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She’s a big fat bitch, and I love her for it.

@Lord WyrmSpawN
It’s not weird. It’s sad.

@WaynePonePone
Is that really so weird?

Y’know, the fact that Starlight never seems to have a moment where she smiles during her sleep says a lot about the mental state of the poor mare.

Probably the only one who hasn’t lived a happy normal life yet still surpasses all her peers.

@Just Wayne
/) Hell Yeah brotha

@MaresFillies
I wholeheartedly agree with this.

Starlight Glimmer is as hot as Twilight Sparkle, I 🤔 that has been established by now. It took me a while to come to terms with it. 😜

@Just Wayne
That concludes how strong Starlight is, and how weak Sunburst is.
(Still, they are cuter this way, Starlight and Sunburst would fits “Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy” trope, not to mention Sunburst is better at handling babies and be informative, while Starlight is better at leadership and power)

Also Twilight is able to equal foot with Starlight thanks to her balance skills as well while being in formal education.

@Background Pony #B5C7
Oh yeah, Starlight probably had nothing else to do but sharpen her magic skills since her childhood. That’s how she become so powerful. And I’d say it’s because Sunburst’s interest is not all that heavy on application of magic, but more on spells and ancient stuff. He also talked about how magic school didn’t let him do any of it. I think Celestia just allows Twilight to use it more often or Twilight practices it more in her free time while Sunburst only reads about it because of pressure from school. Raw talents might also have something to do with it. Twilight is simple able to balance between both the studies and application of magic. Sunburst is better at the studious side while Starlight excels at magic application.

@Just Wayne
Glad you see how it is, it makes sense how Starlight and Sunburst are the way they are partially (and mostly) resulted by each of their parents.

Funnily as time went on, Starlight uses her frustration of abandonment turned into her lots of training for magical power, way harder and stronger than Sunburst’s magic and surpasses all of his magical powers, it’s my theory how Starlight became so powerful even Twilight felt like brute force isn’t an answer against her.

Over time, Starlight’s learning of magic eventually surpassed Sunburst, despite having no formal schoolings, she’s a self savant and her geniuses came from her frustration of life.
_{Something I find pretty relatable as well, although I did graduate formally, but 90 percent of what I learned to survive came from external stuffs.}

Meanwhile, Sunburst got not enough frustration to have powerful magic, due to having to live inside the frame of education system which limits what he can or cannot do a lot, even as a total nerd boy that focused on studying all day-night (to the point of ignoring letters as you pictured) he at best learned magic theories, but not enough practices, while Starlight had went through all practical magic training all by herself, while her motive of learning was also filled with rage.

Twilight was an exception to that because close contact with school owner herself, Celestia, while Sunburst did not gotten close enough to her.

@Background Pony #B5C7
I always imagine Sunburst was pushed by his mother to go to Canterlot right away without a chance to see Starlight again which resulted it him not able to say goodbye. It makes so much sense after knowing who Stellar Flare is.

And I’m trying to ignore Ring Team, but I want to point out how magical it is to think magical power suddenly means parental negligence doesn’t have effect on someone. Like yeah, that’s how psychology works. “Sure, my parents are never around when I need them but hey look I have power! I’m sure that can replace love and care from actual flesh and blood.” And I don’t think Starlight had the same amount of power as a child.

In the same vein that covers both points, remember this moment?
Maybe Starlight did send letters, but what if Sunburst never read them and wrote back? What if, Stellar Flare wrote to Sunburst way more than Starlight, which resulted in her letters covering over Starlight’s, so Sunburst eventually got tired of reading and ignored the rest of the letters which happened to be Starlight’s, then Sunburst continued to ignore all the other letters which could be Starlight’s? Starlight was already in the mindset that her friend abandoned her. Receiving zero response from him would further cement her hopelessness. She probably gave up on trying to contact Sunburst thinking he forgot about her. This also makes sense when she thought Sunburst was an important wizard too busy to care about her. Maybe she had that thought the entire time her letters were never read, trying not to blame her friend for focusing on his future.

@Just Wayne
I agree with “latchkey kid” here.
It explains how Starlight was a socially awkward child, and her dad Firelight, who always treated her like a baby, did very poor job of raising her.

That resulted in that she only cares about her only childhood friend Sunburst (who was also nearby neighbor) when they were young, however, she was unware that Sunburst was more ambitious about getting to school of magic back then because of pressure from his ambitious mother Stellar.

They probably met each other when both of their single parents meet each other for projects they work on for their home town.

Once Sunburst have to do his mother’s request without a chance to say goodbye, Starlight was stranded alone with her unwanted father. Frustrated over the years, she felt like the world wasn’t designed for her, and wants to change, and there she appears in the Equal Town.

PS: During the time travel back in time to see her past with Sunburst, it was poorly explained back then, it became more understandable after the introduction of each of their single parents. If those parents were hinted or mentioned of what they are back then, we wouldn’t have lots of controversy surrounding Starlight.

Also IGNORE whatever Ring Team said, he has very low opinions of Starlight and only he himself can change his own opinions.
Trying to talk to him about Starlight is never worth it, let him waste his own time typing a lot about her for nothing, until he realizes how futile it was to demonize her and just making him further looks bad himself.

I don’t think the latchkey kid would fit someone like Starlight, mainly because she’s not a vulnerable character. She’s the most powerful character in the show because of her many odd magic spells.

The latchkey kid approach would work much better with someone like the Cutie Mark Crusaders characters. Babs Seed from One Bad Apple, Diamond Tiara from Crusaders of the lost Mark (which has shown a perfect logical reason why she acted the way she acted), Coco Pommel from Rarity Takes Manehattan… and if you want a more recent example, Misty from Make your Mark. She works for many reasons:

-Misty was properly introduced in G5. The writers took their time to develop her. It wasn’t just 2 episodes with minimal presence.

-Her motivations and conflicts are simplier and more defined. She wants to please Opaline, but she’s clumsy at that, and, while she tries to jinx Sunny and her friends, she also discovers that friendship might not be a bad thing.

-Misty doesn’t have power and she is more vulnerable. She doesn’t even have a cutie mark, she just paints it. The more vulnerable a character is, the easier is to empathize with her as a viewer.

-Most importanty, there are clear stakes which the audience can get behind. After watching the last episode of chapter 2, Misty would have to make a choice: Either still working for Opaline despite the treatment she gets, move to Maretime Bay or another option.

Considering the writing approach of Make your Mark and what we know so far, I have faith in these writers.

And there you go, a recent example in MLP about how to make the audience root for someone.

By the way, if Starlight really cares about Sunburst, why didn’t she write some letters for him instead? Why couldn’t she just ask him what his new place is so she can visit him and send him letters so she can have fun communicating with him? But no, he moved away and that’s where we draw the line.

@Megalobronia
Oh, I actually didn’t know Starlight was a latchkey kid. That actually makes me sympathize with her even more than I already did. It also explains Firelight’s actions. I didn’t know I could love Starlight even more.

I think she answered her own question why Starlight didn’t become an Element of Harmony. I mean she can literally breathe and people will rage out over her. It’s obvious making her an element would enrage the fans like no tomorrow, not just her turning into an alicorn. The very poor fan reception is the exact reason why she wasn’t able, or allowed to shine. That’s the same reason Starlight got fewer episodes in season 8 and 9. That’s too obvious to not notice.

I do agree with all of her points though, especially how Starlight is also the best villain. Starlight as a villain is pretty unique for me, at least before Cozy Glow. She has a different motive and a different MO from other villains. She doesn’t want to have ultimate power or rule the world. She wants to prove a point. She doesn’t use magic to make things easy for hearself. She manipulates and weakens defenses first before working with a spell. She uses wits first and sees her magic only as a tool and not an exploit. She does so many things differently from other villains and being a simple unicorn, she somehow became as threatening and dangerous or more than the other villains. I feel like even as a villain, Starlight is admirable.

That said, only talking about Starlight as a villain is probably not the best way to praise her. The funny thing about people thinking she might reoffend is that she never did. She was never just easily accepted. She was supervised. She had relapse but not out of maliciousness, only out of misunderstanding and lack of wisdom. She was self conscious enough to want to keep herself in check because of past mistakes, and she actually does try to improve herself. She is certianly very compassionate and empathetic. Starlight Glimmer is awesome both reformed and as a villain.

@Megalobronia
Really important and in depth piece if one looks at it. But the biggest thing to take out of it is the fact that this poster did not just see Starlight as an anomaly but a character of influence and whom she identified with on a very personal level.

I really like this analysis video on Starlight Glimmer.

Don’t let its title fool you; it isn’t just about mindlessly praising the character. It actually goes into detail about her character, what some people think of her, how she’s affected the show, among other things.

The only thing I disagree with is Starlight being a main character, but other than that, the points are pretty well-presented.

@Megalobronia
Yes, exactly. It’s the same case for Discord.

I’ve seen people say that others shouldn’t defend Starlight’s backstory because of how flimsy it is. Excuse me, but if some people have every right to complain about Starlight, then others have just as much right to defend her.

I like her. More than that Mary Sue called Sunset Shimmer.

@IWTCIEM
Agreed there.

Starlight really doesn’t deserve all that hate. She tries her best to improve herself and tolerate all the BS that happens around her because she has finally learned compassion. She has too much anxiety about everything because she is afraid of repeating the same mistakes. She regrets all she’s done and tries her best to make up for them. She actually desires and commits to change instead of standing in the same circle forever. She actually puts her heart in her reformation like Sunset Shimmer and she helps others become more responsible. Her entire attitude actually feels like someone trying to redeem herself. She shouldn’t have had all these stigmas on her when she actually tries to make herself better.

The post at the the top of this page sums up my thoughts on Starlight’s dislikers/haters pretty well ^{although the “no one asked” bit is a bit over the top and the “pedophile” point makes no sense}. I’d put what was said here, but I’m not risking my comment getting deleted.

Yep. Exactly. Like Trixie still had negative traits post Magic Duel. A heel-face turn borne internally isn’t necessarily a fix of one’s personal issues. That actually takes time and work afterward, and since progress isn’t linear, relapse isn’t impossible. You’ll find that many who’re pro-Starlight find that a draw instead of a repellent.

“Friends aren’t people who never piss you off. They’re people who’re worth forgiving every time.”

Lack of conflict doesn’t imply relationship health.