I hate Starlight Glimmer with a dirty passion. I DESPISE that she’s replacing key figures in the cast despite how boring and awful she is. I’m not saying I don’t enjoy characters with bad attitudes, but she’s a character who never suffers from the horrible things she does. I’m not cynical. I like a little justice once in a while. The cutesy visage the writers are trying so hard to shoehorn in make her come off as down right psychopathic, and I’m def not enjoying how much attention she gets. Despite how I feel, I love all of the potential her character could have been.
 
So have some HC ideas!
 
HUGE DISCLAIMER: I basically entirely subscribe to Lopoddity’s HCs on the other magical purple horse, so check her ideas out here because it would just be far too boring to reread something that’s already been written. Go respect the person who actually put more thought into this:
 
 
-Starlight was a spoiled only-child, daughter of one of the richest families in her small, historic village. Both she and Sunburst sort of suffered from the small countryside town mentality. Since birth, Starlight was seen as the local pretty little princess who could do no wrong. Everyone was well meaning, and never intended to sew rotten seeds in the little filly’s mind, but eventually the lavish parties and her egotistical business mare of a mother convinced her that the world owed her everything. It certainly impacted how she viewed her best friend Sunburst, who she had, or thought she had, an enormous crush on. An unhealthy crush run by fantasies that went just a little too far. This belief in ideals allowed her to develop her dogma which acted as the foundation of her cult.
 
~~Starlight has a lot of mommy issues due to supposedly never being able to live up to her mother’s cold, intimidating, powerful exterior. Onyx Starling was a successful mare that expected nothing less from her amazing daughter, so when Starlight was slow to earn her cutie mark, Onyx reacted more than poorly. When her parents finally divorced, Starlight blamed herself ~~ although she had no idea about her father’s affair with Stellar Flare until much, much later. At that point she hadn’t spoken to her mother since the divorce, so she still chooses to keep her distance. Starlight isn’t the type to deal with real problems in her life until they bite her so hard she has no choice but to react.
 
~~Starlight’s whole cult was founded on the idea that cutie marks were limiting and hurtful ~~ which was a complaint that was not new to Equestria - but her true motivations were somewhat more sinister and selfish. Starlight was aiming to design the perfect friends under her strict control. Meaning that she could hold herself in power over them, and she could punish them if they ever thought of abandoning her like Sunburst. At times her paranoia over abandonment was so high, she spiked the water supply with relaxants that made her ponies just slightly more amicable. Initially she was careful at who she welcomed into her village - saying that cutie mark removal was a privilege that needed to be earned - but as her confidence grew, she felt she could convince anyone that this was a good idea and so her little town opened its doors toward practically everyone.
 
-One thing I do like about the whole timeline switching thing is that Starlight was forced to get over herself and see that her actions affect more than just herself. Until then, she was ruefully selfish and prepared to do anything to get her way in life. Upon seeing the dusty, empty world that she created, Starlight Glimmer realized she had to change or she would lose more than just friends.
 
-Trixie and Starlight were a dysfunctional couple. Trixie’s ego combined with Starlight’s is just a recipe for disaster, and yet the two made it work for a long time. Unfortunately this was in Trixie’s detriment as Starlight continued to take the things Trixie loved away in spontaneous moments of selfishness. Eventually, when Starlight disappears, Trixie is left with very little. But luckily, Twilight is there to help her heal. (I’m considering giving a child to Starlight, but I think I have enough NGs with parental abandonment issues. Instead, I’m prolly just gonna give Trixie to someone that will actually treat her right and not abuse her around every corner).
 
-In my verse, Starlight was one of Princess Twilight’s failures. Despite all of the hard work Twilight put into helping Starlight be a better pony, how much she gave Starlight in good faith, the unicorn still fell back into her usual manipulative ways the moment the opportunity arose. (It’s much more complicated than that, but it didn’t seem that way to Twilight, Trixie and Starlight’s other friends). Starlight would later co-found a new cult with a mysterious mare from a far away land. However, Starlight may have bitten off more than she could chew with this one.
 
Do you have any ideas for Starlight? I hope I haven’t offended anyone with my vehement dislike for this character, but I must spread the word of why I dislike her! If the writers even gave her one moment where she faces non self-inflicted punishment for her terrible actions, I would feel a lot less uncomfortable with how she’s implemented in the story. If the story just needed a replacement for Headmare at Twilight’s school, there were plenty of other options. Plus I’m pretty sure the major story decisions are made about as quickly as the toys come out, so it’s likely none of this was planned. Bleh…I liked Starlight when she first debuted as a freaky cultleader, but then it just fell apart into toxic ideas about unconditional forgiveness that I just don’t jive with. Anywho, she’ll have a role in my story and I hope it’s entertaining!