@cheezedoodle  
4chan likely got them off itunes, and usually when I see the 4chan source links, I seek out the itunes page to make them “better” official links. (I also add “preview” to distinguish from full-page non-preview pages). I just didn’t get a chance to it for this last one.

I want to believe that Starlight is not part of the Mane 6, because it makes more sense that way. She is Twilight’s student however, so you can expect her to tag along when Twilight’s around / involved in something. Starlight not being a Mane 6 solves a lot of the problems with her appearances and lack of interactions with the Mane 6 in the show.  
I think Starlight, Twilight and Spike form a new group similar to the CMC, therefore Starlight can and usually do make an appearance completely outside of the Mane 6, but never stray far from Twilight or Spike.
 
We therefore won’t ever need to ask ‘where is Starlight’ whenever the Mane 6 is all present, but we can ask ‘Where is Twilight’ whenever Starlight makes an appearance, due to their disciple-mentor relationship.
 
tldr; Starlight is not mane 6 but very possibly part of a group that consists of Twilight and Spike and Starlight.

@Hateot  

 
I would like to retract this statement for the time being.
 
Also, someone’s got a pretty low threshold for ‘drama in the comments’ tag. This is just simple discussion compared to the kind of stuff where mods have to step in. Someone laying some constructive criticism and another person defending it in turn isn’t what constitutes as drama until insults start to fly, if you ask me.

@RIG @Masem  
Overzealous newbie.
 
People linking official previews from 4chan though:  

whoa…

@RIG  
Yeah, not uploaded by me,but I recall they were only linked to 4chan. I knew I saw them but they were deleted under Rule #1.

Meanwhile…  
“Well?”  
“Mission accomplished, Mrs. Rich. The mayor’s “new playground” was successfully sabotaged. This is sure to smear her good name and allow your husband to slide into office easily…”  
“Just as planned…”

DELETEHEAD!
 
…and then reuploaded

Wait, these were post before…and got deleted?

@mrdoctorderpy  
I’m shocked, shocked to find that mare appearing in the comics!  
IDW clerk: Your Friends Forever #35, sir.  
Oh, thank you very much.

What’s this?  
Starlight is appearing in the comics?  
I’m shocked

@thatguy  
Maybe, I’m just afraid that people’s suspension of disbelief might not be able to handle a big thing like that simply coming out of nowhere, again.

@Hateot
 
They could want to let people get more used to her being around before springing something big like that on people, who knows.

@Darth Sonic  
Maybe… maybe Starlight Glimmer is part of the preparation for G5.  
conspiracylyra.jpg

@Hateot  
That, and the fact that Season 7 is probably the last, what with the movie and the need to start preparations for G5.

@thatguy  
Perhaps, we’ll see if they decide to go that route and how they’ll handle it if they do.
 
I just personally think it’s a little late to start a main character transition all of a sudden and this late into the season, when you could have had the whole season to work on that instead of focusing solely on her student/teacher relationship with one Mane pony, and her dragon.

@Background Pony #3EAD  
… Man, people are stupid sometimes.

@Darth Sonic  
It’s disproportionate when fans thinks those are the only episodes that really matter, and everything else is slice-of-life/filler, which is a viewpoint I see expressed fairly often.

@Background Pony #3EAD  
It’s not “disproportionate” though. Yes, there have been some one-parters that changed the status que in a significant way, but every single two-parter without exception has changed the status que.

@Hateot
 
I know the context, it’s possible that she isn’t considered a fully fledged main character yet but will become one in the finale, and that he answered that way to avoid spoiling it.

@Background Pony #E332  
Sure, the season-bookending two-parters are big and flashy and given disproportionate importance by the fandom, but plenty of one-part episodes have upset the status quo: “Lesson Zero” (Twilight no longer solely responsible for friendship reports), “Sleepless in Ponyville” (Rainbow Dash becomes honorary big sister to Scootaloo), “Keep Calm and Flutter On” (Discord’s reformation); heck, the two biggest changes to the status quo, Twilight Sparkle’s ascension and the CMC’s cutie mark acquisitions, happened during single-episode stories (though the first was during a season finale, granted).

@thatguy  
You are correct, he called her a recurring character. However the context for that answer was someone asking and I quote: “Most of the time this season it feels that Starlight never joined the Mane 6, yet she is supposed to be part of the Mane cast”
 
To which Jim answered:  
“She’s a recurring character.”
 
Yes, it’s open ended and you can interpret it in a way that best suits you, but you would think he had aswered differently if he wanted to assure the person asking the question that she indeed is a Mane character.

@PonyPon  
Real fucking annoying that.
 
But unless Human Sunset moves to Equestria, Starlight seems the next most likely candidate.

@Darth Sonic  
Once again the staff writers are going to keep the Sunset comparisons down as much as they can.

@Darth Sonic  
All the other elements went to the ponies’ corresponding humans, I even have reason to believe SciTwi will ‘get’ hers in the next film.
 
The elements, for whatever reason, don’t seem keen to split the same element between two entities.