So I love Twilight very much, def best pony.
But is it like, heresy to mention Starlight here or?
Just sort of an idle wonder.

7321579
HERETIC!!! BE GONE, BLASPHEMER!

But probably it is fine.

7321583
I just sorta get the vibe that people don't like starlight because she was able to match Twilight in terms of power.

Personally I really like Starlight, and I don't take things too super seriously, so I enjoyed seeing her kick butt at magic.

I actually quite like starlight, the ultimate team is Twilight and Starlight with a Tank

7321587
It's not just that she matches Twilight in power(it's plot contrivance) but rather her 'reformation' felt shoehorned in at the last moment, not to mention that her actions far outweighed her excuse. Not to mention that she could have easily fixed her problem if she wasn't stupid enough to not send Sunburst a letter and there's the fact that, as we later on learned, she had a relatively normal childhood which makes her even more unsympathetic. THAT'S the real reason why people(or at least people who have their heads screwed on right) don't like Shitstain Glitter! The writers piss poor attempts at making her look good doesn't help matters either.

7321597
I absolutely share all of those complaints, yet I enjoy her character so much, i'm just sorta willing to overlook them.
Is that a good thing? Probably not.

7321598
No, it isn't but whatever floats your boat.

7321599
cool, i'll boat my float down my river of poor plot points.

Actually, I think there are more factors to consider between Starlight and Twilight in a fight. In a power competition, Twilight would probably win. Of course, she was also likely holding back because she didn't want to really hurt Starlight.

In terms of combat, however, I'd say Starlight has the edge as shown in the season 9 finale. Starlight has shown that she is a capable fighter and has likely practiced her magic while polishing her fighting skills. She has also shown that she can self-levitate which is a skill that only she has shown as far as I know.

Twilight, as we know, focuses more on her studies and simply practices casting so she has more spells available to her than Starlight, but how many of them are useful in combat is uncertain. Twilight and Tirek were evenly matched because they engaged in a raw power competition where Twilight specializes in. Starlight may not be as powerful as Twilight but she makes up for it in combat prowess which may give the illusion that they were evenly matched in the season 5 finale.

If Twilight were to actually learn how to fight and gain some decent combat experience, Starlight would get crushed any day of the week.

7321587
I'm fine with her overpowering Twilight. She controlled the battlefield, actually had time to prepare and rest, and wasn't that concerned about collateral damage, unlike Twilight who was rushing trough things, travelling back in time nonstop for who knows how long, and wasn't that willing to let it go, wrecking parts of Cloudsdale and killing some stupid pegasi in the process. When writing fics I give even more explanations why Twilight lost.

What I don't like about GlimGlam is how easily she was forgiven. No punishment, no restrictions on magical stuff. She brainwash bunch of ponies, assaulted princess twice, almost destroyed the world and instead of being sent to Tartarus she was pardoned and promoted to apprentice of Princess.
I also don't like her backstory, because her problems with Sunburst could be solved with just basic communication skills.
Oh, and her attitude also tends to piss me off. She does things without thinking all the time.
So, her defeating Twilight is actually the only thing I like about Starlight Glimmer.

7321634
Yeah mlp sorta has an issue with punishment for villains that isn’t death and/or imprisonment forever. It’s either maximum or minimum pretty much every time. And she really could have avoided her edge motivation if she had just learned about the wonder of the postal service.
Her backstory and villain motivations are her biggest weaknesses, but I enjoy everything else about her so she’s pretty much one of my favorite ponies.

7321615
Yeah, I hear a lot about how Starlight’s specialty is combat based magic. She’s also very creative with her magic, as specifically shown in “Every Little Thing She Does”. She seems to have a knack for changing or combining spells.

If I could change what I wrote in my second post I definitely would. I’m sort of tired and I didn’t know how to end the sentence so my brain just randomly generated a complaint and I went with it. People definitely dislike Starlight because of her poor plot developments.

Also yeah, Twilight with combat knowledge would probably no longer need the Elements at all.

7321615
Didn't Twilight self-levitate during the descent into Sombra's underground lair? Speaking of those episodes, she can also use dark magic... which she's never used against another pony, not even Tirek. If she lets go with that stuff... yikes!

7321650

she can also use dark magic

Not only that, but she figured out dark magic, which probably is pretty advanced skill, by just being shown it once, with no explanation how she is even supposed to use it...
You know, in the Princess of Friendship the great dark mage have died. And it is kinda sad.

People generally dislike Starlight because she is a terrible person.

The fact that she can stand up to Twilight Sparkle is secondary to that, to be honest.

And let us not even get to her silly backstory.

I mean... Twilight ~is~ best pony, but Starlight came around after a bit of work.
I'm thinking it's not an automatic face-meet-curbstomp for most people... more of a let's-see-how-this-plays-out that depends on how Starlight is written, honestly.
Starlight's like the emotionally stunted, amoral, conscience-take-a-backseat, version of Twilight anyway... so she's going to have rough patches mixed with glorious instants of momentary growth/awesomeness.

7321663
I see you are looking towards alternative Celestias... might I proffer the Church of the Dark Lord Sassaflash? <hooves over a pamphlet> We meet at a run down home in an otherwise bright and cheery city! There's even an ad out in the circulars.