Starlight Glimmer is a unicorn with immense magical power. She serves as the main antagonist of Season 5’s premiere episode, The Cutie Map.
She tries to take revenge on Twilight Sparkle and her friends by using time travel to stop them from getting their cutie marks. But what she gets is not what she expects.
Her Cutie Mark
Starlight Glimmer is an expert at magic and one of the best spell casters around. She is skilled in a variety of different forms, including levitation and trapping opponents within crystal. She also has a strong sense of intuition and is extremely good at predicting her enemies’ moves, ensuring she can avoid any pitfalls or miscalculations.
Starlight was born in Sire’s Hollow and grew up with Sunburst, an alicorn pony who helped her develop her magical skills. The two were close friends and they frequently provided each other with tips on how to improve their spells.
While living in Sire’s Hollow, Starlight grew depressed by the fact that Sunburst got his cutie mark before she did and left the village without her, which made her jealous. Eventually, she ran away from her village, establishing an isolationist society on the edge of Equestria where she lived in the shape of an equal sign to symbolize her beliefs and her newfound philosophy.
She found a staff, which she passed off as the “Staff of Sameness” that had the ability to give up one’s cutie mark for the sake of equality, but she covered her own with an equal sign in order to fool everyone into thinking she was really using it to do so. She then stole many other ponies’ cutie marks and stored them in a cave, along with the Staff of Sameness.
When Twilight and Spike arrive in her town, they find out that she had stolen the Mane 6’s cutie marks to gain control of their powers and use them as a form of revenge against them for exposing her. While she is able to hide in her house, the rest of the Mane 6 decide to break into her vault to retrieve the enchanted marks she had stolen from them and return them back to their rightful owner.
Once they arrive, they are greeted by Starlight, who is the head of her town and explains their philosophy to them – that being equal brings true happiness. While Twilight tries to explain to her that being different does not mean you are less, Starlight refuses to believe them, threatening to rip the time scroll in half. They eventually convince her to give friendship a second chance and she returns to Cloudsdale with them.
Her Magic
Starlight Glimmer is a Unicorn with a very powerful talent for magic, but she has also had many mishaps in her life. She has never used her magic for good, but she knows that she is a better person now and wants to use her skills to help her new friends in Ponyville.
She has a powerful ability to control and manipulate other ponies with her mind. She is able to take away a pony’s cutie mark, and she is able to do it with relative ease. This is a huge issue, because it means that she is able to completely rewrite the rules of cutie marks and pony lore. This is extremely dangerous and something that should not be allowed in the show.
What’s worse is that she has a very irrational reason for why she is evil: she has lost her best friend. The only thing that she had in her past was this friend. Then, she decides to create a Communistic regime in a small town and force everyone to be equal in every way possible. This is a very stupid idea and it doesn’t make sense.
Unlike Apple Bloom, who moved on and found new friends after losing hers, Starlight stayed stuck in the past with this friend. She was too stubborn and didn’t understand that things can change over time. She stayed in this state for years, until Twilight Sparkle and her friends freed the village from her control.
She does have a redeeming moment however; she is taken on by Twilight as a student, and her friends accept her as a friend. This is the fastest redemption in the series, and it was also the only one that was not accompanied by a lingering effect from her actions.
Even though she is given this opportunity to redeem herself, she still uses her manipulation skills as frequently as possible. This is not only a problem because it disrupts the pacing of the show, but it also invalidates her redemption arc. She does this primarily to try and feel better about herself, and it makes her seem hypocritical for many episodes later on.
Her Personality
Starlight Glimmer is a kind-hearted, calm, positive, and confident pony. She is a former antagonist and a current heroic character in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.
Her most prominent trait is her strong talent in magic. She is considered preeminent in her field and is able to perform advanced spells, which are usually impossible for ponies to master.
She is also a natural-born leader and intelligent with an avid love of learning. Her magical ability is largely based on her emotions, as she believes that the more she feels, the stronger her magic becomes.
Despite her talents, she is still a bit shy and cautious. Her friends have to help her develop her confidence and self-esteem so that she can use her magic in a more powerful way.
However, she is a very loyal and dependable friend. Her character is also a good example for the friendships between introverts and extroverts as she can be very accepting of her friends who have different personalities.
She is a Sagittarius, which means she likes to dream big and reach for the stars. Her zodiac sign is associated with the Fire element, which is reflected in her passions and enthusiasm.
When she first arrives in The Town, Starlight is very happy to be able to befriend Twilight and the Mane 6. She immediately gets special treatment from them all and their approval as well.
Then, she decides to turn her life around and start anew, becoming a friendly and caring friend to the Mane 6 and Spike. She even gets warm, friendly hugs from all of her former enemies in The Town!
Her redemption is the quickest in the series, which is surprising given how petty and childish her motivations were. But it’s all forgiven and forgotten too quickly.
Starlight is a character with a lot of potential and she can be very interesting to watch. But at this point in time, she’s probably going to be a supporting character, so there’s not much room for her to shine. Hopefully, the Mane 6 and Twilight Sparkle will provide her with plenty of characterization so that she can be a fun and entertaining addition to the show.
Her Destiny
In her early years, Starlight tried many fields of study in order to find her true destiny. She delved into magic research, spellwork, writing, and historical study. She even mastered the art of foal birth, but it wasn’t enough for her to feel truly fulfilled.
Eventually, she found herself in an unfavorable position. Seeing how ponies were treated with inequality, she knew that she needed to do something about it. She needed to bring equality to all ponies, regardless of their cutie mark.
She began to teach her ideas of equality to other ponies, and she would hand out pamphlets that showed how they could be equal. After some time, she was able to convince Double Diamond and other ponies to join her.
The villagers were furious at Starlight for her cruelty, but she had to keep moving forward with her plans to make them equal. Eventually, she was able to convince her flock that ‘equality’ meant that all ponies should have the same things, and they started to live in harmony together.
Her followers were loyal to her, and she was able to persuade them to move to an isolated patch of land that she created. She would then shepherd them to a new town, where they would live in peace with one another.
Starlight’s final goal was to convince a Princess to give up their cutie mark, and to move their home to this village of equality. Should she be able to do that, then the entire world would know that equality was the only way to happiness and friendship!
In her journey to find her own true destiny, Starlight has fought against the prejudices of others and the limitations of her own mind. She has learned to overcome her fears and resentments, and she is now ready to be the hero she was always meant to be.
As a child, Starlight felt that she had a special gift to save ponies. She would hold a newborn, malleable foal, and she would watch the parents gaze at her as their baby’s savior. She adored that feeling, but she was destined for more!