Pony Postscripts

by MythrilMoth

A Few Closing Re-Marks [S5: "The Cutie Re-Mark"]

Princess Twilight Sparkle had just announced her decision concerning the fate of the unicorn criminal Starlight Glimmer.

"Umm, Twilight?" Fluttershy spoke up timidly. "I'm...I'm sorry to disagree with you, but...I would just like to point out that, well...Starlight Glimmer has hurt a lot of ponies with her mean magic."

"She's got a point," Rainbow Dash said with a frown. "I mean, she went back in time and nearly destroyed Equestria!"

"And she did steal the Cutie Marks of an entire village of ponies," Rarity added.

"And brainwashed them into wearing creepy smiles and being all 'ONE OF US, ONE OF US!'" Pinkie Pie put in.

Twilight looked around at her friends, ears folding back.

"Ah guess whut we're all sayin'," Applejack summed up, "is that, well...it's fine an' all that you wanna give 'er a chance t' learn friendship, but...she's kinda got a lot t' answer for."

The others nodded and murmured in agreement.

Twilight sighed. "I know she does," she said. "And I'm not forgetting that. We're going to have some very long talks about all the bad things she's done, and I'm going to let her think about how best she can make amends for all the harm she's caused. The thing is, though..." She took a deep breath. "Think about all the big threats we've faced. Nightmare Moon. Discord. Chrysalis. Sombra. Sunset Shimmer. Tirek. The Sirens." She looked around at her friends. "There's one thing that's true about every villain we've fought together."

"Uhh...we didn't fight Sunset Shimmer or the Sirens with you," Rainbow Dash pointed out.

"Not important," Twilight said impatiently. "Look...some of the enemies we've dealt with, well...they just couldn't be reasoned with. We didn't have any choice but to deal with them in the harshest way possible. But...then there are the ones we could reason with. We have Princess Luna back because we showed her the light of friendship. Discord is reformed now because Princess Celestia was willing to take a chance on him. Sunset Shimmer is in a better place now because she made friends and changed her ways." She glanced at the door, beyond which Starlight Glimmer was awaiting her fate. "I want to take a chance on Starlight Glimmer. I want to believe she can change. I want to prove I'm a princess who doesn't just lock her problems away in Tartarus or banish them to the moon."

Her friends regarded her for a long moment as she fell silent.

"Well shucks, sugarcube," Applejack said, "why didn't ya just say so?"

"Yeah, now that we understand where you're comin' from with this, we can totally get behind trying to reform Miss Crazypants!"

"I can make friends with almost anypony!" Pinkie Pie added cheerfully.

"W-well...I guess she deserves a chance..." Fluttershy added.

Rarity sighed. "Very well, darling," she said. "Your logic is sound, I must admit. Besides, I have a feeling Princess Celestia would approve of your plan to reform Starlight Glimmer even if we disagreed."

Twilight smiled. "I'll be counting on all of you to make sure I don't screw this up or...or regret it." She took a deep breath. "Well...time to go face my new student."

Comments

[Tatsurou]

"I want to offer Starlight friendship because I don't want to be Celestia."

Ooh...burn, Tia!

[superfun]

"Not important," Twilight said impatiently. "Look...some of the enemies we've dealt with, well...they just couldn't be reasoned with. We didn't have any choice but to deal with them in the harshest way possible. But...then there are the ones we could reason with. We have Princess Luna back because we showed her the light of friendship. Discord is reformed now because Princess Celestia was willing to take a chance on him. Sunset Shimmer is in a better place now because she made friends and changed her ways." She glanced at the door, beyond which Starlight Glimmer was awaiting her fate. "I want to take a chance on Starlight Glimmer. I want to believe she can change. I want to prove I'm a princess who doesn't just lock her problems away in Tartarus or banish them to the moon."

Reading that moment got me to applaud.
That entire paragraph is part of why I think The Cutie Re-Mark's ending works so well.

[SuperSonicHeroes]

Nice reasoning on Twilight's part, even if it was a shot at Celestia a little.

[SuperPinkBrony12]

Well, it's the thought that counts. Starlight Glimmer is definitely not a threat that can just be defeated and forgotten about, though what she did in "The Cutie Re-Mark" didn't exactly make a convincing case for her to become Twilight's student. At least, not without having to face the law first.

[Needling Haystacks]

7255222 That something that was edited out?

Now, people say she hurt a lot of people... but she kind of didn't. Except for the Mane 6, the villagers came willingly, and had she just had the presence of mind to calmly point out that they can't yet take away cutie marks if she doesn't have hers, some of the village might have stayed. Granted, kidnapping is pretty major... Regardless, I don't know that she actually has a crime against anyone but the Mane 6 for that one, per se.

For the second, she had no clue that the butterfly effect was in play. Until Twilight dragged her along, she didn't SEE any of the bad futures. She assumed all that would happen was that Twilight's group of friends would be broken up. Due to the timey wimey ball, it's hard to say that she actually hurt anyone with that (except when she blasted Twilight, anyway), as all the destruction was caused by someone else, who ultimately must bear the responsibility.

..She was, however, mentally imbalanced. I don't know about crazy, but she did show signs similar to PTSD, as overly dramatic as that sounds.

Just my 2 bits.

[Spiritus Arcane]

We have Princess Luna back because we showed her the light of friendship.

By 'showed' you mean 'blasted her in the face with' and 'light of friendship' you mean 'mystical rainbow of evil vanquishing.'

[ImRaidAccount]

7255222 Princess of Sick Burns keeps her title.

[HiddenMaster]

Have to admit, I really liked this chapter. The show doesn't really acknowledge Starlight's past very real crimes, but Twilight's reasoning here is sincere and so pure hearted in its hope that I felt myself taken with it, just a little.

[Bronzedragon]

"And brainwashed them into wearing creepy smiles and being all 'ONE OF US, ONE OF US!'" Pinkie Pie put in.

And Freaks makes another appearance

[Bygonne Thyme]

7256431 It's not like she committed treason or anything by attacking Princess Twilight Sparkle, right?

[FurryBrony]

7308540 Twilight is a princess of Equestria, and her five friends are her counselors. The discussion afterward could easily be seen as a jury and judge deciding Starlight's fate, with Twilight deciding her fate ultimately being Probation, with Twilight as her minder. I know normally Treason is considered a capitol offense, but I don't think Equestria has such a crime label. Plus, Twilight handing Starlight a sentence like a lifetime in Tartarus would go against her label as Princess of Friendship, especially after she got Starlight to stand down by the power of friendship.

Beyond that, if we assume that Cutie Re-Mark was soon after The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows, then close to 11 months would have passed between Cutie Re-Mark and The Crystalling. More than enough time for Starlight to have a proper trial, enter into a plea deal, and start serving whatever punishment she was given. Besides, after the severity of what she did, and the things she could have done differently, hit her, she was truly repentent, allowing Twilight and the other Mane 5, after letting go of the misgivings, to be forgiving with her.

[TheGreatEater]

7858572

Well it's not really just the treason thing. I mean she also stole the cutie mark (the most important part of a pony's life / identity) of one of the nations rulers / the defenders of the nation / an entire town of innocents + brainwashing; but also used magic that was alicorn tier to wreck reality; and did a lot of things that were just Super Villian tiered.

Although I do agree that Twilight as the Princess of Friendship would try reforming her ... how it was handled in the show was just horribly written / done. And honestly while we get to see Sunset Shimmer growing as a pony / dealing with the fallout of her actions. Even Trixie was made to suffer from the actions of others.

Starlight Shimmer get's off scott free, near instantly forgiven from those she wronged, never has to go through the character growth others went through, and to top it off. Ends up as Twilight's personal student.

[Dark Monarch Sombra]

8023050
Quite frankly, I don't understand WHY so many fans have a problem with the whole "Easily Forgiven" mentality the show has. I mean, in the end, no one was permanently or irreversibly hurt, and holding onto grudges doesn't do anyone any good.

[LucarioFan2066]

8285090
Exactly; the show doesn't even try to give every villain a 'second chance' - was Nightmare Moon given one? Sombra? Tirek?
And what's so bad about 'second chances', anyway? If the villain operated out of a misunderstanding or despair or confusion, they deserve a second chance. Sure, by that meaning Discord shouldn't have received one, but the ponies took a chance themselves and it worked out. Sunset and Starlight went crazy due to a misunderstanding, and the changelings were led by a tyrant - did the individual 'lings want to invade a pony settlement, much less a royal wedding? I doubt it. So provide those who want peace with peace, and help them overthrow the tyrant.

Besides, the show is primarily aimed at young girls, so 'forgiveness' is an appropriate lesson to convey. The older male viewership was a happy accident, brought about by 4chan.

[Starlight Glimmer1]

8355011
Nightmare Moon isn’t really the best example you could’ve given.

[JOEBLACK]

"And brainwashed them into wearing creepy smiles and being all 'ONE OF US, ONE OF US!'" Pinkie Pie put in.

"Doesn't she know that's my job?"

"What?"