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As far as Starlight, she had a tragic backstory (going back to when she was a filly and a friendship ended), unlike Sunset.

Well the funny thing is that Sunset does have her own backstory, its just that like most of MLP's villain's it was regulated to the comics instead of being explained in the movie (they needed more time for pointless Flash Sentry scene's).

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Starlight didn't try to kill anypony.

Wrong, Starlight did infarct try to kill four ponies (one being Sugar Belle) during her escape with the main six's cutie marks in the aftermath of her cult falling apart, Twilight jumped in at the last second and shielded them.

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The only failed redemption story was Vignette Valencia.

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She was simply trying to escape.

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Meanwhile Starlight got everything handed to her on a silver platter and everyone just treated her like Jesus while Sunset had to freaking EARN her forgiveness

This is what Anti-Glims actually believe.

If anything, it was the other way around. Sunset spent at best a few weeks being looked down on before being handed an easy win by the Sirens and becoming the popular girl at school legitimately instead of ruling by force.

Starlight spent an entire season of the show somewhat trying to work through her social and impulse problems and making a few friends on her own terms before she defeated the big bad and was able to stand on her own as an equal to the mane cast. And even then, she still had emotional baggage left over between Sunburst, her parents, her former town and self-doubt.

I'd suggest you actually go watch the show and think about it before you make baseless statements that can't be backed up with facts.

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And take the main six's cutie marks with her, which is why Sugar Belle and the other's where chasing after Starlight.

Sunset had to go through a movie plus the gap between the first movie and RR to be accepted, and still had someone who held a grudge and took action against her well after. Even the mane 5 and Twilight didn’t quite trust her. They were trying, but she was still a bit of an outsider trying to be better. She had consequences and an arc.

Starlight didn’t. She was fully integrated as Twilight’s roommate from the getgo. She didn’t have any consequences for her actions, to the point where the villagers were throwing themselves at her to lead them again. And most insultingly to me, she was actively avoiding doing her lessons under Twilight (to the point where she was throwing them away), yet season six finale hits and every character starts bending over backwards to praise Starlight about how amazing she is. Couple that with her getting spoon fed fan favorites as friends and some of the most wanted episode concepts (the first Celestia and Luna episode was a Starlight episode, as was the first Sunset returns to Equestria special).

Sunset wasn’t even supposed to be a main character after the first movie, but had a compelling story and was expertly woven in. Starlight was always meant to be a main character and was sledgehammered in with the grace of a Fairy Odd Parents character (she did drastically improve, but that was well after her introduction).

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The only failed redemption story was when Hank made his son smoke like a dozen pack of cigarettes.

Wait...wrong show.

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Sunset spent at best a few weeks being looked down on before being handed an easy win by the Sirens

Where are you getting a few weeks at best from? At the very least the pre-RR shorts happened in that time span and the mane 5 formed a band. Could’ve been a few weeks, could’ve been a few months. Plus, looked down on is underselling it a bit, every student but the mane 5 (and maybe Flash?) showed active disdain and even Celestia threw in a dig before the Siren’s showed up. Even the mane 5 were iffy around her.

Starlight spent an entire season of the show somewhat trying to work through her social and impulse problems and making a few friends on her own terms before she defeated the big bad and was able to stand on her own as an equal to the mane cast.

Starlight was instantly integrated into the main cast with zero distrust. Also, throughout season six, she makes an active effort to avoid improving, and doesn’t willingly complete a single lesson (tries to avoid meeting with Sunburst by manipulating Spike, gives up and goes to the Spa where she meets Trixie, and throws away lessons). The only thing she had to “earn” was graduating, where she was spoon fed a threat that was able to get rid of everyone else who could’ve stopped it while two of Spike’s friends and Trixie were telling her to lead. Even her village not only instantly forgave her, but they also wanted her back.

And even then, she still had emotional baggage left over between Sunburst, her parents, her former town and self-doubt.

And Sunset didn’t? She had her doubts in RR and FG, she had her anger issues, she had the same issues sharing her problems that Starlight did. She didn’t even go back into Equestria until Mirror Magic (which also had her worrying about when the next magical threat would hit), and there was the Celestia baggage as well. Plus, Forgotten Friendship happened, so she wasn’t forgiven by everyone after RR.

Despite what many other people here will probably say, just because I don't like Starlight's redemption arc doesn't mean I don't like Starlight as a character.

I actually like Starlight a decent amount for two good reasons:

1. Her snarky and often sarcastic sense of humor.
2. The quirky Bi-vibes she gives off whenever she's around Sunburst or Trixie.

Yeah, I really dislike the whole "instant forgiveness" trope I feel she went through, and she does have some pretty awful episodes in my opinion ("Every Little Things She Does" and "The Road to Friendship"), but I am not anti-Starlight by any means. I just wish there was more placed into some of her other quirks and character development.

(For funny, progressive unicorn though, she's pretty good.)

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Even so, she didn't attack Twilight either,except socially.

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Correction: the fandom DID carry a grudge against her and hate that she was seemingly forgiven "just like that" with little more than a slap on the wrist... until Rainbow Rocks, where it was shown that she wasn't and that while the Humane SixFive were willing to give her a chance, she needed to earn it from the rest of the school.

Since then, Sunset has been both secondBest Redeemed Villain(sorry Shimmy, Discord #1 in that category) and the Best EQG character in general.

Relevant footage: 39:10 - 40:09

She may have been a... bitch, but she learned from her mistakes with the help of her new friends. And even now, I still can't get over how much of an amazing character she is.

And to this day, she will always be our favorite cute bacon head.

Honestly, for me personally, I always thought that the reason why the fandom received Sunset so warmly and was pretty meh about/disliked Starlight is the fact that, well... She honestly felt like the creators looked at Sunset, liked her, but since she was officially 'Equestira Girls' territory, they couldn't have her. So instead, they decided to make a character along the same lines as Sunset and have them take her place in the main story, as can be seen by the names (With both Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer being names designed to equate to Twilight Sparkle, thus implying their on her level), their back stories (With Sunset being a dark reflection to Twilight in many ways and Starlight being someone who lost the magic of Friendship to turn evil), and power (Both of them were of levels of magic/intelligence to put them on par with Twilight.)

Not only that, but as others have pointed out, there was more of a sense of an actual arc for Sunset when it came for her being accepted among the others as well as her approaching the part where she can forgive herself. That fact, alone, is actually what makes her a more interesting character for me. While that's not to say that Starlight didn't feel bad for what she did or worked to make up for her past actions, it didn't feel as natural as Sunset's to me, with how quickly she was adapted into the group where as Sunset really didn't feel like she had truly progressed to 'Main character' status until Friendship Games.

In many ways, I think I could equate Starlight's redemption to that of Discords. It doesn't feel like it's quite right, and in the case of our favorite Chaos God, we clearly see that he doesn't always do the right thing and proves himself that the villainous ways he used to have are still part of him, even with his transformation to good. For lack of a better way to say it, there doesn't feel like there was a REASON for Starlight's turn to good when she was so dead set on doing what she thought was right.

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And even with Flash, there was that moment he jumped right back into hating her when she tackled Rainbow Dash:

Now that's the bad girl we love to hate!

Showing there was still progress to be made.

In my opinion - IRL:
Sunset's redemption arc felt more real because it took place over three movies that had spaced out release dates. We had more time to see her before, during, and after redemption, and there are enough gaps between the three films that it's easy to slot in fan stories of her other struggles.

Starlight, on the other hoof, was going to be added to the main cast of a television show, and thus she needed to be added to the status quo as quickly as possible. Her redemption feels more rushed because it was very much abridged for the sake of television. Had they more time and more freedom, I'm sure they would have drawn it out more than "Starlight thinks with her horn instead of her brain 99% of the time".

In my opinion - In-Universe:
Sunset and Starlight are very similar in that they both did what they did because they were lashing out in anger.
But what makes Sunset so forgivable is that she only has a list of box standard supervillain crimes. She wanted a chance to prove herself capable of the power she craved and may have been planning her heist for a long time, but in hindsight, she didn't do anything that bad. There was no true malice. Just a misguided girl making poor judgement calls from a place of anger.
But Starlight (presumably) spent literal years brainwashing her peers in a way that actual humans have done in the past, which makes it hit so much closer to home. That's not even mentioning the reckless usage of magic! Starlight's actions are so much harder to forgive because they were truly done out of a place of unrepentant malice. It wasn't until she learned the hard way that she became remorseful. By comparison, Sunset was just throwing a temper tantrum.

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What viewers didn't know at the time was that her name was originally the more distinct Aurora Glimmer.

I've always wondered if it hurt sunset after she was put in the crater. How was she not hospitalized?

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^{sorry Shimmy, Discord #1 in that category}

And here I'm reminded of what happened in the Series Finale which makes me think the complete opposite...

But you do you.

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The main reason for me was that it felt like she earned it, and what she did was a lot less extreme than starlight. Also people didn't start liking Sunset until after Rainbow Rocks, not the first Eqg movie.

TL:DR sunset got time with her redemption before they developed her character, Starlight got a handwave redemption before they developed her character, making her redemption feel cheap imo.

Sunset basically went an entire movie being reminded of what she did and every time she had a look of regret when it was brought up, sure her being cute helped, but it wasn't until she helped the Rainbooms defeat the sirens that people stopped giving her dirty looks. Starlight went through all that in a roughly 2 minute music montage, and got to live in castle with the princess.

As for what they did, Sunset was a power hungry egomanic, who lied and cheated to keep the school in an iron grip, and eventually hypnotized a bunch of highschoolers and some teachers to go through a portal and take over a world with magic and 3 princess waiting right outside the gate. not a great plan and everyone was quick to point this out and call her a lame villain and bad character. Starlight however brainwashed an entire town to believe that cutie-marks were bad and only lead to ponies gaining superiority complexes, and nearly destroyed the world multiple times cause the main 6 stopped her. And she did all this because her friend got his cutie-maker and she didn't(as far as we know) try to contact him first. yes sunset's redemption can be seen as cheap because she got friendship beamed, but I feel it's better that than a handwave/off screen redemption.

Slowly brings .45 behind back into pocket dimension

Yes! Of course! Totally! Instant forgiveness that was justly earned in this one encounter...was definitely not planning to restrain her or keep her under careful watch!

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Starlight Glimmer: I-I don't know. Opening portals between worlds didn't work out well for me. Are you sure it's safe?

Starlight Glimmer: That's true. And you did get your wings from finishing one of Star Swirl's spells.
Twilight Sparkle: Exactly.
Starlight Glimmer: But then I messed with one and nearly destroyed the universe, so...

Straight from the horse's mouth, if you'll excuse the pun.

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Starlight Glimmer: That's true. And you did get your wings from finishing one of Star Swirl's spells.
Twilight Sparkle: Exactly.
Starlight Glimmer: But then I messed with one and nearly destroyed the universe, so...

That's what I like to call: The writers are exaggerating what really happened.

Sorry, but what we're shown on screen >>>>> What different writers and storyboarders think happened. Especially when the idea of time travel literally harming reality itself is pure nonsense by itself and has no explanation.

No, you know what? Forget it: What we're shown on screen in different episodes >>>>> What the same writers think happened. If that's what they were going for, they should've portrayed it that way instead of switching to new different timelines.

Please don't bother me on a month-old thread again. I'm going through enough stress as it is, and I'm really not in the mood to continue a month-old debate.

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Time travel can cause massive damage. Admittedly, it's unclear whether Starlight's spell follows the model of time seen in the Avengers movies or the conventional linear structure, but if the past is altered, the present and future change too. The world you know becomes one you don't, and any of the divergent realities shown in the episode are dire in their own way, including one where Equestria ceases to exist.

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They clearly do not follow a linear structure. In fact, I'd argue the opposite based on what I've been seeing from other sources. But, whatever. I'm not about to explain my reasoning anyway. I told you I'm not going to continue a month old thread. If you had something to say, you should've said it then, My interest is nigh-dead now. It's been a month, and newer stuff has been at the front of my mind for longer. I don't have the energy to continue a thread I thought was dead on top of expending it on the other things I'm dealing with. Arguing now will just break my concentration.

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Cheerio!

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I think a large part of it is not only their redemption arc, or lack thereof but also the bad things they did. Sunset Shimmer was your garden variety high school bully. Yes she was a bitch but she really didn't represent anything that would wind up in history documentaries or be looked back at as someone you wouldn't want to be.

Starlight Glimmer on the other hoof, pretty much had her own cult. She took those ponies out into the middle of nowhere and pretty much indoctrinated them. Jim Jones did something very similar with his flock when he took them down to Guyana, started Jonestown and isolated them from the rest of the world. Now I love Starlight dearly and have since she very first showed up but what she did was on the level of Jim Jones, far worse than a bully. Many people go claiming she was a commie but I think oppressive cult leader would much better describe her in the season five premiere. Where the communist thing came from I'm not sure because even communist nations have economic transactions.

Correct me if I'm wrong but perhaps what she did was a human thing that hit people on a much higher level and made it harder for people to forgive her. Yeah the time travel incident didn't help her any but for me, there was never anything to forgive. She was a great villain and is a great pony afterwards. Don't get me wrong, I like Sunset. I didn't right after the first movie but I did more after Rainbow Rocks....despite me cheering on the Dazzlings the whole time. I just don't get why the fandom can't forgive BOTH. Both are unique characters with a checkered past, it is just a matter of Starlight's past being a bit more dark and controlling on a higher level.

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Anon A Miss?

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Let me explain... no, it's too much, let me sum up

Basically, someone set up an anonymous account on MyStable (EQG Facebook) and started spreading everyone's secrets. It started with Applejack, one day after the girls and Sunset had a sleepover. Then, it was Rarity's turn to have her secrets exposed, and somehow or the other, Sunset gets incriminated and becomes the school pariah. One thing leads to another and eventually, the real culprits are discovered... the CMC