Pony Venting Thread

CORDZ2000
Solar Hero - Went above and beyond for the Solar Deity, drawing from the power of the sun itself to bring balance to the fight against the Lunar Insurrection (April Fools 2023).

Draconequues Lover zcord
Im passionate about things I love i apologize if I offended anyone but I won’t change what I believe to be true
Background Pony #3456
Just a thought:
While it’s unknown if the Legion of Doom are still encased in stone, i have 3 predictions:
  1. Likely they got shattered.
  2. Died with magic gone.
  3. The Shadowy Alicorn put the statue of them, ready to have them replace her minion, if necessary.
PixelatedPony
Lunar Supporter - Helped forge New Lunar Republic's freedom in the face of the Solar Empire's oppressive tyrannical regime (April Fools 2023).

Luna Best Princess
I’m sure everything about Starlight has been said so I’ll try to keep this brief - I don’t like how she was redeemed in one episode and welcomed with open arms meanwhile seasons (and years in the shows time) people still don’t trust Discord despite Starlight doing far worse things than him. Luna despite being welcomed back still has issues adjusting after being Nightmare Moon, she has obvious remorse, and trauma, meanwhile with Starlight’s past it’s usually just brushed off as a joke along the lines of “Try not to enslave a village this time haha”.
She should’ve either stayed as a recurring villain or been redeemed for an extended period of time.
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I actually theorize that Posey is their way of telling people to forget about the past, like making fun of her symbolizes the idea of letting go of the ended generations and welcoming the newest generation. Making her the joke might also be telling us to laugh at the past and not get too troubled by it. That’s why everyone ignores Posey whenever something happens to her. They don’t want to be too caught up by past mistakes and stupid moments. She is from generation 1 after all.
Or I’m just looking too deep into things and they just picked a random pony to be the joke. And it’s just funnier to make fun of a pony that looks like a pony from the past.
DerpyFast
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I don’t like how she was redeemed in one episode and welcomed with open arms
Yeah, that could have been handled way better.
people still don’t trust Discord despite Starlight doing far worse things than him.
The worst thing Starlight did was create the bad timelines, which is something she wasn’t aware of, and didn’t intend to do. The first time we see Discord, it’s already his second time terrorizing Equestria. He was given a second chance, and he basically betrayed Equestria the first chance he got. Starlight should have been on probation for sure, but they have a much stronger reason to distrust Discord.
Luna despite being welcomed back still has issues adjusting after being Nightmare Moon, she has obvious remorse, and trauma, meanwhile with Starlight’s past it’s usually just brushed off as a joke along the lines of “Try not to enslave a village this time haha”.
Well, the consequences of Luna’s actions were a lot more dire. She turned evil, tried to murder her own sister, and ended up trapped in the moon for 1,000 years. whereas nothing Starlight did had any long-term consequences. Plus, Starlight does self-deprecate by talking about how she “almost destroyed the universe”.
I’m not going to pretend that Starlight had the best redemption story ever, but I do want to pay it some lip service. Her speech in To Where and Back Again shows that she regrets what she did with her village. She was prone to acting without considering the long-term consequences. But by the time Shadow Play rolls around, she’s the one questioning the long-term consequences of destroying The Elements. The backstory with Sunburst is weak, but Uncommon Bond has her confronting the thing that sent her down her dark path.
It’s not amazing, but Starlight does turn a corner.
PixelatedPony
Lunar Supporter - Helped forge New Lunar Republic's freedom in the face of the Solar Empire's oppressive tyrannical regime (April Fools 2023).

Luna Best Princess
>
The worst thing Starlight did was create the bad timelines, which is something she wasn’t aware of, and didn’t intend to do. The first time we see Discord, it’s already his second time terrorizing Equestria. He was given a second chance, and he basically betrayed Equestria the first chance he got. Starlight should have been on probation for sure, but they have a much stronger reason to distrust Discord.
You also left out the part where she enslaved a whole village of people for years on end manipulating them and probably giving them trauma as well
That is way worse than making chocolate milk rain and warping the land.
I feel like you’re heavily downplaying the universes part, more damage in those realities was done than anything discord did in his entirety, each one being worse than the next and many lives were absolutely lost.
And even after Twilight explained the damage she was indirectly causing she still went on with it because she was holding a grudge. She was willing to torment Twilight for eternity just to 1 up her.
Of course she was eventually convinced after explaining her horrible backstory and motivations with a little bit of friendship no jutsu but still. One thing to mention if you think about it, nothing has a long term consequence in MLP, probably cause its a kids show and it isnt meant to be that deep but that doesnt mean we cant have discussions like these
Also I like the fact that discord made mistakes, it showed he had a lot to learn about friendship and that made his development feel genuine.
Instead of it being over a single episode and pulling a 180 on the character.
I would’ve loved for starlight to have a moment similar to discord where she would get a opportunity to betray her friends and be tested, I feel like she really needed something along those lines for her character.
Well, the consequences of Luna’s actions were a lot more dire. She turned evil, tried to murder her own sister, and ended up trapped in the moon for 1,000 years. whereas nothing Starlight did had any long-term consequences. Plus, Starlight does self-deprecate by talking about how she “almost destroyed the universe”.
Honestly what Starlight did was worthy of moon sealing or being turned to stone or being sent to tartarus.
I also think its bad writing that the villagers get over her overnight and welcome her woth open arms and even try to make her a leader for some reason; like why are you trying to appoint the same mare that terrorized and brainwashed you for celestia knows how long?
I find that as a recurring issue too with Starlight, making everyone around her dumber or even out of character to make her look better
Also the self-deprecating bits aren’t really that common and even then they are usually delivered in a comedic way or brushed off immediately by other characters - like someone would reassure starlight and say “oh come on you changed, you’re not enslaving people anymore” like thats a normal thing for someone to do.
I’m not going to pretend that Starlight had the best redemption story ever, but I do want to pay it some lip service. Her speech in To Where and Back Again shows that she regrets what she did with her village. She was prone to acting without considering the long-term consequences. But by the time Shadow Play rolls around, she’s the one questioning the long-term consequences of destroying The Elements. The backstory with Sunburst is weak, but Uncommon Bond has her confronting the thing that sent her down her dark path.
Well don’t get me wrong she does have some good episodes, my favorite one with her is the season 6 finale with shes works together with discord, trixie and thorax, but thats not going to get me to like her as a character or even think shes a good one.
There was no right or wrong with the shadow episode, thats what morals are, there wasnt an objective answer of how to stop him, either method would of brought peace to equestria.
And we were shown time again that the mane 6 didnt need to elements of harmony so honestly what damage?
It’s not amazing, but Starlight does turn a corner.
It doesnt feel like she changed that much, her development feels artificial to me. She still comes across as somewhat of a sociopath.
Starlight is by no means the worst character, I don’t think I would put her lower than C tier, but I can understand why she isn’t liked that much.
Background Pony #EDB8
Or I’m just looking too deep into things and they just picked a random pony to be the joke. And it’s just funnier to make fun of a pony that looks like a pony from the past.
That could be likely.
@Mr.Myoozik
I’m going for scenario 2.
CORDZ2000
Solar Hero - Went above and beyond for the Solar Deity, drawing from the power of the sun itself to bring balance to the fight against the Lunar Insurrection (April Fools 2023).

Draconequues Lover zcord
@DerpyFast
U gotta understand though once starlight reformed they instantly trust her. Scratch that whether discord made the distrust or not justified, when he was immediately reformed he wasn’t trusted, same as sunset. You wanna know why because no one no matter how kind will immediately trust a former supervillain right away.
Starlight never faced any consequences ever, Discord got turned to stone, betrayed by tirek etc. Sunset had to make it up to the school.
Starlight was 99% good, the second she decided to turn over a new leaf, but this is highly unrealistic. Discord still makes mistakes and relapses because that is EXACTLY what would happen, a change of heart doesn’t stop a life time of being a certain way. Plus he is literal chaos.
My overall point is that sure starlight changed alot but i could never take it seriously because she feels like someones oc a fanfic character to me. In maybe that’s why shes so beloved but i don’t think it makes her a great character.
Background Pony #0D88
>Starlight never faced any consequences ever
The irony of a Discord fanboy saying this.
Discord didn’t face any meaningful consequences for trying to throw Tree Hugger into a portal to another universe, harassing Starlight and trying to hurt the Student Six and sending the Mane Six on a wild goose chase because he was throwing a tantrum over not being invited to the School of Friendship, or manipulating three villains into joining forces and almost destroying Equestria.
Background Pony #0D88
I’ve never understood the “trickster mentor” characterization people give Discord. There’s little evidence of this in canon.
Three’s a Crowd: Discord EXPLICITLY states that the reason he faked being sick was to see if Twilight cared about him, not to teach her a lesson.
What About Discord?: Discord CLAIMS he was trying to teach Twilight a lesson about jealousy, but the way he rubs in the fact that he intentionally made her miss out on a weekend with her friends makes me think otherwise.
Celestial Advice: Discord outright says that he just wanted Starlight as his roommate. There’s no reason to think he was actually trying to help Twilight by pointing out that she needs to figure out what to do with Starlight. It’s more likely he was trying to make Twilight freak out, and Twilight learned a lesson by complete accident.
I’ve even heard people try to say that Discord planned to join forces with Tirek to unlock the keys and show Twilight that she deserves to be a princess. Except, no, he didn’t. Discord’s not this 4D chess player that the fandom seems to think he is. If anything, the show goes out of its way to show that he’s not NEARLY as smart as he thinks he is.
Background Pony #11F7
@CORDZ2000
Hmm, could it be that the development of what happened in the wake of reforming Discord may have influenced the way the Mane 6 handled dealing with Starlight? Discord was free to come and go as he pleased despite the distrust, whereas Starlight was kept much closer to Twilight, as she didn’t find it wise to just cast her off without guidance. In short, Starlight was given a more consistently hands-on approach. As well, Starlight pre-reformation simply had a skewed idea of the meaning of friendship while Discord rejected the concept outright until Fluttershy made him experience it.
How exactly did the Mane 6 issue Discord consequences each time he enabled Tirek to claim power? Most I observed were glares of disapproval, but that wasn’t what got him to fix his screwups; it was the fact that he lost the upper hand. Meanwhile, Starlight was easier to cow in that manner; despite her missteps- her mistakes and relapses- she took her reformation opportunity more seriously than the relatively nonchalant Discord, but if those don’t count as consequences, then it means Discord wasn’t served with them either. He did get turned to stone, but that was the means of defeating him. Starlight didn’t require that because not only did she actually surrender, but she did so while she had the upper hand. She gave Twilight her macguffin without being traded what she believed she wanted- ruining Twilight’s life.
Starlight was 99% good, the second she decided to turn over a new leaf, but this is highly unrealistic.
That more aptly describes Sunset, whose post-HFT story in Rainbow Rocks was about proving to Canterlot High, who she had to interact with daily, that she had transformed. Starlight’s post-HFT arc was about proving it to herself as opposed to her isolated village, who got about a season of time to be separated from her between each interaction with her.
@CORDZ2000
That turned out to be Pinkie indulging in the spirit of Nightmare Night while Luna was still unaccustomed to life in Equestria. It wasn’t a general distrust of Luna, for whom Celestia gave a celebration upon the defeat of Nightmare Moon.
I’ve even heard people try to say that Discord planned to join forces with Tirek to unlock the keys and show Twilight that she deserves to be a princess.
Oh, that is funny. If that were true, MLP would have absolutely given indicators.
CORDZ2000
Solar Hero - Went above and beyond for the Solar Deity, drawing from the power of the sun itself to bring balance to the fight against the Lunar Insurrection (April Fools 2023).

Draconequues Lover zcord
@Background Pony #0D88
He has plenty of laser-guided karma
In “Three’s a Crowd”, the thing makes him sick for real.
In “Twilight’s Kingdom”, Discord promptly gets backstabbed himself as soon as he’s no longer useful to Tirek.
In “What About Discord?” he gets it turned back on him when he ends up being purposefully left out.
In “The Ending of the End”, he did truly have the best intentions in mind, but it still was reckless to release dangerous villains putting Equestria at risk and not keeping better watch over them. This leads to losing his magic, his friends deeply upset with him and being mistreated by the villains by being dragged on a chain. He does however come to realize the extent of how badly he has messed up feeling genuine guilt and remorse over this and ends up risking his life to make up for it, managing to be forgiven by the ponies, so in that way he gets positive karma as well.
@Background Pony #0D88
Discord is a trickster mentor, the thing is that he does it also because he likes to troll. That’s what makes him interesting, he’s a middle ground by being a Trickster Mentor doing it because he wants to be a helpful friend, he just has his own way of doing it and also because he is still a chaotic a$$hole who likes messing with others lol. Except for s9 were he has grown to be completely well-intentioned in his trickster mentor antics even if ironically his biggest mistake.
I do agree that the tirek situation wasn’t him being a trickster mentor but actually a genuine mistake, as what unlocked the chest was Twilight forgiving him despite his relapse and seeing him as a friend.
Megalobronia
Solar Supporter - Fought against the New Lunar Republic rebellion on the side of the Solar Deity (April Fools 2023).

Nintendo Nerd
Some people do need to learn to let go and walk away (or, let’s call a spade a spade here, need to grow the fuck up), but there’s a difference between disliking someone or something and just not shutting up about it.
Preaching to the choir.
Also, on the mention of people who are like, “no one is allowed to dislike a character I like”, I’m sure there are also people who’ve thought the opposite: “no one is allowed to like a character I dislike”
Background Pony #11F7
How exactly did the Mane 6 issue Discord consequences each time he enabled Tirek to claim power?
Read again. I can accept the What About Discord example, but the rest were not dealt at the hooves of the Mane 6 or other Equestrian authority, and considering The Ending of the End, he clearly didn’t learn the necessary lessons from Twilight’s kingdom. Point being, the M6 imposed minimal consequences themselves on Discord post-HFT just like they did Starlight. Life dealt the brunt. Discord is motivated in that way to fix what he did, but Starlight is motivated by guilt and self-blame, itself a consequence, proportionate or not, to avoid repeating hers.
CORDZ2000
Solar Hero - Went above and beyond for the Solar Deity, drawing from the power of the sun itself to bring balance to the fight against the Lunar Insurrection (April Fools 2023).

Draconequues Lover zcord
@Background Pony #11F7
It doesn’t matter if the mane six issued it or not. The point is the story itself has no problem with discord being in the wrong and suffering it. S9 happened because of S4 because twilight considered discord a friend no matter what he was motivated to go to the ends of the earth to help her gain the confidence to rule. Therefore he did learn something.
How is discord saying “Im so sorry it made so much sense in my head, twilight defeats her worse enemies and is filled with confidence, i truly had the best intentions i swear ill make it up to u”. Not taking ultimate responsibility.
Discord still makes mistakes because realistically he still would, discord does ultimately care about doing the right thing. Also with being a embodiment of chaos which gives him more reasoning to mess things up, heck the story punished him when he did completely reformed in discordant harmony. Cant really blame him for being chaotic after that.
PixelatedPony
Lunar Supporter - Helped forge New Lunar Republic's freedom in the face of the Solar Empire's oppressive tyrannical regime (April Fools 2023).

Luna Best Princess
I’m starting to regret posting my original comment here since I didn’t realize it was right after a similar argument ended about Discord… but as long as the discussion isn’t getting heated or personal we should be fine… right?
Since CORD addressed the first half of your argument much better than I would have I’ll just address the second portion:
I’ve never understood the “trickster mentor” characterization people give Discord. There’s little evidence of this in canon.
This is where I feel like we weren’t watching the same show, or interpreting it very differently - in almost every scene Discord is in he’s either using his magic to play a light prank (most of the time) on somebody or as a gag whether directly telling a joke or in the background, like him sneezing making a house fly behind the main events.
Three’s a Crowd: Discord EXPLICITLY states that the reason he faked being sick was to see if Twilight cared about him, not to teach her a lesson.
What About Discord?: Discord CLAIMS he was trying to teach Twilight a lesson about jealousy, but the way he rubs in the fact that he intentionally made her miss out on a weekend with her friends makes me think otherwise.
Celestial Advice: Discord outright says that he just wanted Starlight as his roommate. There’s no reason to think he was actually trying to help Twilight by pointing out that she needs to figure out what to do with Starlight. It’s more likely he was trying to make Twilight freak out, and Twilight learned a lesson by complete accident.
I’m not sure about this sure the part about him pretending to be sick was just being a dick, but that was also in his very early stages of development.
I also can’t say that everyone of those examples you mentioned could be accidental lessons, especially when there are future episodes which absolutely show that he was the one making a grand plan. When he intentionally brought back King Sombra for example and fake being injured to deliver of the best speeches in the series to show the Mane 6 and Twilight that they didn’t need the elements of harmony because they embody it themselves. Discord was being successful in his attempts to prepare Twilight to became the ruler of Equestria aside from that miscalculation with the villains.
I’ve even heard people try to say that Discord planned to join forces with Tirek to unlock the keys and show Twilight that she deserves to be a princess. Except, no, he didn’t. Discord’s not this 4D chess player that the fandom seems to think he is. If anything, the show goes out of its way to show that he’s not NEARLY as smart as he thinks he is.
I don’t know about the Tirek stuff but in his initial reveal making the mane 6 turn on each other with ease is a pretty intelligent feat. And not to mention also tricking 3 also intelligent villains that he’s Grogar is a good feat of intelligence.
Hmm, could it be that the development of what happened in the wake of reforming Discord may have influenced the way the Mane 6 handled dealing with Starlight? Discord was free to come and go as he pleased despite the distrust, whereas Starlight was kept much closer to Twilight, as she didn’t find it wise to just cast her off without guidance. In short, Starlight was given a more consistently hands-on approach. As well, Starlight pre-reformation simply had a skewed idea of the meaning of friendship while Discord rejected the concept outright until Fluttershy made him experience it.
That is a good point you make but you could also just say Starlight was kept so close because Twilight appointed her as her pupil so of course shes going to want her student nearby to teach.
I’m not sure about the last part though, Starlight pre-reformation’s idea of friendship was very childish, meanwhile with Discord he didn’t really reject the idea of it per say, it’s just that he was never introduced to the concept until Flutteryshy came along.
Background Pony #11F7
…but you could also just say Starlight was kept so close because Twilight appointed her as her pupil so of course shes going to want her student nearby to teach.
That’s basically another way of saying it. Keeping her close = making her a personal protégé for the sake of avoiding casting her off without guidance.
By rejecting friendship, I don’t mean Discord did so the way the Villain Trio did, like it was some disease, but that he was dismissive, as in, “I’ve lived a thousand years without friends, and I’ve done just fine for myself. What could I possibly get out of it?” Or “It’s $5. How good could that kush really be?”
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