redemption, but I wouldn't be lying if I said that her redemption wasn't written that well in my opinion to make me get invested in her.

However, I'm not gonna waste my time ranting about it, since I've seen enough valid arguments about Starlight's redemption, and I'm gonna do my own take on how Starlight's redemption could've worked:

Season 5 Finale (The Cutie Remark Part 1 and 2)

Part 1 and 2 of The Cutie Remark were pretty great and entertaining to watch, but I think the way that Starlight Glimmer's motivation was revealed and how her redemption was handled kind of ruined Part 2, and the show itself, In general, going forward after that. So most aspects of The Cutie Remark Part 1 and 2 would remain the same, but what would change for Starlight's redemption is when she reveals her true motivation to Twilight Sparkle and Spike during their battle through time. What would happen instead is that Starlight reveals to Twilight and Spike that she used to have A lot of friends during her childhood growing up, but when Sunburst and her friends got their cutie marks, except for herself, it leads to them moving away and Starlight was left on her own.

Starlight started to get bullied by others due to her being Blank-Flanked and not getting her Cutie Mark, and it leads to her starting to study magic obsessively and teach herself everything, even the most forbidden spells, not just to get her mark, but also in an attempt to get revenge against them. Starlight Glimmer's past self concludes that all the magic in the world is moot because cutie marks are all that matter to everyone because they were so obsessed with them when she was a kid.

This is where Starlight got the idea of creating the Equality Village because no cutie marks = no bullying, and she'll secretly become more powerful than everyone there, anyway, making for some dramatic irony. Starlight tries to commit A travel spell, but it backfires, so she can help Twilight repair the damage, and possibly saves her life in the process.

She turns herself in, and when Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Applejack learn what Starlight was trying to do, they don't instantly forgive or accept her so easily, but it would be rightfully deserved since Starlight did put Twilight and Spike in danger. I know that one of the themes of MLP is supposed to be forgiveness, which I understand, but It shouldn't just be handed on A silver platter without actually having to earn it, and I think The Mane 6 not trusting Starlight just yet until she earns forgiveness from them would be a fair way of showing that Starlight won't be accepted so easily.

I mean, Sunset Shimmer from the first Equestria Girls movie didn't get accepted right away for her actions and had to earn everyone's trust and forgiveness, so if the writers of the show had Starlight go through that same kind of character arc of earning the right to be trusted and forgiven, then her redemption could've been more effective. So instead of being made a "student of friendship" and being accepted so easily by The Mane 6 and The Villagers, Twilight, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna decide to sentence her to Do Community Service going into Season 6.
 

Season 6

So during the start of Starlight Glimmer's redemption arc, The Princesses, The Mane 5, and Starlight's Village wouldn't trust her so easily, but during Season 6, she would stop relying on Magic so much in order to solve her problems and issues. Starlight would be doing community service to make up for her actions, and during so, Community service for Starlight can give her things to do that actually make her interesting, like for example, she can try to share her goals, wants, needs, feelings, desires, quirks, habits, fears, than just saying that she likes Kites. Not only would Starlight Glimmer try making amends with Twilight, but with her friends as well. Starlight can bond individually with the Mane 6, but she would have to earn their trust instead of it being handed to her.  

Then during the episode "Every Little Thing She Does", which is towards the end of the episode, Starlight decides she wants to do some soul searching on her own for awhile by Traveling Equestria, and try making amends with the Villagers that she wronged long ago, but she would eventually return. The Season 6 finale storyline would then be The Mane 6 working with Starswirl The Bearded and The rest of The Pillars to take on Stygian, who is now corrupted as The Pony of Shadows, and Princess Luna can take Starlight's role when trying to reason with Stygian instead.

The Mane 6 and The Pillars resolve their conflict with The Pony Of Shadows in a similar way to how the show did it, but with Starlight's role replaced with Princess Luna, and Twilight is left upset when she sees Starswirl The Bearded and Stygian reconcile after Starlight left. The Season 6 finale can end with Starswirl The Bearded and The Pillars assuring The Mane 6 that since they were able to reconcile with Stygian and find their own ways home, they can with Starlight as well if they just give her some time.

      Season 7

A few things that can happen during Season 7 in this rewrite is Starlight have A few of her own standalone episodes to flesh her out more and focus on her redemption, and Starlight reuniting with her old Village and trying to make amends with the people that she wronged during the time she was A villain can be its own standalone episode. Perhaps Trixie could also encounter Starlight when she does a magic show for her Village, and their friendship can start when that happens, Except maybe have it NOT be toxic, Trixie not being so overly Smug, and have Starlight and Trixie actually bond.

As for The Season 7 Episode "A Royal Problem", with Starlight being away from Equestria to trying to earn trust back from her Village, Maybe Instead, It can be A Standalone flashback episode of when Princesses Luna and Celestia were mentored by Stawswirl The Bearded when they were teenagers, and the whole premise of their cutie marks being switched can be done by Starswirl instead. The Season 7 finale storyline would have Chrysalis return as the main villain, but Starlight being the main hero can be A bit stronger now with her redemption arc being more fleshed out.

The team that Starlight Glimmer assembles to take on Chrysalis and save her captured subjects in this would consist of Starlight, Spike, Trixie, Discord, Thorax and Twilight Sparkle, with Starlight and Twilight putting their new friendship to the test to save the ones captured by Chrysalis. After Chrysalis gets defeated, Starlight finally becomes worthy of forgiveness to Twilight and everyone in Equestria.

Things like Starlight's reunion with Sunburst, befriending Maud Pie, and helping The Mane 6 can happen in Season 8 instead.

What do you guys think of these ideas?

Pretty solid, though I got some questions for specific episodes. One, how would The Crystalling two-parter go if the Starlight and Sunburst stuff wasn't in there? The Flurry Heart stuff there makes it impossible to simply push it back for a later season like with No Second Prances and To Where and Back Again being pushed to season 7 and Rock Solid Friendship (and likely by extension Uncommon Bond) pushed to season 8.

Two, how would Starlight's other season 6 episodes like A Heart's Warming Tail and The Times They Are a Changeling go with her not being Twilight's student? Ditto for some of her season 7 episodes like Celestial Advice and All Bottled Up?

On 2021-07-29 at 2:36 AM, JMTV99 said:

I gotta say, you deserved a gold star!

In my personal opinion, I wasn't too crazy about Starlight Glimmer. When I first saw her in Season 5, I thought she was a very interesting villain. Once Cutie Remark came, I was very disappointed because it makes her motivation seems so petty. It's one thing to hate on cutie marks, but it's another when you are making an entire village having ponies having the same equal cutie marks all just because Sunburst got his cutie mark than her and act like a cry baby about it. That's just so pathetic. Not to mention, it's a complete ripoff of Apple Bloom's story from Call of the Cutie. I can't believe that I didn't notice that until now. Man, that pisses me off. Sunset may got a half ass redemption, but at least Rainbow Rocks did make up for it because the movie shows that she earns it. And good backstory, on top of that. I really don't see that in Starlight.

But then again, her post-redemption is no better, either. As she can be so impulsive that she doesn't know how to control herself. You can argue that Twilight can be impulsive at times, but at least she move past that as she learns and grow as the show goes on. Starlight, on the other hand? She constantly messes up just for the sake of plot convenience or just for the sake of a joke. That's why I don't like Every Little Thing She Does because it basically make Starlight unlikable by brainwashing the Main 6 instead of, you know, talking to them like actual people. So it makes absolutely no sense to me when she doing those things.  Not to mention, a couple of episodes later, Starlight befriends with Trixie. So, it makes her friendship with the Main 6 completely pointless. Don't get me started on Royal Problem.

Another thing that I hated about Starlight, is that the writers were trying way too hard to make her a sympathetic puppy dog who's right about everything at using the expense of other characters. No Second Prances is a good example of this. Why would the writers make Twilight so unlikeable to Trixie when she already forgiven her in Magic Duel? It comes across as the writers trying to subvert the audience's expectations by saying "you know, as great as Twilight forgives Trixie,..............buuuut what would happen if she doesn't?"  "Or better yet, what if Trixie came back... and befriends with Starlight?" (GASPS) That's a perfect idea! Hey, Nick Confalone? Wrote that episode!"

It feels like the writers was trying to have a cake and eat it too with no concrete plan on what to do with Starlight. They originally wanted have Starlight be the new main character in the second half of the show with a new Main 6, but Hasbro rejected it. So the staff was trying to working around with it by having the Student Six, and you know the rest. It was such a hot mess.

Such a shame that Starlight was completely wasted a character since she had so much potential to be a really good character. Instead, she was Twilight 2.0

But that's just me. If you like her, that's great. I wish she could've done so much better.

With that said, if I were to rewrite Starlight, here's how I do it:

- Scrap the whole time travel story and have the story take place in the current time. Have Starlight's backstory be a young filly who think cutie marks are the antithesis of way a life. She think cutie marks can change a person and their talents is a waste of time. She study very hard, all day, all night, to perform new spells, and tricks to take away cutie marks all to herself. Instead of this horseshit backstory about Starlight crying over Sunburst got his cutie mark, have Starlight not having friends because all she needs is magic and studying. Very similar to Unicorn Twilight, but more sinister and evil and manipulative and using her magic to her advantage. Saying things to Twilight that she want to be just like you before she was a princess. Twilight emotionally backed out because she realized how much she's changed and she don't want to become the next Starlight. Starlight and Twilight having this huge fight, battling each other, blah blah blah blah, and have Twilight said to Starlight that 'do you think everypony would care about you? Do you really think cutie marks are nothing special?" That kind of psychological thinking leave Starlight doesn't know if Twilight was right or there's more to cutie marks than she thought it was. Starlight defeated and powerless and left completely emotional. She thought cutie marks can change a person, but she didn't realized that cutie marks doesn't make a person who they are. Instead of having Twilight being a mentor to Starlight, have Starlight leave Ponyville and go back to her village because 1. she needed some time to think about it. And 2. she wanted to start her life over by learning what cutie marks was about and making amends the village ponies. However, the village ponies were unsure about forgiving Starlight after what she did. Starlight apologized to everypony that she hurt. She learned that there's more to cutie marks than just being the antithesis of a way of life. She would never take away other ponies' cutie marks with her magic. For now, she would learn to control herself and not do it again. The village ponies understands and let her take Community service and have some time for herself.

 

- If you wanna have the Main 6, have them visit the village in a couple of episodes to see Starlight has changed. Give the village ponies personalities and backstories about how they got their cutie marks, including Starlight. However, Starlight used to have a cutie mark for being the first young filly to have powerful magic in her hometown. She thought she's gonna be the most powerful unicorn there is, but now she's regrets it. At least Starlight realized that's all in the past, and she'll use her powers for good instead of evil.

 

- If you want Trixie to come back, have an episode continue after Magic Duel in which Trixie moves on and start a new life. Then, she comes to Starlight's village, and she think she wants to preform a new magic show. When she met Starlight, she noticed that she got some mad skills, that Trixie think that's a good idea to have her as a partner. They get along very well, and they become good friends. Trixie didn't have friends when she was young. Starlight didn't make friends when she was young, either. Both of them have become great buddies. Instead of Twilight not forgiving Trixie for no reason, Twilight comes to visit Starlight and she was surprise that Trixie returned. Trixie was also surprise that Twilight came back since she was a alicorn. Starlight was confused and tell them that they know each other. Twilight tells Starlight it was a long story. Trixie tells Twilight that she needed a friend and Starlight had a lot in common with her. She really needed a partner to help out with her magic show. Twilight see that Trixie had changed and she fully understand and respect her decision. Trixie smiled and embraced with a hug. Starlight joins along.

 

So that how I rewrote her.

What do you think?

So what would happen with To Where and Back Again's two parter and the Starlight episodes in seasons 7-9 (where she befriends Maud and ends up being part of the School of Friendship)? Not saying you have bad ideas, they are good. Just curious how those episodes would go with Starlight being back at her old village instead of being Twilight's student.

On 2021-07-31 at 11:46 AM, Goat-kun said:

I wouldn't rewrite her redemption. I'd erase it from canon entirely and go forth with Tirek-Cozy Glow story straight from the start of season 5. I mean, just look around the fandom. How many people do you see going on about rewriting those villains? Exactly. The only "major" complaints are about Cozy backstory and how she was disproportionally punished compared to other ponies.

 

Don't you think cutting Starlight's redemption out completely is a bit harsh? I mean that would sorta require one heck of reinventing the wheel for later seasons plus how would later seasons go?