Starlight Glimmer is Twilight Sparkle’s student and the leader of the School of Friendship. She has a very unique character arch that deals with coming to terms with her past and making peace with others.
As the leader of a community where ponies gave up their cutie marks in order to know true friendship, she believes that having a talent of any kind leads to disharmony. She uses a magic stick called the Staff of Sameness to remove her followers’ cutie marks and replace them with equal signs.
She is Twilight Sparkle’s student
Twilight Sparkle took on Starlight Glimmer as her student when she moved into the Castle of Friendship. She teaches Starlight about the magic of friendship, and it helps her to overcome her past mistakes.
In Season 6, Starlight has a more confident approach to her friendships than in seasons previous. She is more willing to accept her friend Trixie as a person instead of a competition.
During the season six finale, Starlight is invited back to her old village to celebrate the Sunset Festival. She is accompanied by Trixie out of fear of being rejected, but the villagers openly welcome her. They look to her for advice on how to manage the festival.
However, she becomes uncomfortable in a leadership role due to her past actions and abandons the festivities. This makes Twilight wonder if she was right to accept her as a friend in the first place.
She is a very talented magic user who has been studying magic for years. She can teleport, project magical barriers, shoot powerful magic blasts, and cast spells in a ceremony known as “cutie unmarking.” Her magic is tied to her emotions; the stronger she feels, the more magic she can use.
She is the leader of the School of Friendship
Twilight Sparkle was the first pony to discuss establishing the School of Friendship as a place for learning about friendship, with Starlight Glimmer joining her. The school was founded next to the Castle of Friendship in Ponyville.
Starlight had a strong interest in magical arts as a child, burying herself in her studies until she developed a talent. It was not a natural one, though, and she had to work hard to practice it, even if it meant putting others in danger.
She had a friend in Sunburst, whom she grew close to and taught her magic. Initially, Starlight had no idea what she wanted to do with her newfound talents. She soon realized that she wanted to spread the idea of removing Cutie Marks across Equestria until there was no need for them.
Eventually, Starlight found a way to do it using her own magic. She invented a staff called the Staff of Sameness that she could use to remove Cutie Marks from ponies, replacing them with boring equal signs instead.
She began to see the error of her ways when she and her followers were challenged by Twilight Sparkle and friends. She was finally able to make peace with her past and realize that she did not understand what Cutie Marks are really for, and that they add to friendships by giving ponies something unique.
She is the Big Bad of Season 5
Starlight Glimmer is a unicorn pony with an affinity for magic. She is the main antagonist of Season 5 and serves as an overarching villain in FiM.
Starlight was introduced in the season premiere, where she leads a group of ponies who have given up their cutie marks to live in a happy village where they are equal. She and her followers believe that individual differences, like a pony’s cutie mark, are what hurt friendships.
She is very knowledgeable about magical abilities and has a great deal of talent, including using telekinesis at long range, projecting magic barriers, and shooting powerful magic blasts. She also has a horn that glows with magical energy when she gets angry or frustrated.
Despite being a villain, she has some good intentions, as shown in The Cutie Re-Mark when she asks Twilight Sparkle how to make friends and learn to accept their differences. She is also one of the first villains in the series to be shown as not necessarily evil, and that is a major difference from the other major villains.
She eventually redeems herself and becomes a teacher of friendship at Twilight Sparkle’s School of Friendship. She also helps save Equestria from Queen Chrysalis in the season 6 finale.
She is the Big Bad of Season 6
Starlight Glimmer is a unicorn with powerful magical abilities. She first appeared in the season premiere, “The Cutie Map”, as the leader of a town where everyone has given up their cutie marks. She used an artifact called the Staff of Sameness to remove their cutie marks and store them in a hidden vault.
As the season went on, Starlight Glimmer was revealed to be a vilalin with powers that exceed Twilight Sparkle’s. She is able to use time travel, self levitation and crystallisation magic.
But, despite her incredible talents and powers, she is also a vilalin with faults. She has a tendency to rely on her magic to solve problems or accomplish tasks, and she often doesn’t think her plans through enough.
This can cause her to lash out or use magic without thinking. It can also lead to her being afraid of taking up leadership roles.
Thankfully, she is able to overcome her weaknesses and become a better pony. This is especially true in her battle for redemption.
She is the Big Bad of Season 7
Twilight Sparkle is fascinated by the magical prowess of Starlight Glimmer, and she takes her on as a student. She teaches her about the magic of friendship and eventually appoints her as guidance counselor at the School of Friendship in Season 8.
In the episode, The Cutie Map, she tries to get back at Twilight by going back in time and preventing them from ever meeting. However, her plan is thwarted by the Mane 6 and Spike.
Afterwards, Starlight is uncomfortable with her leadership role and leaves the festival to go home. She is then replaced with changelings in the episode, To Where and Back Again.
While Starlight has shown some improvement in her attitude since The Cutie Map, she is still not a fan of being a villain and does not like that she was labeled as one. She also does not want to return Chrysalis’s love and tries to avoid it. Ultimately, she is defeated and dethroned by Thorax. Her personality changes to that of a supportive, hero-like pony who is remorseful for her past actions and is friendlier towards the other ponies in Equestria. She is also a bit sarcastic at times, as demonstrated in To Change a Changeling and School Daze – Part 1.
She is the Big Bad of Season 8
Starlight Glimmer is Twilight Sparkle’s student and the leader of the School of Friendship. In Season 8, she’s learning friendship lessons and trying to move on from her time as a villain. She’s a bit of a hybrid character, which I really like.
She starts off as a friendly and welcoming pony, but she grows a bit callous and discourteous over the course of the series. She’s very determined to keep up with appearances, and she dismisses any concept of friendship that doesn’t conform to her own.
Her biggest problem is that she doesn’t think her plans through. She’s overly reliant on her magic to solve problems or accomplish tasks.
For example, in All Bottled Up, she uses her magic to remove Star Swirl’s limbo spell without thinking it through. And in A Matter of Principals, she lashes out at Discord because he’s annoying her.
Starlight’s a lot more human than your typical villain, and it’s a nice change of pace for Equestria Girls. However, it doesn’t make her a very easy character to like. She’s also a bit of a ditz, which isn’t the best quality for a main cast member. She also makes some bad decisions, such as switching the royal sisters cutie marks and trading Trixie’s wagon without permission.
She is the Big Bad of Season 9
Starlight Glimmer is a powerful unicorn with the magical ability to steal cutie marks and replace them with equal signs. Her philosophy is that individual differences, as symbolized by the cutie mark, make ponies less happy and destroy friendships, so she developed a magic spell that allows her to replace one’s cutie mark with an equal sign without leaving any trace.
She makes her first appearance in the season five premier when Twilight Sparkle leads the Mane 6 to a village where all the citizens have equal signs for Cutie Marks. They are greeted by Starlight and the townsfolk, who explain their philosophy that being equal brings true happiness.
When they arrive at her village, they meet a trio of ponies who miss their Cutie Marks. They learn that the village is not as happy as it appears, and Starlight reveals her secret. She has developed a magic item called the Staff of Sameness, which can replace her followers’ cutie marks with equal signs and keeps the stolen marks out of their former owners’ hands.
While Starlight redeemed herself, she still made mistakes such as mind controlling the Mane Six, switching the royal sisters cutie marks and trading Trixie’s wagon without permission. She also showed her insecurities, especially when it came to being in a leadership role. However, she eventually overcomes her fears and proves to have a natural talent for it.