Starlight Glimmer Day

Happy Glim Glam day, folks!

I like how both Starlight and Sunset have their own days, and that they are (normally, unless some schedule change, like this year,) set on the equinoxes, wherein which there is a perfect balance between light and dark, day and night. Or, at least, that's what the equinoxes are supposed to be. But, due to tilted earth, it's not exact. But, that's beside the point.

Now what to say about Starlight Glimmer, aka the Fandom Divider? Which side do I lay on? I fall on the liking her side. She was a wonderful villain, up until her last moments as a villain. In which, to most, she fell short. Motivation-wise, I can see why she did what she did. But, it still was sort of flat. I think most of the complaints come from her tearing the scroll so slowly in front of Twilight's eyes, and not just outright destroying it in one fell swoop. But, unlike most, I have an explanation for this! Well, maybe a theory as well. My theory, that many might disagree with, is that, the scroll, being magical, was resistant to being torn, and that in order to tear it, Starlight had to use a lot of energy, and the work was slow. Honestly, it is not merely because it is a spell on a scroll, but because the magic is in the scroll itself.

But, that is mere speculation. My next thing is something that I actually believe to be true. Starlight took her time because she was doubting herself. Up front, she put on a charade of confidence in front of Twilight, saying that no group of friends could be that important. But, she also sounds like she's trying to convince herself. What if all hope for the future was really lost? What if she was indeed wrong? What if she was too extreme? She knew that if she tore the scroll, there was no going back. Was she truly ready to stand by that? Her words seemed to say yes, but her actions betrayed her. Twilight sees this, and works with it, using Starlight's doubts against her. Twilight begs, even pleads to Starlight. Why would Twilight plead about losing her friends? Was she telling the truth? Had Twilight achieved true friendship even through differences? She paused to listen to Twilight's arguments, being not villainous, but logical. Why do we ourselves war? Because there is injustice, and we want it set right, even if our morals are misguided. In the end, however, nobody truly wants war, they want peace. Starlight is actually taking the time to listen and try and rebuttal Twilight's points, instead of straw man, er, I mean straw ponying Twilight. Starlight is a pony who reasons, but take those reasons to extremes. But, every time she makes a point she thinks is right, she rips the scroll a little more. When Twilight tells her that the differences are what makes her own friendships strong, tears begin in Starlight's eyes. Her last tear, was when she made the point of the differences tearing her own friendship with Sunburst apart. (Yes, I did see what you did there, O writers.) That last one was one of emotion she was trying to apply logic to, when Twilight made one last argument, combining emotion (ἒθος) with logic (λόγος), and it made all the difference. Starlight saw her points, and, instead of arguing, she merely asked a question, for one last proof of Twilight's. After Twilight responded, Starlight, reluctantly, admitted that she was wrong, not outwardly, to Twilight, but inwardly, to herself. She had to take away her own reasoning, and look at it again. She is, in my opinion, the most thoughtful villain of the series. She reasons, sometimes to extremes, but that is because she overthinks things. But, she still is open to hear arguments. In the premiere, when she took away the cutie marks of the Mane 6, she thought she was doing them a favour, but they were too stubborn to admit it. Twilight, in the Cutie Map Part 1, tried to see Starlight's perspective, by asking about it. But, what Starlight saw was somepony who was trying to take away their sameness, which, to her, would be taking away their friendship. She saw Twilight as somepony unwilling to reason. So, both in the premiere and finale, she tried to force logic upon Twilight, by making her experience the same things that she did. After returning, Starlight is ready to face the punishment for what she did. She realized it was wrong. But, Twilight had learned from her past, I think especially Sunset. But that may just be the Sunset Shimmer fan in me. (On a sidenote: Starlight's and Sci-Twi's redemptions happened at the same time canonically. Yes, this will be on the test.) Twilight knew that she had just offered Starlight friendship, and that's what she was going to give her. Her taking on Starlight as a student was her way of not only reasoning with Starlight, but keeping an eye on her.

Now, back to Sunset. Specifically, Starlight being a Sunset knock off. I think that much is obvious. But, redemption of villain is popular. Darth Vader. Need I say any more? But people have come to love it more and more. But, Starlight's redemption did not start with friendship rainbow lasers, but through logic. What happened during the friendship rainbow laser to Sunset is undetermined, but there are some interesting theories. But today is not the day to discuss that, at least not in the main post. For one, their beginnings are vastly different. Yes, I do believe that Starlight was created because of Sunset, even Sunset's returning to Equestria plot that was deleted in Friendship Games could have ended with her return and becoming Twilight's student. But then the writers realized, what about Starlight? Different backstory, and different motives. That was a good enough start for them. She was a redemptive trope, like Sunset. But, they handled her differently. While Sunset had a full turnaround, Starlight was less sure, even slipping back to her philosophies. Sunset is more emotional, while Starlight is more extremist. The way these two grow is different. And then everybody started saying that she was the new Twilight Sparkle. She is not Sunset. She is not Twilight. (She's their daughter. C'mon, haven't you started reading The Wings of Time?) She is similar to both, but different. I don't see people getting mad at Sci-Twi for being a rip off of Pri-Twi. (Try saying that 5 times fast, that is, "PriTwi SciTwi") Sci-Twi is her own person, different from Pri-Twi. They are extremely similar, but different, too. Their growths are different. Sci-Twi never takes up the role of leader in their group of friends, Sunset has taken that honour. Sci-Twi is less "Books" and more "Science!" So, too, Starlight. She is her own pony, influenced greatly by Twilight. But, she is not all about knowledge. Her knowledge feels sometimes like she is trying to impress Twilight. Their flaws are also different. Starlight goes to extremes, Pri-Twi is too stressed and worried, causing her to be indecisive at times. Sunset has some anger issues and some self doubts, but those are smaller. Sci-Twi, however, does have a lot of self doubt. On this, Sci, Pri, Sunset, Starlight comparison, I would also like to point out that Sunset's confrontation with Sci-Twi and Twilight's with Starlight are eerily similar. Both Starlight and Sci-Twi are going to extremes, causing great pain to the world(s) in the process, but think it a small price, either not caring or not truly believing. There is a magical showdown of great proportions, but Starlight and Sci-Twi come out on top. It wasn't until that they saw something that they lost their upper hand/hoof. They both began to see the errors of their ways, and were both offered to be shown friendship by Pri-Twi and Sunset, and they both took their hand/hoof and allowed the crises to stop. That moment of Sunset's of "the student has become the teacher" is magnified so much more when you realize that they are doing the same thing at the same time. (Yeah, yeah, I know that Pri and Star are in the past, but, time passes forward in the future, so at the same time can also refer to points of time that are linked together, Twilight's personal history.) Sorry, I'm glorifying Sunset again, but at least it's pertinent to Starlight.

Now, for post-reformation Starlight. She struggles. A lot. Her old habits bleed in, and she isn't the best. Starlight wants to be better, but doesn't know how, and continues to go to extremes. Reuniting with Sunburst is hard for her, and making new friends is hard. She finally befriends Trixie, who is really not all that bad, just extremely arrogant, and needed a friend to help make her better. This is much like human Trixie with Sunset, but that came later. Looks like the tables have turned, at least a little. Starlight gets better, and learns about what friendship is, through her new friends. Eventually, she has a challenge of her own that she solves, which, at least to me, feels a lot like Sunset's struggle in Rainbow Rocks, but presented differently. Starlight runs away from her village, but is able to use what she's learned against Chrysalis. She is sure in battle, but not in day to day situations. But, due to some encouragement, she reunites with her village at the Sunset Festival. That still needs to be explained, by the way. Something something forgiveness? They want her to be there because its a festival about forgiveness and forgiving yourself? DID TWILIGHT INSTILL THAT CELEBRATION IN SUCH AS TO HELP STARLIGHT, AND HONOUR HER MAREFRIEND, I MEAN FRIEND? THERE ARE TOO MANY QUESTIONS. But anyways, afterwards, Starlight continues to learn, even meeting Sunset herself. (YAYAYAYAY) I think that was when she experienced her moment that Pri-Twi and Sunset had before her of helping someone out, not using magic. That I feel is crucial even to her character. It helped me understand the later season 7 more. In the finale, she insists upon forgiveness and taking, having seen what had happened with so many others, herself, Sci-Twi, Sunset (Though that was friendship rainbow lasers, but I feel like the events following were truly needed), and even Juniper. Why not try it one more time? Pri-Twi was too absorbed with her fanmaring to notice. And now comes season 8 tomorrow, which I will not say anything about.

Overall Starlight is a great character, constantly struggling and growing, with the help of everybody that she is called a knock off of. I look forward to seeing more of her. Good Luck, Starlight!