Starlight Glimmer

### Occupation

Principal of the School of Friendship (S9E20 onward)School of Friendship guidance counselor (S8E1-S9E20)

Twilight Sparkle's student (S5E26-S7E1)

Leader of Our Town (up until S5E2)

## Appearances

### Appears in

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (TV Series)

### Debut

The Cutie Map: Part 1 (MLP)

**Starlight Glimmer** is one of the recurring characters turned main character and a former antagonist in *My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic*. She first served as the main antagonist in the season 5 premiere, *The Cutie Map* and later reformed in the two-part finale *The Cutie Re-Mark*. From season 6 onward she becomes a supporting heroic character. In the season 5 premiere to the season 5 finale, she was evil, mean, power-hungry, ruthless, impatient and wicked. For the rest of the series, she is kind-hearted, calm, positive, sweet and confident as well as remorseful, friendlier, and happier.

## Appearance

Starlight is a unicorn, with a lavater coat and purple with green lining mane. She has a cutie mark that's the shape of a compass with a swirl line. In Season 5, her mane style was bang cutted straight and flat while the back is long and curled in back. From Season 6 and onward, Starlight's mane was changed to a swirl, exposing her big bald spot on her forhead. Her mane style often keeps changing sides. In addition, a piece of her mane on the back is seen hanging on either side.

## Personality

When introduced, Starlight Glimmer is shown to be seemingly benevolent and laid-back, but was revealed to be a vain, hypocritical, selfish, villainous, deceptive, calculative megalomaniac. She is easily frustrated when things don't work out how she planned. It is not entirely clear whether Starlight truly believes that she is doing the right thing by ridding ponies of their cutie marks and is only keeping her magic because she is the only one who can do so, whether she is actually deriving satisfaction out of the fact that she alone in the town has a special talent, or a bit of both. Based upon how she responds to ponies thinking they are superior to others, it is implied she has an envious side. But despite being an expert manipulator, Starlight's zealot attitude and refusal to believe in any form of friendship other than her own makes her quite gullible herself, as she is tricked by Fluttershy into releasing her, by Party Favor into thinking that he was the only one wishing for his cutie mark back (he claimed this to defend the other free-thinking ponies, Sugar Belle and Night Glider) and by Twilight Sparkle into being distracted, although she claimed she was aware of Fluttershy's ruse. She is also quite disrespectful, even to royalty, as shown when she furiously silences Twilight when she tried to explain how differences can make friendships stronger. In addition, she is somewhat clumsy, something that allowed Fluttershy to discover her secret.

In the season 5 finale, Starlight becomes vindictive and relentless in her attempt to take revenge on Twilight by keeping the Sonic Rainboom that caused the Mane Six to get their cutie marks, as well as stubbornly thinking that it won't make any difference, even when proven otherwise. Starlight is given a sympathetic background as it is revealed that during her childhood, she had a friend named Sunburst who earned his cutie mark and went to Canterlot, making Starlight feel abandoned. When Twilight convinces Starlight to turn over a new leaf, after showing her the alternative Equestria and what friendship truly is, she adopts a remorseful, friendly, and overall happier side, turning her into a more kind-hearted pony.

In the season six premiere, she is portrayed as timid and easily unnerved, especially when it comes to the prospect of reuniting with Sunburst. In the finale, Starlight demonstrates an aversion to being in a leadership role due to her past actions, though she proves to have a natural talent for it and eventually overcomes her fears.

From the season seven premiere and onward, Starlight is more confident and determined but she still needed Twilight's help so she decides not to leave the castle, much to Twilight's delight.

In *Rock Solid Friendship*, Starlight displays a keen knowledge and interest in kites.

## Quotes

"*Welcome! I'm so pleased to have you here!*"
— The Cutie Map - Part 1
"*Please enjoy our little corner of Equestria. We're all quite fond of it. No doubt you will be as well.*"
— The Cutie Map - Part 1
"*When the rest of Equestria sees that a princess gave up her cutie mark to join us, they'll finally understand what we're trying to accomplish.*"
— The Cutie Map - Part 1
"*In sameness, there is peace. Exceptionalism is a lie. Free yourself from your cutie mark. Choose equality as your special talent. Difference is frustration. To excel is to fail. Be your best by never being your best. Conformity will set you free. Accept your limitations, and happiness will follow. You're no better than your friend.*"
— Recording playback, The Cutie Map - Part 2
"*Ugh! Starlight, you clumsy foal!*"
— The Cutie Map - Part 2
"*You'd all still be living your miserable lives thinking you're "better" than everypony else if it weren't for* my *magical abilities!* I *brought you friendship!* I *brought you equality!* I created harmony!"
— The Cutie Map - Part 2
"*The only way to be happy is if we're all equal!*"
— The Cutie Map - Part 2
"**QUIET!**"
— To Twilight Sparkle, The Cutie Map - Part 2
"*They think they can come into* my *village and disrupt* my *life? Let's see how they like spending the rest of their lives without their precious cutie marks!*"
— The Cutie Map - Part 2
"*Spare me your sentimental nonsense! I gave these ponies* real *friendships they* never *could have had otherwise!*"
— To Twilight Sparkle, The Cutie Map - Part 2
"*Welcome home, Twilight!*"
— The Cutie Re-Mark - Part 1
"*My village was a sanctuary of equality, where nopony's cutie mark allowed them to feel superior! It was a special place, and you and your friends took it away! Now it's* my *turn to take something special from* you! *Without the rainboom, you and your friends will never form your special cutie mark bonds! Cutie marks for cutie marks! Sounds like a fair trade to me!*"
— To Twilight Sparkle, The Cutie Re-Mark - Part 1
"*Oh, isn't it a shame we don't live in a world where everypony is equal? No one would ever tease anyone there! Wouldn't that be nice?*"
— The Cutie Re-Mark - Part 1
"*I was perfectly happy before you and your* friends *ruined what I built!*"
— To Twilight Sparkle, The Cutie Re-Mark - Part 2
"*Not everypony's lucky enough to get her cutie mark at the same time as her friends!*"
— The Cutie Re-Mark - Part 2
"*I know there's no excuse for what I did, but I want you all to know that I'm ready for whatever punishment you think is fair.*"
— The Cutie Re-Mark - Part 2
"*Well, you don't know what it was like to be left behind! And then getting so bitter that you steal the cutie marks from an entire village and then get defeated by Twilight and her friends, so you travel through time to get back at them, but they beat you again and teach you about friendship, but you're so terrified ponies will find out what you did that you can't make any friends!*"
— To Sunburst, The Crystalling - Part 2
"*Stop stressing...* Stop stressing!"
— No Second Prances
"*Friendship lessons can happen anywhere.*"
— The Times They Are A Changeling
"*I know what it's like to lead by fear and intimidation! And I know what it's like to want everypony to do what you say! But I was wrong. A real leader doesn't force her subjects to deny who they are! She celebrates what makes them unique and listens when one of them finds a better way!*"
— To Queen Chrysalis, To Where and Back Again - Part 2
"*I guess after the way I used my magic on all of you, I wasn't sure I was somepony who should even be in charge of a baking contest. I was afraid I might go back to being the pony I used to be. But I realize that sometimes you don't have a choice. You have to step up. And I have changed! I can handle it. Whether that means saving Equestria or helping friends out with the Sunset Festival.*"
— To Where and Back Again - Part 2
"*Where's that baking contest? This pony needs a cupcake!*"
— To Where and Back Again - Part 2
"*I like... kites.*"
— To Maud Pie, Rock Solid Friendship
"*You know what? Jalapeño red velvet omelettes sound gross. I-I just can't.*"
— To Pinkie Pie, Rock Solid Friendship
"*You did say I'd make a good distraction.*"
— To Sunset Shimmer, My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Mirror Magic
"*If you spend too much time worrying about the bad things that* might *happen, you'll miss out on all the good things that* are *happening.*"
— To Sunset Shimmer, My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Mirror Magic
"*You think getting revenge is going to make you feel better, but it's not!*"
— To Juniper Montage, My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Mirror Magic
"*Manipulated an entire town into giving up their talents so they wouldn't think they were special.*"
— My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Mirror Magic
"*Oh,* sure*, you could all stay here, not help Pharynx and he won't bother you anymore. It's your choice. But remember when you didn't* have *a choice! When you were forced to obey Chrysalis! You might have been unstoppable, but you weren't free to choose! And now you are, because of Thorax! Well, it's his brother out there, and now it's your chance to prove you're just as strong embracing love as you were feeding on it! Now is your chance to show what changelings can really be! Not because you* have *to, but because you* choose *to!*"
— To Change a Changeling
"*Nothing was better than playing this game when we were foals, right?*"
— To Sunburst, Uncommon Bond
"*I guess I'm lucky your idol wasn't around when you decided to be my friend. I might've been banished to limbo, too.*"
— To Twilight Sparkle, Shadow Play - Part 2
"*I wasn't so different from you, and Twilight helped me change. If there's one pony in Equestria that can save a friendship, it's her.*"
— To Stygian, Shadow Play - Part 2
"*Soooo... apparently a conversation* can *save Equestria?*"
— To Star Swirl the Bearded, Shadow Play - Part 2
"*Hey, you made me a guidance counselor. That means tough love.*"
— To Twilight Sparkle, School Daze - Part 2
"*Imagine doing sweaty warm-ups with a princess, blowing your nose in front of a princess, sitting around just... talking with a princess.*"
— Horse Play
"*The Great and Powerful Trixie might keep her promises, but the Busy and Distracted Starlight sure doesn't.*"
— Student Counsel
"*You aren't terrible. And you have a lot of great qualities. Maybe not vice headmare qualities, but great and powerful friend qualities.*"
— To Trixie, A Horse Shoe-In
"*Phyllis, no!*"
— A Horse Shoe-In
"*You didn't make an appointment!*"
— To Queen Chrysalis, The Ending of the End - Part 1