I doubt Glimmer was ever a “good pony.”

@Scrounge  
Okay, sure. However, whether she was average or good doesn’t matter. The point is that she wasn’t always inherently bad. And, just because she got really bad doesn’t mean crap. Discord and Sunset have been just as bad, in the past. And, we didn’t even get a real motivation for Sunset’s villainy. (Unless you really want to believe the comic effects the EQG canon. It might.) Nor was Sunset’s moment of redemption at the end of the first movie that much better than this. The point is, Starlight needs help. And, acceptance is the first step in helping anyone who may have very deep issues. Not the only action. (Believe me, I’ve been going through it for the past year.) We only just got a redeemed Starlight. Much like what happened with Discord’s process of changing is gonna happen with Starlight. I’m sure. And, Discord is still learning, himself.

@pwingbrony  
I don’t think she was a good pony so much as an average pony, and you have to admit she went very bad.
 
 
@GamerOfChaos  

 
While this is a little hard to swallow for the Mane Six, there’s no indication one way or another as to whether anypony who wasn’t part of the Cult Of No Personality was ever told about what happened in that town, or whether Twilight told anypony outside the Mane Six about her repeatedly dooming Equestria. The rest of Ponyville might just be blissfully oblivious to what she did.
 
 
@Background Pony #B555  
I didn’t open up to Sunset until she showed that there really was something there worth saving. If season six endears her to me, that’s all wel and good, but until then, I’m not sold.
 
@GamerOfChaos  
Her sad backstory is kind of underwhelming. Quite frankly, Diamond Tiara’s is worse, and that’s not even counting the fact that Starlight’s was a single event while Spoiled’s mistreatment of Diamond not only was an ongoing thing, but there’s no indication the situation’s improved (though at least Diamond does seem happier when she’s with other foals now, so at least something’s better.)
 
And I really don’t get the people who think sending Sunset back to Equestria needs to happen. There’s really not much waiting for her in Equestria, even assuming one of the princesses remembered to rescind any warrants for her arrest that might have been issued after she stole the Element of Magic (they probably did, if there were any, but it’s not a 100% certainty). All the things that have meaning to her now are in the human world. I can see her visiting Equestria, but going back for good? It doesn’t seem like a happy ending to me.
 
@pwingbrony  
I don’t buy the idea of acceptance alone being enough to fix her.
 
Honestly? I think the next horse pun needs to be a visit with Dr. Corral Jung.

@pwingbrony  
Ugh. And, before you say anything. I do understand that Starlight was very controlling over the towns ponies. But, you have to remember, those ponies were implied to join the town willingly. They found the town, and thought that subjecting themselves to the ideals was okay. It wasn’t until later, that they decided they didn’t like the lifestyle anymore. But, they were stuck with it until the Mane 6 came and saved them.

@GamerOfChaos  
She never tried to murder anyone. She didn’t know what she was doing at all. As for the enslavement part, she thought she was making ponies realize that cutie marks were bad. Her way was bad. She was bad. I’m not saying she wasn’t. But, trying murder people, and trying to get revenge are two different things. As well as how spreading ideology and enslavement are two different things. She was a passionate extremist who had no guidance.
 
She is messed up. And, she shouldn’t be forgiven so easily. But, she realized her mistakes. She can change. It’s gonna happen. They probably should’ve saved that montage at the end for events in season 6. I don’t know the reasoning behind it. But, I feel as if people are reacting too strongly to the last five minutes. It’s worse than the way people overreacted over Magical Mystery Cure. And, that was more than five minutes.

@pwingbrony  
We’re not going to accept it because it’s hard to accept a pony into the main group IMMEDIATELY, less than five minutes, after she just tried to murder multiple ponies, use a sad backstory as an excuse for it and enslaving a town, and acting like a complete stuck up ignorant ****. Sunset’s situation was a lot different, and I don’t really feel like explaining it all over again.
 
Also, they kinda confirmed Equestria Girls is canon. I don’t want Sunset to join the main group back in Equestria, personally, but Starlight did NOT deserve the position.

Wow. Really, guys? The down votes. The comments. I think it was made very clear that Starlight was a good pony gone bad. Her redemption certainly could’ve been handled better. But, c’mon, I feel as if the fact that Sunset Shimmer exists is driving all this unnecessary hate for this character. It’s stupid. dhx said a long time ago that all the EQG stuff would never cross over to the main show in any significant way. It’s very clear to me that Starlight is the show’s version of Sunset. And, I think it’s better to accept that.
 
I don’t have a problem with Starlight becoming a good guy after everything that happened. It was clear that she was a lost individual who needed help and never got it for a long time. Now, she is actually getting it. That is much better than just cutting her off or something.
 
I do agree that the ending should have gone a bit differently. But, I don’t think that it should skew anyone’s perspective on Starlight’s character. There is potential in having this character learn from the other main characters.

@Background Pony #B555  
But in the finale, they used a backstory to pretty much excuse everything she did. Sunset didn’t have a “sad” backstory and she admitted what she did was wrong. She had to suffer the consequences of what she did, even going on to sing her own solo song about her struggles. It took everyone awhile to forgive her, even Twilight was resistant at first with letting her help her up. Everyone wasn’t just forgiving her and making her their instant best friend, which is what’s happening with Starlight. Literally everyone is treating her like she did nothing wrong. Sunset’s story was better in that regard. She had to suffer the consequences, Starlight didn’t.

@GamerOfChaos  
Sunset was an ignorant heartless jerk who was being “reformed” in more or less the same amount of time in the first EG. Sure, we did see her being punished, which was cool.
 
Only in RR do we first get to see her struggle for her salvation. So give Starlight a chance, will ye?

More like an ignorant heartless jerk being “reformed” in a rushed five minute sequence.

@Background Pony #AB08  
More like Bad Pony gone wild

More like a bad pony gone worse.

@Trahzo  
I bet he is

Good? Since when? Are you on some new stuff? Ha!