Starlight Glimmer- What is the opinion of her still?

I’ve said this before, but Maren = Best Starlight artist.
 

I hope she is in the next generation whenever that will take place. :)

Moon dancer was incredibly underused this gen. I can see her getting way more attention in gen 5 and possibly the mane 7 role.

@Azyrite  
Shw would be ok like mane8 with Starlight : )

Still best pony.

@100SGX  
Pony only second to Twi. :^)
 
Got to defend my waifu’s place. XD

@MaresFillies  
I can respect that, at least she’s second place for you.

@100SGX  
Best reformed and crazy waifu. Still Rarity is the top one.

@Hakirayleigh  
Damn right.

@Azyrite  
that means she has no value, i.e. she’s cheap because nobody wants her. i.e. I can afford her with my low salary. This is the best news ever.
 
Hello mr. pawn shop merchant, let me buy a Starlight Glimmer for a dollar.

@Azyrite  
Glimmer, I hope you’re ready for a yeast infection. That’s how you get it.

I haven’t really explained my full opinion on her in further detail, so I thought I’d might as well now…!
 
Originally, she was in the same category as TreeHugger or Spike the Dragon. I liked her, but I didn’t exactly consider her my favourite. She was more of a secondary character at the time after her villain role was taken away.
 
Even as an antagonist, I found her role and motivation as a cunning cultist who specializes in what many politicians make-believe what socialism is rather intriguing. Hell, I would’ve considered her to be Twilight’s True Rival when it comes to the concept of Evil Magic and that old fantheory of the “Elements of Disharmony”.  
Even after her broken based reformation, I still couldn’t bring myself to hate her. Hell, most of her interaction between her and her old coltfriend was the main highlight for me during the S6 Premiere - rather than the whole Flurry Sue/Pathetic Princess bullshit!
 
My only real complaint about her was the settings that she was involved in and thus making her look like a plot device in her own stories like ELTSD or NSP - not helped by the fact that her development as a character completely thrown out the window in the S6 Finale and any continuity about her already reuniting with her old friends back at the Equal Village was completely neglected for the sake of a stupid plot!  
^{*(And the fact that it was written by the same man who wrote the S5 Finale made it even more insulting in terms of writing and continuity - something that the show already neglects on a regular basis.)*}
 
But even then, wasn’t until S8 and second half of S7 that she officially became a character for me and ended up becoming my favourite - and the S8 Premiere made me like/love her even MORE and I think I’ve already explained why I love this scene. ^^
 
So yeah, my relationship with her has been complicated, but at the end of the day, I like/love her just the same as half the people in this community!

@Azyrite  
You silly, that isn’t a Play pony cover…
 
This is
 

@Hakirayleigh  
Seen it.

@100SGX  
tips fedora eye ⭐️ light is hot one she is ;3

@Hakirayleigh  

@Vivace  
Thanks…I didn’t remember the number

Ever wonder if Starlight’s cutie mark magic could have been modified to do good? Like instead of agonisingly tearing a mark from an unwilling victims flesh it could be used to make an unwanted mark just disappear?
 
For example, I remember a Haggard looking pony from the early episodes with a trash can for a mark. Do you reckon he was disappointed or appalled when he first got it before accepting his fate as the smelly dude with garbage forever etched onto his skin? Imagine if he could pay a pony to cast a spell and make him a blank flank again so he could try for a better mark. Starlight could have made a mint.

But I guess the whole cutie mark aspect of her character was dropped by her (and the writers) after her embarrassing start of darkness reveal. Starlight’s probably too embarrassed and ashamed to ever experiment with that kind of magic again.

@Azyrite  
Didn’t she do exactly this in Royal Problem?
 
Magically erasing someone’s destiny is unlikely to work by the basic rules set out by the verse, but there are other applications. Still, Starlight has stated herself that she’s very reluctant to try that type of deep magic again. She was even iffy on regrowing someone’s hair because of the possible side effects.

@Philweasel  
Yeah, by accident.
 
@Azyrite  
Seems fine with other types of experimenting for now.

@PonyPon  
It was a hasty decision, but she sure made it sound like an intentional one. She justified it straight after.

@Philweasel  
That’s called covering for a screwup.
 
No one, not even Starlight, wants to look like an impulsive spell-spasmer in front of the princesses.

@PonyPon  
She even shouted “Enough!” when she cast the spell, and you see her build up to it from the moment Luna shoved her.