The Three Faces of Whom?

It occurs to me that Sunset and Starlight are not knockoffs of Twilight. They are both (at their respective debuts) digs at fans who perceived Twilight to be a temperamental princess bent on world domination; and an agent of oppression wearing the mask of friendship, respectively. Funny how that turned out, since now they're both obedient members of "the Team". In context though, Sunset appeared when Twilight was inconsiderate and demanding, and amplified those flaws with obsessive tendencies that compromised any pretenses at morals she had. Sure, she looked cute doing it because she was a small cartoon pony, but that's because she couldn't threaten us. I think that more important than Sunset learning this behavior was wrong is Twilight doing so by seeing Sunset exercising it and falling victim to her antics. Likewise, Starlight appeared after the show had spent 4 seasons either "reforming" villains (who had previously been imprisoned) or outright destroying them, giving Twilight a vibe of being either a tyrant or the agent of one. Starlight was given the form of every rational, if (debatably) uninformed or misinformed complaint against the show for its unsettling apparent hidden message that you must smile and obey or there will be consequences.

Fast forward to now. Sunset is redeemed by her efforts in spite of the scorn she's earned, but for some reason can never return to Equestria. Maybe she's taken a shine to the taste of meat or something, I don't know. Starlight is also redeemed, although mercifully not by the Harmony Beam, but on the other hand she is forgiven (in canon) with no effort on her part. Instead, Twilight basically breaks character, surrenders to her and says that there is no way she can win so all she can do is show Starlight the results of her victory. Starlight breaks, says she's sorry, stops fucking with time, and gets inducted into the team. Since then, she has become the voice of reason (despite her tendency toward emotional outbursts) and mercy (despite needing to be told not to brainwash her friends), even going so far as to correct Twilight on her lack thereof at times.

The problem with all this, to me, is not just their behavior but that each of these three depletes the character of the other two. Their powers, talents, and flaws are all identical with some minor variations. If Sunset and Starlight didn't exist, and the struggles they presented were instead Twilight's own internal turmoil over her rapidly burgeoning power and authority and the dire need to control and not be consumed by it, then everything from EQG would be vastly improved by it. And not just narratively. Sunset could be replaced with Twilight's emotional and physical struggles with puberty (given the setting), which could have served as a solid message for the target audience. Her desperation for attention, cringe-inducing awkwardness and awakening hormones driving her to brief fits of insanity while she battles with a body she is not familiar with until she finally metamorphoses into an adolescent with the signs of true beauty, power, and maturity she would later have. Likewise, Starlight could be her anguish over finding her identity between her far-too-easily abused power as a new alicorn princess and her core personality as someone who wants to be kind and caring; complicated by her desire to get things accomplished and her need to not be the only individual in the world getting things accomplished, which is difficult because she's surrounded by timid idiots. Eliminating Starlight and Sunset from the narrative would have made Twilight's story into one of growth and inner conflict that would have been incredibly relevant and possibly even relatable to the target audience. And it would have made a position like the one she was destined for something to be taken seriously, which is critical since it's dominion over the entire country and possibly the world.

But then Hasbro would have to actually come up with legitimate depth to two of their toys in this super commercial, and we can't have that. Depth is a product of good writing, which tends to be more expensive than bad writing because authors with skill can afford to charge more for their time. Or they could, you know, not bother giving these characters arcs at all and actually focus on the main cast; which I'd think was the point of having a main cast. Dozens of characters in this show were popular long before they even had speaking lines. Sunset and Starlight could have gotten off with just being a new palette and mane/tail style with, if necessary, a single line or maybe even a whole scene. Imagine all the pain everyone could have been spared, especially since everything they set out to accomplish by necessity had to be prevented and most of the battle was outside of the entire rest of Equestria's perception. Better still, what if either of them had just been alternate personalities fabricated by Twilight to shunt the blame for her instances of morally questionable behavior so she could continue pretending to be the perfect pony princess until the lies came crashing down on her? It's not like that hasn't happened before.