Starlight struggles to come to terms with her past. How could somepony ever forgive her? Moreover, why is she receiving love and forgiveness when she doesn't deserve it? Why? In her mind, she deserves nothing but damnation and eternal hatred. So why does this magenta Alicorn continue to fight for her? Starlight is broken. And she does not want to be repaired. No, she doesn't deserve to be repaired. Love brings nothing but heartbreak, so why love at all?
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This short story explains what happened after the episode: The Cutie Remarking. It is directly related to my own universe, however, you do not need to read anything else to understand or enjoy this narrative.
HNNNNNNNGGGGGG
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Out of them only Storm King missed it. But that was villain vs. villain in that case
In old franchise Katrina escaped doom only because her henchman had kind of tender feeling about her
So sad, and so beautiful.
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I mean, pure technicality, only Sombra and Cozy are ponies out of that list, but....
Sombra: On his second chance, tried to reconquer the Empire destroyed during the attempt without active effort to do so. On his third chance, only villain to turn on Grogar, but returned to his villainous efforts without hesitation, nearly conquering Equestria in the process, destroyed (presumably) by force of Harmony. Who is far less forgiving than Twitwi.
Cozy: When given a chance to explqin herself and seek reformation, laughed at the very concept of it, wholeheartedly threw herself into attempted conquest on escape.
Storm King: Attempted attack on Twilight thwarted by former henchman, killed by gravity and insufficient supply of Krazy Glue. AGain, far less forgiving, and given she was wielding her magic through an unusual focus, hardly unlikely that Twilight may have had trouble grabbing two targets.
Tirek: Argument to be had here, but showed no interest in trying to surrender or turn over a new leaf at any point, including while literally in a prison cell confronted by Twilight and with the ability to help her prevent a catatrophe.
Queen Swissalis: Offered second chance, literally batted it qway and vowed vengeance.
The big difference between Starlight and those others is that she demonstrated that, once her rage had proven futile and destructive, once she had the consequences of her actions thrown in her face and had a moment to absorb that, she wanted to change.
But anywho.
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If you notice, the other villains were willing to change. I think you have to actually be sorry for your actions to be forgiven. However, cozy is just a kid, and that seemed wrong.
A nice, touching story. With a very warm final scene. Full of emotions...
I love Starlight's breakdown over Twilight's unending kindness. I adore the dynamic of someone who can't see the good in themselves being comforted by someone who loves them unconditionally and is always willing to give them another chance. I honestly kinda wish Starlight's initial redemption on the show went something more like this, but ultimately I'm okay with how things went in canon, and this fic is just ultimately sweet and adorable, and sweet and adorable are my favorite things.
Seriously, it annoys me to no end how people just ignore that the villains who never reformed are the ones who threw away all their chances (aside from maybe the Storm King, I haven't seen the movie so I don't really know there), not to mention how people ignore that it wasn't even Twilight and company who doled out the worst punishments on the show.
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Thank you!
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I have a longer version of this in case I need it, but here's the short version for now. Cozy Glow showed at every opportunity that she knew exactly what she doing, exactly how messed up it was, and she willingly did it all anyway. Being a kid doesn't really hold up as a defense after committing high treason more than once, sabotaging the relationships between the peoples of the world, and implicitly attempting to basically murder people, including six innocent teenagers and a less-innocent-but-still-good-hearted councilor, and, you know, trying to take over the world, all of one's own free will.
Loved this Story!