My thoughts on the season 5 finale

My thoughts below the page break because spoilers.

Well, that happened. Honestly I do wish I'd gone in completely blind but I happened to see the words time travel and Starlight Glimmer in the synopsis when I was checking for episode release dates. But lucky for me it still had its fair share of surprises.

(My personal theory for this world is that all the villains succeeded, then fought each other for dominance)

Anyways, I really enjoyed all the possible outcomes and it gave me a ton of ideas for stories as I'm sure it did for many of us here on fimfiction. From what I've seen via reaction videos we've got a few people very happy about Sombra's return. Personally that timeline reminded me a lot of World War II; Applejack's appearance reminded me a lot of Rosie the Riveter, ponies back home providing provisions and supplies for the troops, and the appearance of the train. I feel like in this situation Sombra could be Hitler but at the same time I don't see as many parallels as I did with Cutie Markless. At the same time I don't think he could be the leader of the Japanese. Maybe another war would fit better but in any case I don't have more than a general idea and a handful of neat little tidbits about some wars, mostly involving American history.

Chrysalis' return was actually my second favorite to Discord's if only because watching him chase around Celestia and Luna as clowns was just hilarious to me. The appearances of the ponies in the Chrysalis dominated timeline made me think a bit about the difficulty for changelings of perfectly changing their appearance to match a pony's. I'm thinking that it would be difficult for changelings to copy things like mud due to texture and physics, especially if it's in no specific pattern, or at least that this is a belief held by Zecora and the resistance. Feel free to turn that theory on its head if you have a better idea.

I feel like Nightmare moon's kingdom was actually the most stable and the closest to Celestia's rule. Her only real goals are to stay in power, keep Equestria in a state of perpetual night, and keep her sister imprisoned on the moon. Even then her main goal was to imprison her sister on the moon and she did that years ago and get ponies to appreciate her night sky. I'm actually pretty sure that in time she'd grow dissatisfied, realize the error of her ways and that nopony would truly appreciate her night sky this way, eventually switch to Celestia's method of ruling due to boredom and eventual guilt looking at the night sky and moon all the time. A thousand years changes a pony after all, evil or otherwise. It was never really Luna or Nightmare Moon's goal to rule over a kingdom alone and her Equestria won't prosper unless she learns to deal with issues with the ponies living there in mind instead of just her own personal gain. Running a kingdom well is a huge responsibility that requires a ruler who cares about their subjects at least to some degree and seeing as she either had her sister to help her with royal responsibilities or left many if not all of them to Celestia in the past, she's going to have to learn to deal with those on her own. And with no Mane Six, she has to deal with threats to Equestria on her own or with her army, it's highly likely none of those situations will end nearly as cleanly as they would with the Elements of Harmony. I could go on, but I'm pretty sure you get the point by now.

As far as Starlight's redemption is concerned, I enjoyed it immensely. Rather than looking for reasons it doesn't work or point out that she shouldn't be forgiven so quickly after all she's done; I looked for reasons it works, a reasonable explanation as to why it happened the way it did and I'm pretty satisfied with my conclusions.

FAQ 1) Why was Starlight forgiven so easily?

There has been a running theme of forgiveness, accepting responsibility, and redemption throughout season 5. First there was Trouble Shoes (Appleoosa's Most Wanted), then Discord (Make New Friends but Keep Discord), Gilda (The Lost Treasure of Griffonstone), Spike (Princess Spike), Pinkie Pie (Party Pooped), Twilight (Amending Fences), Luna (Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?), Sassy Saddles (Canterlot Boutique), Big Mac (Brotherhooves Social), Diamond Tiara (Crusaders of the Lost Mark), the Apple family and Applejack in particular (Hearthbreakers), the Hooffields and the McColts (The Hooffields and McColts), and now Starlight Glimmer (The Cutie Re-Mark). All of these characters have at one point made bad decisions based on either prior experiences or acting on strong emotions and ranging from misrepresenting yak culture in an attempt to make the visiting yaks feel more at home to acting on certain negative beliefs or practices based on how they were raised or an event in their foalhood that changed them. It may seem as though Starlight got off easy but take into account how much the Mane Six has learned about forgiveness on both sides of the issue. Also take into account the situation; they see before them a pony of great magical power capable of doing so much harm to Equestria on her own. They also see a pony who regrets her actions and is willing to accept any punishment and even change her ways, a pony who could do so much good for Equestria if only she knew how, a pony who only ever wanted friends but was too afraid to reach out, a pony who could easily have been any of them. Sure, they also see all the harm that she's done in her village, they've heard an account of what Twilight went through, but they also heard that this time even with victory over Twilight just a torn scroll away, she stopped herself. They see what she was in the past but they also see what she could be in the future and that pushing her away could potentially prove disastrous and that she could make for a great friend as well. Also, Twilight told them her "better idea" and probably reconciled any doubts and concerns that the others might have had. As for the ponies back in her village; they've had a year (if a season is as long as I think it is) to think about it and I think they'd prefer a Starlight who isn't trying to take their cutie marks and regrets her actions over her past self any day. Of course the fact that she likely initiated the apology probably helps.

FVC (Frequently Voiced Complaints):
1) We're supposed to believe that just because Sun Burst left her she became like she was in the season premiere?

Events in our childhood have a big effect on how we view the world. It's the same for foalhood. This is especially true for this situation in which her only friend; with whom she spent probably nearly as much time as the CMC spends together, is suddenly gone from her life just because he has a mark on his flank. She doesn't blame Sun Burst or his parents who send him to Canterlot, but rather his cutie mark for taking him away from her. Thus, she later views her village as a safe place where her "friends" will never leave her because she conflict proofs everything. In her mind, when Twilight and the rest of the Mane Six took that away, they took her only way of making friends and all the friends she had.

2) She could have visited or wrote or something.

As I understand it a trip to Canterlot still costs bits and if it's anything like the real world, it costs more the further away you live. Her parents may not have seen it as a worthwhile expense just to go see her friend. As for letters, they're not the same as actually hanging out with the pony or in our case person and since unlike Twilight, she doesn't have a baby dragon who can instantaneously send mail to Canterlot it could take a while to get there if it gets there at all. And I'm sure whatever he was doing there probably kept him at least fairly busy.

3) And he really just left her like that, without a word?

I assume he was just going to his parents to show them his cutie mark. He probably didn't expect to be sent to Canterlot not long after. And Starlight probably only saw this as a possible rift forming between them. And from that experience, the series premiere, and what she says to Twilight while she's ripping the map, I gather that she was the type of pony who ran from her problems. As such she could have avoided him not even knowing it was the last week he'd be there or where he'd be going until well after and then interpret that in any number of ways implying that she was right all along and because of his cutie mark he doesn't care about her anymore.

4) Why didn't she make friends after getting her cutie mark?

I suspect that she might have tried, had an argument or something, and not having experience with friendship beyond foalhood assumed they could never be reconciled unless they didn't have a cutie mark.

5) Why not be happy for him?

Essentially the logic I imagine Starlight Glimmer would use as a filly is that it's that award that made them go away, so if they never got it they wouldn't move away and would still be her friend. She only focuses on what she's losing, not what he may or may not be gaining.