Season 5, Episode 25 & 26 Thoughts and Review · 8:28pm Dec 12th, 2015
After two weeks, I've finally managed to get off my butt and do a review. Also, this post is hella long, so enter at your own risk.
The finale of season five, otherwise known as the "what the literal buck just happened" finale. This finale was really something, and after taking a week to cool down and gather my thoughts, here we are.
The Cutie Re-Mark - Part 1
The episode begins with Twilight Sparkle at the School for Gifted Unicorns practicing for an upcoming lecture about cutie marks. During her lecture the next day, Twilight talks about the sonic rainboom that led to her and her friends getting their marks.
Moon Dancer is such a good girlfriend... Yeah, I ship TwiDancer, DEAL WITH IT.
In the middle of her lecture, Twilight briefly sees Starlight Glimmer in the audience, but she disappears just moments later, making Twilight nervous.
Check out all the background ponies! I see that Gothic Pony in the back (I named her Hot Topic lol)
On the way back to the Castle of Friendship, Twilight worriedly wonders what Starlight could be up to, and Spike considers that she might be returning for revenge after her previous plot had been foiled. In the castle throne room, Twilight and Spike find Starlight sitting in one of the thrones.
SURPRISE, BITCH.
Using a magic scroll, Starlight casts a spell that opens a portal over the Cutie Map, and she vanishes through it, leaving the scroll behind. When Spike touches the scroll, the spell on it activates again, and Twilight and Spike are dragged through the portal as well.
And that's when everything went to shit.
Twilight and Spike land in Cloudsdale Flight Camp. When they see Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy as fillies, they realize they have traveled back in time to the day Rainbow Dash performed her first sonic rainboom. During Rainbow's race against Hoops and Dumb-Bell, Starlight Glimmer interferes and stops Rainbow from doing the rainboom. Starlight's intervention has a ripple effect that prevents Twilight's friends from realizing their true talents.
As Twilight confronts Starlight about what she has done, the time portal opens again and pulls her and Spike inside, returning them to the future.
"Where's here?"
"More like when."
To quote Stewie from Family Guy, "Ugh, that's such a douche time traveler thing to say."
As a result of Starlight's actions in the past, history has been altered: Twilight's castle is gone, leaving only the Cutie Map; much of Ponyville has been abandoned; Sweet Apple Acres is now an industrial apple-processing plant; and the Crystal Empire is encroaching upon the rest of Equestria. They find Applejack, and she explains that when the Crystal Empire returned, King Sombra waged all-out war against Equestria, and the rest of the Mane Six now serve as members of Princess Celestia's army.
OK, Imma take a moment to freak out because I'm still not over all of this, so bear with me...
KING SOMBRA.
MIND CONTROL SLAVE ARMOR AND FIGHTING.
CELESTIA BEING A CONCERNED RULER AND FIGHTING WITHOUT CAUSING SERIOUS HARM BECAUSE SHE KNOWS THAT SOMBRA'S SOLDIERS AREN'T DOING THIS OF THEIR OWN FREE WILL.
RAINBOW DASH WITH BATTLE DAMAGE AND A CYBER WING.
SISTER FIGHTING DUO PINKIE AND MAUD.
KING FUCKING SOMBRA.
WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE MY REACTION.
Intent on setting things right, Twilight uses the scroll to travel into the past again, making sure to arrive a few minutes before they arrived last time. However, Starlight is there waiting for her, and she traps Twilight and Spike in a crystal block. She explains the spell is programmed so that if Twilight tries to use it, Starlight will always arrive before she does.
This was hilarious. She was so into yelling she didn't even notice they were slipping through and she just rolls her eyes and floats down there.
After ranting that she will have her revenge on Twilight and her friends for ruining her operation in Our Town, she shoves the crystal and it plummets out of the clouds. After she frees herself and Spike from the crystal before it hits the ground, Twilight goes to confront Starlight and finds her talking with filly Fluttershy and her bullies, convincing them to be friends.
Is NO ONE on Cloudsdale even a little interested why there's a Unicorn and a fucking alicorn princess there along with a baby dragon? No one? Alright, then.
With Fluttershy no longer being bullied, Twilight approaches Rainbow Dash and tries to convince her to do the sonic rainboom, but Rainbow flies away, unnerved by Twilight's behavior and Alicorn status. As Starlight gloats, Twilight and Spike are suddenly pulled back into the future again.
This isn't an edit. This is an actual thing Twilight did. Sweet lord.
When Twilight and Spike return to the future, the timeline has changed yet again, with Ponyville being covered in dense trees. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie confront them at spear-point, accusing them of being changelings.
I... Why do Pinkie and Shy have the same cutie marks if they never discovered their true talents...? I... I have questions.
So, what did I think of this episode? It was wild. It was a great first part and it had me hooked the whole way. That Sombra War was bomb as hell and the fact that this episode ended on a cliffhanger like made me wanna keep watching! This episode was GOOD, although there were some questions I had:
-How come Twi was still an Alicorn? Is it because she's not actually tied in the futures and is merely from an alternate timeline? Does this mean that there's another Twilight out there, helping with the war effort? How come we didn't see her? Would it have been too confusing or just too soul-crushing to see it? Or... Is that world's Twilight dead?
-Why did the Mane Six have the same marks in these futures if they never met? Did they get them regardless? Does this mean that even though they got them at the same time, it wouldn't have mattered because they would have gotten them eventually? Does this mean that their marks coming together was a weird coincidence? Oh... Oh my god, MORTY WAS RIGHT.
...I'm gonna have to think about this for a minute.
The Cutie Remark - Part 2
Twilight Sparkle and Spike insist to Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and the other ponies that they are not changelings, but they don't believe them. Zecora appears and covers Twilight and Spike in a magical salve that indicates they are from a different reality.
ZECORA, YOUR FUCKING MANE, OMG.
As the group walks through the woods, Zecora explains how Queen Chrysalis rose to power, and Twilight explains how Starlight Glimmer's actions have changed history, resulting in this alternate timeline. Zecora leads Twilight and Spike to a wooded camp, where ponies hide away from Chrysalis' sight. When Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash appear and say Chrysalis has attacked Ponyville, Zecora immediately recognizes them as changelings in disguise.
The Queen of Deception posing as the Element of Honesty... Jesus, that is some fucking irony.
Applejack is revealed to be the changeling queen herself, and her army descends upon the camp. As Zecora and her resistance fend off the attack, Twilight and Spike race back to the Cutie Map and return to the past.
SHOUT OUT TO BAMF ZECORA.
Upon returning to past Cloudsdale, Twilight faces off against Starlight in a clash of magic. Filly Rainbow Dash stops the race to watch their battle, causing the sonic rainboom to be prevented again. Twilight and Spike are pulled back to the future once more.
Twilight and Spike are returned to a future of perpetual nighttime, and a group of timberwolves chases them toward the Castle of the Two Sisters. As a result of the timeline being altered again, the castle still stands, Nightmare Moon rules over Equestria, and Rarity and Rainbow Dash are her followers.
I LEGIT WENT 'OH SHIIIIIIT' WHEN THIS HAPPENED, HOLY SHIT.
This Rarity is my aesthetic.
Upon learning that Twilight has been traveling through time, Nightmare Moon demands to know the source of her time magic, intending to change history herself so that the Elements of Harmony are never discovered. She even takes Spike hostage to ensure Twilight's compliance. Twilight leads Nightmare Moon to the Cutie Map, but she catches her off-guard, rescues Spike, and uses Starlight's scroll to return to the past once again.
Twilight returns to the past yet again, determined to stop Starlight Glimmer's efforts. A montage sequence follows in which Twilight fails to stop Starlight from preventing the sonic rainboom and she is returned to a different future each time. In one alternate timeline, Lord Tirek lays waste to Equestria virtually unopposed. In another timeline, an unreformed Discord rules Equestria with his chaos. In yet another, Flim and Flam bulldoze entire forests to fulfill their needs.
Despite her numerous failures, Twilight refuses to stop trying, even if her conflict with Starlight could last for eternity. Just before she is pulled back to the future, Twilight drags Starlight with her to show her the outcome of her actions.
This... This was one of the darkest things the show has done.
When Twilight, Spike, and Starlight return to the future, Equestria has been reduced to a desolate wasteland. However, Starlight refuses to believe this is the result of the Mane Six not being friends, and she lashes out at Twilight for ruining what she built. Twilight says she doesn't know what Starlight has been through to make her this way, and Starlight angrily decides to show her, bringing the three back to the past one more time.
To Starlight's home.
Starlight takes Twilight and Spike to her old hometown, where she was once best friends with a unicorn colt named Sunburst. After an incident in which Sunburst stops a tall stack of books from falling on top of Starlight, Sunburst gains his cutie mark. When he leaves for Canterlot to study magic amidst praise from the whole town, Starlight is left feeling abandoned. She never makes another friend out of fear that a cutie mark would take them away from her too.
...OK, YOU KNOW WHAT. YOU KNOW WHAT. I was mad when I first saw this. The writers took a cheap route with Starlight's background and while, sure, it sucks her friend ditched her like that... Seriously? That's it? I spent the first couple days during and after the airdate of the finale SEETHING because this was the explanation we got. This was supposed to be the big, bad thing that made Starlight go wacko and evil and... and... It just seemed so goddamn cheap, not just for the show, but for Starlight as a character.
But... Something changed my mind about it. And I'll show you what it is when I finish up with this episode summary.
Starlight brings the three back to past Cloudsdale and prepares to stop the rainboom from happening again. She also prepares to rip the time travel scroll so that her changes to the timeline are permanent.
WHY DOES IT TAKE SO LONG RIP A SCROLL OF PAPER.
Twilight pleads to Starlight once more, having witnessed numerous terrible futures. Starlight again refuses to accept that Twilight's relationship with her friends is special, but Twilight tells her the Mane Six's differences are what make their friendship strong.
Starlight is still heartbroken over her friendship with Sunburst, so Twilight tells her to make new friends and work out problems that arise together. She extends her hoof to Starlight, and Starlight slowly takes it as the sonic rainboom goes off uninterrupted.
This? This right here? This was a great redemption because Starlight wasn't forced into doing it. She saw what she did was wrong and made the decision herself to quit. In the show, we don't really get that. They were either blasted with rainbows till they turned good or they were caught in a situation where if they didn't reform, it wouldn't work in their favor. However, as of late, MLP took on the direction of letting someone decide for themselves if they really want to change. Twilight offered her the decision and Starlight accepted.
"Take my hand, Twilight. Just like someone once did for me."
Twilight, Starlight, and Spike return to the future with the original timeline restored, and the time travel scroll vanishes in a flash of light. Twilight's friends arrive to see what is going on, and they are troubled by Starlight's presence.
That anxiety is all too real. You know you fucked up big time and all you can do is wait and see how big of a shit storm is coming your way.
A short time later, Twilight tells her friends about her ordeals while traveling through time, and they discuss the best way to deal with Starlight Glimmer. Applejack believes that Starlight is too powerful to allow to roam free, so Twilight decides to help her learn more about friendship and make Equestria a better place, and the rest of the Mane Six agree.
This... actually made me really happy.
In recognition of her new beginning, Starlight Glimmer leads her new friends in an uplifting song about how friendship changes the world. Starlight apologizes to the ponies she wronged in the past, and the episode ends on a large group shot of the Ponyville ponies with Starlight and the Mane Six in the middle.
Not gonna lie, I got a little misty-eyed during this scene.
Now... Onto what I thought of this conclusion, not only to a two-parter, but to a season. And let me tell you, I have got some thoughts.
The timelines were amazing to see. We got to see all these different "what if" scenarios and we got more fuel for stories and fanart than we could have asked for. I got a couple story ideas myself, and damn, are they a DOOZY.
But, despite the amazingness of this episode (albeit a few questions I have that got me reeling), there comes the issue that has everyone at each other's throat.:
Starlight Glimmer.
Some argue that her reason for being evil was stupid.
Some argue that her reason for being evil was justified .
Some say her redemption cheapened the finale and Starlight.
Some say the redemption took the episode to the next level and was good for Starlight.
I was on one side on the day of the finale. Then I was on the other a few days later. Now, I am here, shrouded in not white or black. I see things from both sides because I was on both sides, and now, I stand in the middle of this battlefield between fans.
Well, here we go.
Before the premiere, I was hoping for Starlight to have a reason for her actions, hopeful that there would be a redemption for our mysterious antagonist. Then, the premiere aired, and all my hope for a redemption faded away. I just wanted her to stay an antagonist.
I wrote an essay over Starlight and why I felt that people in the fandom weren't really taking her seriously. People would paint her as a misunderstood individual and erase her canon characterization as a villain. Not like Trixie or Gilda, but Villain, with a capital V, like Sombra, Nightmare Moon, and Chrysalis. Starlight was a bad guy-- no, bad GIRL --and she was doing a damned good job of it.
I love villains. I love villains because there's always something more to them, always something more for us to look for, and always something else for me to make connections to. I love Sombra because he was blank canvas and I was able to give him a story. I love Bakura from Yu-Gi-Oh because, while I didn't agree with the awful things he did, I understood why he did the things he did. He was witness to the death of his entire village and he was corrupted by a dark entity at an impressionable age, as well as losing faith to not only the kingdom he lived in, but the gods that he worshiped.
However, there is one rule that concerns not just villains, but all characters: A backstory can only explain a character's present characterization, not excuse it.
So, when I saw that the show was taking the "sad backstory" route in trying to explain, almost excuse, her behavior, I was livid.
When it comes to female villains, and female characters overall, whenever they possess a trait that a fellow male character has, they're criticized for it. Starlight is manipulative and so invested in her own ideology she doesn't care who gets hurt. Yet, she's criticized for it because people want her to be a hero, not a villain, and people want to sympathize for her and will make up a story to make her seem good when she isn't.
I was mad when I saw Starlight's redemption. Really mad. That song was nice and the montage of her bonding with the Mane Six was cute and sweet, but, I suddenly remembered my own anger about this very thing happening and I got mad all over again. I talked about this in my other blog, the day before the finale aired, and I spoke about some examples of why this gets on my nerves so much.
Starlight started a cult. She hurt dozens of ponies and manipulated them to the point where they gave up their individuality. She attacked the Elements of Harmony and a PRINCESS for God's sake, then was so angry that she went back in time to prevent them from ever meeting and in the end, caused Equestria so much harm through it that it eventually was wiped out and nothing was left.
All because her friend ditched her. She was so damn angry at her friend for leaving her because he got his special talent that she put Equestria's fate down the shithole. And I thought that it made no sense.
But... All of that changed when... THIS monster changed my mind.
...Damn you, Miles. Damn you to hell.
OK, let me tell you what he did. Miles, being the amazing bastard he is, decided he was gonna write not one, but TWO stories about Starlight and her redemption. And let me tell you, I am so damn mad that he managed to get even ME to change my mind. I don't normally do that.
The first fic he published was this:
Starlight Glimmer has been taken under the wing of Princess Twilight Sparkle.
Now, with parchment in front of her, she tries to empty the broken heart she has carried for two decades, and writes to the only friend she had growing up.
(Written on a whim in the waning hours of Finale Fever.)
Just... Dammit, Miles. You got me, man. You got me fucking GOOD.
If you scroll down on the story's comment list, you'll see I left one of my own. I'm gonna save you some trouble and post it here:
This? This just changed my perspective on Starlights reason for being so damn hurt. A couple weeks back, I was going through a serious depression and I was hurt by one of my friends. The reason why I was hurt seems so stupid now, especially to others, but dammit, whenever I think about it, it just fucking hurts so damn much.
Whenever I told someone how I felt, they just told me that people mess up, that they do things they didn't mean to do, that I shouldn't take it so personally... But that only made it worse.
My friend left me standing at that front door, alone, wondering what was so wrong with me that she couldn't even spare me a first thought, let alone a second one. And after realizing that I know how Starlight felt firsthand... I don't think I blame her for going the way she did.
If you don't know already, I spoke about this incident that occurred on Halloween this year(go to the end of the blog to get the information), and as soon as I remembered it when I was reading this fic, I immediately got emotional.
Here's a quote from the fic that really screwed with me:
Then came that fateful day when you got your cutie mark. We were playing jenga with all the books in my house. Now that I have gone back and reflected on it, I remember having so much more fun playing than you were. When you stopped that tower of books from collapsing on me, and you experienced that surge of magic that instantly sorted them and put them all away... It was like I wasn't even there. You ignored me completely in your excitement. We did everything together, and instead of hugging me and celebrating your achievement with me, you didn't even give me a second thought, running right past me to go outside to your parents, who whisked you away to Canterlot, and I never saw you again.
This got me because... I know how that feels. You think the world of someone and they barely even notice you. I had "friends" when I was younger that I would do anything for, and I practically did, but they never did anything for me. They didn't care about what I did.
But, that's not the only brilliance this fic displayed.
"Let me tell you about a friend of mine. Her name is Moondancer. We also went to the same school, had all the same things in common, and when I came to Ponyville, what I did to her was a lot like what Sunburst did to you. I left town without so much as a goodbye, and I didn't realize what I had done until a few years later. I almost took a pinata stick to the head when I finally got through to her with an apology. But the difference is, you were so much younger when it happened to you, and you haven't heard from Sunburst since. If your parents didn't help you through it, then yeah, I can see how that would mess you up. Starlight, I'm afraid that you have some very real abandonment issues, and I'm going to help you get through them. That's my promise as your teacher."
Here's the thing about Moonie; I didn't blame her for being hurt about Twilight leaving without a word. She thought the world of Twilight and she idolized her. She wanted to be just like her. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if she had romantic feelings for Twilight.(Review of the episode)
Miles, also being a big Moonie fan, does a fantastic job of tying these two separate incidents together. The people of the fandom sympathized with Moonie when Twilight hurt her and they supported her even as she turned cold and mean, myself included. That scene where Moonie lashed out at Twilight had me in tears because I know exactly how it felt to be her in that position.
This scene is too sad for me to rewatch because it brings back bad memories...
This ties in with Starlight so well because Starlight's quest for knowledge took a dark turn, whereas Moonie's kept her in isolation. However, there is ONE key difference between these two incidents.
Moonie was an adult when this happened. Starlight was a filly.
Children are very impressionable, and if they aren't taught something otherwise from what they've learned in experience, they usually hang onto it. Starlight must have never gotten that sort of talk from her family. In fact, we don't even SEE Starlight's family in this episode. None. There wasn't anyone to be revealed or remotely implied to be part of Starlight's family. (though I headcanon that she's related to Suri Polomare and Diamond Tiara in some way, shape or form... Yeah, I think Suri and Diamond are sisters, DEAL WITH IT)
Starlight claims that she went on with her life too scared to make another friend because she thought they'd abandon her again.
"I stayed here and never made another friend because I was too afraid another cutie mark would take them away, too!"
This is the actual quote Starlight said in the episode. And as an adult, this seems really stupid. But, when you look at it through the eyes of a child... Suddenly, it makes all too much sense for why Starlight was hurt.
Children can't feel complex emotions. They can only feel one thing at a time, and they aren't capable of recognizing their feelings as easily as older individuals. Think about Inside Out; the emotions could only take the controls one at a time, not together. This reflects in real life.
Starlight felt sad because her friend just left her. That memory controlled her decisions. In Inside Out, this was referred to as a "Core Memory".
The reason why this is so important is because at the time of the memory, you can feel anything. Happy, sad, angry... And if it's a core memory, that memory can influence anything you do. This was a core moment in Starlight's life, and after that, she literally couldn't entertain the idea of making a friend without that memory popping in and saying, "Hey, remember that time your friend abandoned you because of his cutie mark? Maybe you shouldn't do that again."
Another thing about memories is that when you look back on them, it doesn't really matter how you felt at the time when it happened. If you're sad and you remember a time when you're happy, that memory starts to turn bittersweet because of how you feel now.
In Inside Out, Joy wanted Riley to be happy, but what she didn't know is that it's ok to feel sad. You just can't let that sadness take over you and you can move on at your own pace.
Starlight never got that. She had that sadness turn into a bitter rage and it consumed her because she was so convinced in her own ideology that she felt that she was doing the right thing. That was something about her that made her such a great villain and character; she didn't see anything wrong with what she was doing because she didn't believe herself to be wrong.
Then, Twilight comes in and changes everything.
Twilight is one of the most powerful magic-wielders in Equestria. She's talented and extraordinary in every sense with her appearance and her talents. Yet, here she is, with not one, not two, but multiple friends who love her just the way she is. They didn't abandon her when she ascended into royalty, they didn't despise her for it, and they overcame their worries for her as a princess and remembered that she is their friend.
Now imagine living your entire life thinking that differences can only divide others because it happened to you, only to have that slapped in your face by this group of friends.
You deny it. You can't believe it's true because in a sense, it can't be. No friendship can be that important or powerful.
Except, it is. And Starlight learns this the hard way as she travels to the future with Twilight. She learns that despite the differences of the Mane Six, they still love each other and that because of that love for each other, warts and all, they have managed to conquer Equestria's greatest foes.
Starlight Glimmer: Ugh! What's so special about your friends?! How can a group of ponies that are so different be so important?!
Twilight Sparkle: The differences between me and my friends are the very things that make our friendship strong!
Starlight Glimmer: I thought Sunburst and I were the same. But we turned out different, and it tore our friendship apart!
Twilight Sparkle: So try again! Make new friends! And if something that you can't control happens that changes things, work through it together! That's what friendship is! And it's not just my friendships that are important to Equestria! Everypony's are! When yours ended, it led us here. But just imagine all the others that are out there waiting for you if you just give them a chance!
This? This right here? This is what Starlight needed to hear. Twilight told her everything she needed to hear because no one told her and she couldn't figure it out herself because of her own hurt.
There was this song I used to listen to by megaphoric that came out two years ago and it's been applied to Twilight. Now, upon listening to it again for the first time in a long time, I can only apply it to Starlight.
The song begins with the singer denying the Elements, saying that she's fine with being by herself because she knows that all of the things these Elements don't always hold true. Finally, the male singer joins in at the end, and as I hear him sing, all I can hear is Sunburst's voice telling Starlight that she shouldn't let his actions dictate her ability to make friends. The voice within Starlight telling her: It's OK to move on.
"This party can't make up for the way I hurt you. But please, don't let my mistake be the reason you can't be friends with anypony else."
-Twilight to Moon Dancer
This is the very thing that Starlight never got to hear from Sunburst. We have yet to see Starlight confront Sunburst, and to see her to do so... It would be emotionally breaking and powerful to say the least.
Allow me to sum up what my thoughts are with another quote from miles' story:
"All I'm writing is that I'm accusing him of abandoning me..."
"What you're doing," Twilight began, "Is pouring out the contents of your heart, and it's been broken for a long time, Starlight. Because you didn't let yourself heal. You didn't want to be hurt again. Your family didn't teach you that some ponies grow apart as their paths through life begin to split and branch out. But now you're not bottling it up anymore. There it is, right there in front of you... And you don't have to know what to do with it right away. This is going to take time. Maybe Sunburst doesn't need the letter. Maybe you do."
I'd like to take moment to say this: I love Starlight as a villain and I will continue to do so. I know that her past does not excuse her actions, but can only explain it. But, I know deep down, that this is what the writers were going for. They might not have executed as neatly as I or others would have liked, but now that I've thought about it and seen it from a different perspective, I was able to see where Starlight was coming from. Now, I'm happy about her being a part of the group so she can heal and learn more about friendship...
BUT, so help me, if the writers don't make Starlight work for her reformation like Sunset had to in EG, I will throw a hissy fit. Speaking of, I have a fun idea for a story...
Who wants to see a fic with these morons living together learning about friendship? It'd be freaking great.
Alright, thanks for tuning in for my review of the season finale! If it feels like I left out anything, feel free to bring it up and we can discuss it in the comments below. This is Harmony Charmer, and hopefully I can get down all my ideas that this finale gave me because WOW!
It's not just that she was a child - she is a pony. An equine. A herd animal. You need strong numbers, harmony among your herdmates, or all will get eaten. Instincts and such. She saw her 'herd' being torn apart by a CM and made a herd without them so this can't happen and no one will get eaten by some carnivore. It makes sense from her species' background as well.
Well, Luna was corrupted and the Elements removed said corruption. She wouldn't have had the chance to even consider being good again without that. Celestia did ask her if she wanted to be friends again, and Luna agreed, saying she was sorry.
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I never considered the herd mentality. It makes a lot of sense, actually. As for Luna, that is a fair point.
I gotta say I still think that star'S backstory was a little weak but I really hope they at least make her work for it like sunset ,
And by the way I would love it if u do exactly write the roommate fanfic it would be soooo dope tho ????
Finally, people are taking a finer look at the psychology of the little ones. A lot of the people who hate on Starlight's backstory criticize it as a stupid reason to hold a grudge and that she should have been able to see past it. But they don't get that it's a child making that decision. Children are very seldom able to think at a high enough level to see past their immediate, incomplete set of feelings. You also brought up a great point with Moondancer vs Starlight and the sleights they received. Twilight, Starlight, and Moon Dancer are all parallel characters. They're all versions of Twilights could have been. I personally thought that the writers did a great job presenting us with these possibilities in character paths. Just like when it aired, I'll say that this was my favorite season finale thus far.
I'd like to think that the ponies of Equestria in general are so desensitized that they're used to things like that.
-Why did the Mane Six have the same marks in these futures if they never met? Did they get them regardless?I would say yes on both counts
Someone else had a brilliant reasoning for that, either in their own review or their own comment:
Starlight wanted Twilight to convince her to stop.
And thank you for that section regarding Starlight's backstory and why her redemption made sense.
I knew that her backstory was a reasonable explanation for her behavior, and that her redemption was the best thing for her character. But I couldn't come up with anything for WHY both things worked. Heck, my reasoning for being so accepting of her redemption was simply:
a. From a practical standpoint, keeping Starlight close was the best thing to do.
b. I generally find former antagonists more interesting than regular antagonists.
Also, I hope that, in season 6, they tie together DT's and Starlight's character arcs for at least one episode.
I wasn't happy about what the writers thought up for Starlight Glimmer's backstory either and I didn't really accept the idea of her joining the group. But after reading your review...I changed my mind. Granted, the writters could of execute it better but you brought up so many good points that I never thought of and it actually makes sense. I hope Starlight actually works for her redemption in the next season but we'll see.
I'll give milesprower06's story a read since that is what convinced you to change your mind.
Also, excellent review!
I really enjoyed this. To be honest, the number of people who don't understand how Starlight's backstory works really frustrates me. Part of my frustration stems from the fact that I ship Glimlight and because so many people are eager to have her not really reform I feel that I'm not seeing a lot of stories based around reformed Starlight in general.
: As for the roomate fic, I've been waiting for someone to base a fic on that image so I'll definitely give it a read. 
You know I was in the boat of thinking Starlight's backstory was a bit lane but this showed me a different prospective on it. Taking it with this context it makes a lot of sense.
How did they keep their cutie marks? Because a pony's destiny is an indelible part of their being. Hear me out:
During Magical Mystery Cure, the marks of our main cast get shuffled around, as if they'd always had them. And they are terrible with their new special talents.
It's because the lives they were dropped in were not their true destinies, and the mysterious forces of Harmony knew that and were trying desperately to self-correct. Look at how quickly they took to it when they tried what their real talents were: There was absolutely no struggle, and it all just came to them seemingly naturally.
Indelible part of their being. The spell could only cover up their destinies; it could not actually change them. Same with all the alternate futures, as they covered over and painted the lives of our cast, but could not change their destinies.
I've been trying to figure out why people always seem to not think of the fridge brilliance the writers thought when composing Starlight's backstory.
This is so true no matter what anyone says. To take it from a psychological stand point. Starlight suffered for years with this trauma and no one helped her out. People might say 'Oh you can get over it' when in the truth side, Children can't really get over this painful feeling easily. I've known people who still recall the worst events of their childhood. One who is to this day, is afraid to sit in any vehicle because he lost someone close to him.
I'd have gone with
Yeah, if I was Rainbow Dash, I'd have said
, except Twilight IS an adult.
Does this help?
It would have been funny if it weren't so scary.
That brings up some scary implications. He didn't want to rule over anything, he didn't just want revenge, he wanted not just to bring them to their knees, he wanted to utterly OBLITERATE THEM. And without the Rainbow Power, he's pretty much unstoppable in that timeline.
No kidding, just, the implications of just what the hell could have happened for there to be such nothingness.
Dramatic Tension.
That really was byotiful.
Oh yeah, kid's show or not, I'm kinda hoping Starlight gets SOME punishment, granted, apart from Twilight, Spike and the other Mane 5, nobody knows what she did due to the whole timey wimey thing, but, yeah.
He does that a lot.
I honestly wouldn't either. And that's not just the shipper in me talking, considering how downhill she went, it's not impossible that she had a crush on Twilight, a SERIOUS crush that got "worse" as such, and that party in Episode 1 was when she might have been planning to reveal it to her, but when she didn't come, she was crushed, so she went into the only refuge she had, books, and well, Amending Fences speaks for itself.
I don't mind.
Aye, she must have been terrified of herself when she got her own cutie mark, fearing that her presence would tear apart friendships, and thus created Our Town so that it could never happen again.
That makes so much sense it SCARES me.
Yeah, when Sunset came out, she was pretty much the most boring villain the show had, outcalssed by all in every way, power, motive, hamminess, scale, characterization, etc, and she had a rushed end of movie reformation. Come Rainbow Rocks though, and everyone went from hating or being apathetic to EQG, to wanting MOAR! Sorry, more. Especially of Sunset. Because she is adorable.
It would be hysterical, just the sheer dry wit of Twilight and Sunset alone with Trixie's hamminess would be hilarious.
(I have to say this. THANK YOU SO MUCH. For a long time, I thought I was the only one who actually thought that this was a good finale, but you've proven me wrong. THANK YOU.)