Starlight Glimmer. Cause it's bothering me. (Oh time travel and whatnot) · 10:27am Jan 17th, 2016
So, no fancy. I'm just in a night of writing, and thought again of this because of spell power and fiction.
Not going to do complicated research. Just by memory:
First off: Nothing conclusive that Starlight Glimmer is more powerful than Twilight.
Spoilers. Obviously.
Nature of magic.
First off, Celestia can move the sun. Does it make her more or as powerful as the sun? Probably not.
Perhaps the sun by its nature, or because of spells already cast around it, is simply movable by magic. Celestia may simply have the knowledge and expertise to use the remote control spell. Powerful levitation, but that not so impressive.
After all, the average unicorn doesn't seem to bear the physical weight of what they levitate. There is strain, but that may be curtailed by technique more than power.
Finally: magic is not mainly limited by power, but by its application. The only permanent magic I recall is mental magic. And stuff imbued in objects. Of which the creation is not shown. And mental magic may not be as permanent as the impression it gave.
Transformation magic is certainly an interesting example of things: the transformed simply re-become what they were. What occurs if something big happens to them before they are changed back? That may be a good question that even the ponies didn't explore.
Twilght Sparkle vs Starlight Glimmer.
It was mostly a dual of values, backed up by actions. Both in the opening as in the finale. Although in the finale, both were more desperate.
First off, considering the dual between Nightmare Moon and Celestia. And other displays. It appears magic is not something that overpowers in a single move. Like in real-life, when you use brute force, it's about concentration of power.
The right amount of power, at the right moment, can let you harm or subdue. Also, you never use precisely all of your power, not in any normal fight. With magic, doing so may not even be possible.
So then, while Starlight did rip-off Twilights cutie mark. And power? She did so by stealing the initiative. Twilight didn't have time to shield herself. Nothing indicates magical power grants passive immunities.
Starlight Glimmer also prepared for the moment, and targetted Twilight first, before taking the mane six by storm. And then proceeded in her ploy to isolate and demoralize them. Likely relying on the side-effects of cutie-mark deprivation.
Later on. In the finale. Starlight Glimmer once again prepared her attack. She had studied her target, and once again took Twilight by storm, possibly after taking profit of Twilght's insecurities on purpose. Ofcourse she didn't utterly lose. Twilight's no warrior.
So the big spell thing: Character interact.
I think it actually showed some things about Starlight Glimmer: She is a villain who doesn't fight directly. Instead, she controls the experiences of others, in order to make them land where she wants. Very devious.
But, while she could have told Twilight what to think, or attack directly, she seemed to rely on insidious actions and frankly direct comebacks.
Starlight Glimmer didn't advance it was time travel, nor explain what to understand of the situation. Starlight Glimmer gave no riddle: she gifted an experience of worries and imprisonment. Actually, if Starlight Glimmer did live insecure and untrusting, she may have been trying to make Twilight feel the same.
And Twlight may have passed another stressful test that day.
A test that went quite fairly too; the exchanges were mostly one-sided bursts of anger that were shielded or dodged. with a few more insidious actions from Starlight Glimmer, when she helped out Fluttershy, in some way or another.
Starlight Glimmer didn't seem to lie. She even answered some questions.
So the big spell thing: The spell thing.
Fairly simple; Starlight Glimmer cast a spell with a focus: the scroll. This is approved by the breaking of the spell through the scroll's destruction.
Twlight was sucked inside the spell before she could truly look at it, along with Spike. Starlight Glimmer was only present in some of the areas after that. And the spell only showed places and events related to the knowledge –and generally worries/fears– of those involved;
Starlight Glimmer was there when Twilight was making a presentation about the Rainboom. The villains where all foes Twilight and Spike encountered. The other ponies involved where acquitances of Spike and Twilight. And that comment of Rarity's about dragons? Maybe the only conversation Spike tried with anyone but Twilight.
The spell didn't show any event those involved couldn't somewhat imagine or dream of. So its effect might have been limited.
Also, Starlight Glimmer sent Twilight away with the spell manually, but didn't seem surprised whenever Twilight reappeared. Implying that there wasn't a problem about time-travel discontinuities, and yet that Starlight knew how to navigate the spell.
Also, Starlight easily sent them to see her own past, as far as she knew it, and no more.
All in all. I see no evidence that the spell didn't simply show possible moments in time. Twilight hardly knew of the spell: her worries were conjecture.
How it worked was unstated. But Twilight and Spike did go alone to all possible futures but the last, from the point Starlight Glimmer was guarding. And as things went on, it always ended up worse, from Twilight's view. Which may have been related to her own expectations.
Heh, all that reminds me of the Sphere. Movie/book. Really preferred the book. It showed more of the importance of playing with conjectures.
But in anycase. Starlight Glimmer did not expect Twilight's reaction and appreciation of the importance of her friends. She was rather willing to fold in at that point. Friendship wins and all that.
No more cheesy than hitting a black alicorn with a rainbow cannon, I say. Works.
Spell thingy. Conclusion.
Starlight Glimmer needed scroll as spell focus: Potentially, she didn't actually maintain the spell at all, but she knew how to navigate it.
Starlight did not worry of time inconsistenties while inside the spell. Casually navigated it. And also casually exited the spell.
Starlight worried of the consequences of breaking the scroll whilst inside the spell, but didn't once outside.
Twilight didn't know the spell's workings. And got unsettled and worried over conjectures, possibly the point of the whole thing.
Glimmer and Sparkle did not best each other in personal magic combat.
Starlight Glimmer tried to unsettle Twilight through taunts and play. And casually sent Twilight away to 'possible futures' to do so.
When in the possible futures, Twilight and Spike's interactions with the environment were very limited.
When in Starlight Glimmer's past. They did not interact with the past. It was a vision.
Apart Sunburst. No new pony was introduced in the foreground.
They did not interact with Sunburst. All foreground ponies met by protagonists where presumably known of by protagonists.
Hence. I see the time travel thing as conjecture. Could've been some virtual reality. A simulacrum.
And that's it.
Anyhow. Fiction-wise, the finale wasn't sparkly in any intense way. Almost a let-down. But Meta-wise I liked it. Different types of references. Quite broke out of MLP tradition in the pacing genre/style though. Atleast in episode cannon, that is.
Though about Starlight Glimmer and villiany.
Straightforward honesty: Check. Devious: Check.
Powerfreak: Check. Everyday breaking point: Check.
Doormat villain: Check. Unhappy female pony: Check.
Everyday villain: Possible. Obsessive tendencies: Check.
As a villain though: rather tame. While she was a villain of some influence, and unkindly manipulative. She has shown little in casual cruelty. She didn't go beyond her goals to kick ponies. And whatever unfriendly her goals, did not reject those who approached her with hate.
She was manipulative and somewhat decietful (propaganda-like) and wasn't an alien-class entity. But that's that.
Being that she lead a small village, she sorta did do things for a while. But those ponies chased her out real easy when they decided to: And what harm did she do then? Attempt to blast them with magic? And what if Twilght hadn't blocked that? Run away with thier cuties marks?
Overall, she was a very mortal villain. Interesting, tale-wise. Though less astral and more mundane. She did a lot about conjecture.
My favorite little details of her tales are in the mane six though: Countryism is a liveliness-related pony skill. And, "Laughs don't come in barrels."
Either way. Wouldn't be surprised if Flim and Flam have done more then Glimmer already. Apart Glimmer's turn to villainy point, (robbing the marks of mane six, imprisoning them) she has been little but a successful tyrant. Not by force of arms, but by the lack of conviction of her so-so victims.
That cutie mark stealing makes her quite unique a villain though. As it's a form of direct affectation of morale. Closest world thing would be certain drugs, except that drugs are not so clear-cut. Also, it was well-implied that they abandoned their cutie marks willingly: however true or false, they did manage to simply get them back when they decided to do so.
Brainwashing is morally dubious, but for all enforcement she seemed to use no more than forced exposure and imprisonment upon the mane six.
So really, all being, it makes no real to much punish her: the mane six have brushed off worse without offense with discord: they just didn't trust him. The villagers seemed not to wish to punish her that greatly: they were mad, but didn't seem resentful towards her before that. So what to avenge? And with Twilight in particular, Starlight accept her own defeat, by accepting friendship, as Twilight wanted her to. And Twilight just stressed out another day, again. She's getting better at it.
So, no permanent harm? In any case. the ponies under Celestia's rule do not seem to favor justice over harmony. At that point. Unlike Luna? Ehh.. ehh. Poor thing to be left out. That's that. Nothing more about it.
Personally I love the show's values: I believe in harmony and fairness, not the dealing of justice. Because that last one is sorta messed-up, and easily messed-up. Perhaps I would elaborate at a later time. But it's a story moral, so, maybe not directly.
You know. One thing people fail to notice here. Starlight didn't need the scroll or the map to time travel. Everytime Twilight did it, she needed to blast the scroll near the map. Starlight didn't when she took them to her past and then back to the Rainboom. Didn't that seem odd? Which means your idea matches mine. That it never was time travel. There never was any danger.
Another idea of mine is that the map set all this up and sent them to simulations in an effort to help Starlight. The map showed it could take the scroll and eliminate it anytime it wanted. But it didn't because it knew that there was no danger.