Back to this comic with a new page out the other day.
I’m soooo intrigued by the story and the questions brought up. More in this page too, “what is her reputation?..”

If I look over the comic it looks much like she has get a less warm Childhood and eaching as the normal Twilight or what look closer, she has Parts or a complete Nightmare Soul in her, but she can surpress it so she has Controll ofer herself, not like Luna, who was taken over by the Nightmare in a Time of Weakness.

The way she Act, like she talk with the Noble, how the Ponys who know her are scared (even Celestia), the sharp Teeth and the black Star in her Cutiemark, it all let me think just once: she is like Nightmare Moon … well, with the pervert Mind of Molestia and the Hunger like Crysalis.

Starlight and Twi are powerfull in a very different way. In Twi’s case it’s mostly about the amount of magical power she has. She is also smart and skilled, but very “conservative” when it comes to the kind of spells she uses.
She’s like a lvl.99 mage who prefers to spam beginner spells in actual battle until she’s practiced the higher tier stuff to perfection.
Glimmer’s power comes from her intuitive understanding of complex magic - which left even the above average smart/skilled Twi at awe more than once. She doesn’t practice magic like Twilight, she just does it.
That’s how Starlight was able to hold off a freshly alicornified Twi. Twi could’ve overpowered her, but an even “flashier” battle would’ve been pointless/counter-productive. Whhen Twilight shielded the villagers from Starlight’s blast their difference in actual power was very clear.
Later, with with Twi as role model, study buddy and sparring partner she became truly op, tho.
The shadow commented that, even though she was already exhausted at that point, Twilight was “almost as powerful as Starswirl”. S9 Glimmer was clearly far more powerful than S6(?) Twilight, so it’s probably safe to say that Glimmer is the most powerful unicorn ever. Kinda ironic that her gf’s magic is weak as heck^^.

@Enmity1498
Twilight was quite a bit more powerful than the average unicorn, even in S1-3 …
to a degree that she didn’t want to use her magic in public out of fear others might think of her as a show-off or even a freak! That’s literally what the Twiggles part of Trixie’s introduction was all about.
So if this Twi is at least as powerful as in the canon but also a lot more “aggressive” and somewhat ruthless …

@Enmity1498
These are all great questions and observations, and it is unfortunate that there was very little official backstory for her.
Starlight is not from Canterlot, she grew up in a town called Sire’s Hollow (not sure where that is on the map) and it seems that the only magical coach she had was her only friend Starburst, which came to an end when he got his cutie mark and left.

Starlights magical strength does not make sense in Equestrias setting, and unfortunately it is pretty much down to speculation and fannon now to flesh out her character more.

Honestly I suspect that her writer overlooked, or missed the part where magic is generally linked to a pony’s special talent.

@Background Pony #CC2F
With this in consideration, it makes me wonder how Starlight got to be so powerful. She didn’t have the upbringing of Twilight, and yet she nearly rivals her in power, and far surpasses the average unicorn (many of which were controlled by her in Our Town). Maybe she was from Canterlot like Twilight? I honestly wish we got to see more of her backstory for this reason alone. Twilight’s power makes sense, whereas Starlight’s power does not. Unless she was from an elite magical school she should not be that skilled with magic.

@Enmity1498
Actually she was this overpowered in the series in comparison to the average unicorn. I base this not only on her upbringing, but also on what was shared about magic and it’s relationship with cutie mark’s in the beginning of the episode Boast Busters. This episode also showed that Twilight did not like to show off her magical affinity too.

You are right about how she didn’t turn to intimidation to solve a problem; to prove a point, or to get her own way.

@Wayneponeth
I guess maybe in this comic she is formidable, but in S1 of FiM she wasn’t nearly this overpowered (or at least she didn’t intimidate any pony, hence why she was able to get along with the other ponies in Ponyville and meet her new friends). I guess in this comic Twilight’s powers have been amplified a bit, or at least the writer has changed her character to make her more intimidating even as a standard unicorn. Considering that, it makes me wonder what Twilight would be like as an Alicorn in this new universe, and what Starlight would be like, considering she is the second most powerful unicorn in FiM, with only Twilight being more powerful.

@Enmity1498
Nah, Twilight is definitely much more powerful than any other pony, or at least scarier. I mean she looks pretty intimidating here.

I guess you could argue Rarity’s “magic sensitive” so only she could see it, but it’s shown here most ponies are able to see almost the same thing if Twilight gets angry.

And those ponies are intimidated and immediately held their tongues by Twilight. There is apparently something she has done for her to earn this kind of respect, probably the same thing that made her “under ban”.

The whole point is, our girl Twilight is formidable and should be respected.

@Wayneponeth
While Twilight does possess a lot of power, she is still just a unicorn at this point in time (this is meant to take place at the beginning of what we know as S1 of FiM, after all). So really her power shouldn’t be all that much greater than most unicorns in Ponyville. The only difference is that, due to her time in Canterlot, she knows more about complex spells that other unicorns wouldn’t know about. So considering that, the fear that the ponies have confuses me.

Daww, Spike is always such a helpful lad.
Interesting to see those two working for the guard.
Also Twi is thiccc

Pretty sure this is just you and Lyra having met her while she’s in a good mood, Bon-Bon/Sweetie Drops.

Considering the power this Twilight possesses, it’s not strange ponies are so afraid of her.

Also we’re getting one step closer to Fluttershy, yay~ :D

@Enmity1498
“Under ban in Canterlot” probably means she was being prevented from leaving, or prevented from doing something specific there.

I read the comic, and nothing suggests that she had been banned from Canterlot, only that she had been sent away to form friends in Ponyville just as she had in the show that this comic is based on. I wonder where those rumors have come from…

(also, I am sure that the rear view of Twilight in the final panel wasn’t intentional in any way, not at all…)

“Under ban”, eh… hmmm.

Both Bon bon and Lyra seem to be a bit scared of Twilight, who knows what repute she does have amongst the Guard Squires.

How very nice of Spike to clean up.

I noticed Spike is doing some cleaning. Rarity better thank Spikey Wikey for this!!!

THICC