Examining Evil · 8:54pm Feb 16th, 2022
In chapter 24 of The Enforcer and Her Blackmailers published today, both Starlight Glimmer and Sunset Shimmer unleash their evil tendencies. Reasoning evil* does bad things but thinks it is doing good. Starlight acts without consent and later enables Sunset on her quest for power. Sunset will do anything to find influence with her mentor, Celestia, even if it involves blackmail, coercion, and stealing. Of course, neither mare is entirely cognizant of what they do, but evil-doers are often oblivious to that what they are doing might be considered by others as evil (or less than good).
*Unreasoning evil usually exists only in stories (Sauron) or mythology. In our world, it is often a sign of psychopathy. There are way more in history who have done evil things for good reasons (to them). As a writer, one way to make your evildoers more insidious and frightening is to give them reasonable excuses for what they do, reasons that can make common people think they are correct and join them.
