@Background Pony #28AF  
You. I like you.

Starlight was angry when she attacked her followers, not corrupted or possessed. It was a conscious decision on her part to hurt others and being angry is no excuse for attempted murder/assault.  
Starlights philosophy sprung from het belief that cutie marks were responsible for her pain and hated the current society for valuing them, hence why she wanted to replace it with her own. Starlight had no problem resorting to kidnapping and brainwashing ponies that were already happy with their lives and refused to buy into her philosophy and the fact that the other villiagers had to sneak around and have secret meetings for fear of reprisal does not pain a picture of a pleasent, altruistic supreme leader.
 
Sunset was cruel to the students at Canterlot high and she was rightfully ostrasized by them for it and should have had to do manual labor whether she blew up that wall or not. Starlight should have got the same and no amount of “good intentions” should have got starlight off as easily as they did.
 
Twilight forgave starlight because she is a good person and thats why we love her and forgiveness was both the moral and the practical choice on her part but redemption should be a journey filled with self reflection and discovery and should be earned in blood (not literally),sweat and tears untill you have proven yourself through actions. We got to follow sunset on this journey and the audience themselves was able to forgive her. Starlight on the other had her journey wrap up in a two minute montage and didnt do anything but screw around with the mane 6 and then was accepted back by the ponies she hurt the most the second she showed up with a sad look on her face.
 
I hope that season 6 does not open with the assumption that starlight has nothing left to prove because having starlight continue to flip karma the bird and carry on like nothing happened is a good way to make people dislike her more. In the end art is subjective and you have every right to like starlight but there are plenty of reasons for people to dislike her and her redemption should have been handled better then it was.

@Pagan  
There was someone in one of the neighborhoods that I used to live in. I used to go to the person’s house and play video games or ride my bike with him around the area. However, he left and I wasn’t able to get anything like an email address or even a home address so that I could be able to maintain contact with him. In this case, is it particularly my fault that I wasn’t able to contact him or didn’t? If not, then you shouldn’t fault her for not being able to contact Sunburst or not trying to do so. Besides, Sunburst is the one who left.
 
Starlight believed that if she tried to make friends, then once they received their cutie marks, they would leave and not be her friend anymore. Why would she be motivated to even try if she believed that the outcome would be terrible? She was a filly during the time, so concluding that cutie marks would break friendships apart after seeing her friend sent to Canterlot right after he received her cutie mark would seem to be reasonable to her. Also, what makes you think that making friends is easy for everyone? I have never been able to make friends even the slightest bit easily, much less retain them. Besides, it isn’t like you can just replace friends.
 
@Mr grump  
Sunset stated that she planned to take over Equestria with the power of the Element of Magic. It’s likely that she would have tried to do so regardless of whether the element of magic warped her demeanor, so she didn’t have any other reason for the things that she did besides the pursuit of power.
 
Starlight was momentarily consumed by her anger after the four who chased her caused her to drop the Mane Six’s cutie marks. She lied only about the fact that she didn’t remove her cutie mark, but she was being sincere about her ideology. You just stated that she was beginning to lose her temper in the other occurence so she wasn’t exactly lucid.
 
Sunset was ordered to repair the destroyed portion of Canterlot High because she destroyed it, and the reason for the other students not trusting her afterwards is due to the fact that she had been continuously malicious to them before she saw the error of her ways. In contrast, the ponies in her village were mainly upset about Starlight lying to them about her cutie mark and also because she didn’t give them the chance to be friends without needing to have their cutie marks removed. The scope of Starlight’s actions were smaller than Sunset’s. Starlight’s actions affected only the villagers in her town and the Mane Six and as I just stated, they were upset that she lied to them. It’s not likely for the usage of the brainwashing room to be frequent if her villagers were convinced to follow her ideology and willingly had their cutie marks removed. In any case, she might have thought that the brainwashing room would be necessary.
 
Stating that she made the village because she believed that society wronged her and not because of her ideology is very misleading.

@Background Pony #C93E
 
@Background Pony #F920  
woops, forgot to sign in before properly replying to you.
 

Sunset was behaving like an alpha bitch and throwing her weight around, this is true and her plans for equestrian were not benevolent so we both pretty much agree that sunset was a douche but she didn’t go axe crazy until she put on the element which means she was not fully in control of her own actions.
 
Starlight was perfectly in lucid and in control of her own actions when she started attacking people which she did just because they had the gall to get in her way. When the crowd first confronted her on her lies she lost her temper right away and started prepping a spell and the only reason she didn’t use it was because she realized she was surrounded and decided to book out of town.
 
As you can see they were both behaving like douchebags but one was punished properly for her actions even though her worst behavior was due to an unwilling transformation while the other was not punished even though she has no such excuse. Starlight wanted to change society because she believed it somehow personally wronged her and so she wanted to replace it with something that catered exclusively to her pain and needs and equal town was the first step. Other lonely and confused ponies may have drunk the coolade with her but the presence of the brainwashing room and her willingness to use it on anyone who disagreed with her or had second thoughts is not a sign of benevolence.

@Background Pony #C93E  

 
I hate this argument so much we didn’t even see if she tried to get in contact with him she just immediately lost her mind and she directly states in the episode she never tried to make another friend she was a filly and in all those years she never tried to make another friend that shows she doesn’t care she didn’t want friends yet she uses him leaving as an excuse for what she did it’s completely contradictory if she had said she had at least attempted to make friends I could give some leeway but no she didn’t even do that she could have made new friends easily but chose to say it was cutie marks.
 
This means one of two things she’s just using him as a way of justifying everything she’s done or she’s mentally unstable to the point she should be in a mental ward and not be allowed to leave.

@Mr grump  
Starlight had mainly tried to impede their progress when she was running away. Up until she had dropped the Mane Six’s cutie marks, she did not try to directly attack them. My main problem with your comparison with Sunset Shimmer is that you’re claiming that Sunset not trying to directly attack the other students until she wore the Element of Magic was better while misleadingly insinuating that Starlight immediately attacked the ones who were chasing her. You also glanced over the fact that Sunset was being malicious toward the other students beforehand. Also, unlike Starlight, she didn’t do those things for even slightly altruistic reasons.
 
Also, exactly what means to an end were they?
 
@Crystal Neighybánya  
There isn’t any way to tell for sure. I personally doubt that the brainwashing of her villagers, if any, was actually severe, and I doubt that many of them were forced to be in the village.
 
I can forgive Starlight for what she did because she was mainly misguided and removed the other ponies’ cutie marks because she actually believed that they would be happier. I also personally empathize with Starlight because I know very well how painful losing friends can be.

@Background Pony #E96C  
A lot of people have that opinion and I don’t hear them objecting.

@Background Pony #C93E  
Umm, yes it is dude. Starlight is hauling ass out of that town whith those cutie marks purley to spite the mane 6 and when her followers try to stop her they become an inconveniance and she comes comes out horn blazing. She did not even try to ask or convince them to let her go first before resorting to violence because she never cared about their opinion or truly cared about them as indivisuals.
 
They were a means to an end for her and by that point in the story she had stopped pretending otherwise.

@Background Pony #C93E  
The inhabitants of Our Town behaved like they’d been lobotomized: I think it’s safe to say there was a significant degree of brainwashing involved in the Equalization process.
 
@Mr grump  
 
I think this is the big reason it’s hard for a lot of people to forgive Glimmer: she was a smarmy, self-righteous byay with no scruples whatsoever up until we were supposed to feel sorry for her.
 
@Mr grump  
@PonyPon  
I think it’s safe to say if Twilight Sparkle hadn’t been there, the Equal Four would’ve ended up like Starscream.
 

 
@Background Pony #E96C  
Nothing like casual racism to spice up an argument.

@Pagan  
“guess it will just be one more thing that gets an unsatisfying outcome.”
 
Speak for your own opinions, not everyone’s. Don’t be black.

@PonyPon  
@MLPFan2012
 
When she was trying to escape with the Mane Six’s cutie marks. That was afterwards. Mr grump stated that she attacked them the moment that the four ponies became a nuisance, which wasn’t true.

“When she was trying to escape with the Mane Six’s cutie marks, she never tried to directly attack the four that were chasing her.”
 
Yeah no, that magic blast of hers would of definitely done some damage if Twilight hadn’t blocked it.

@Background Pony #C93E  

 
So what was this?

@Mr grump  
Sunset was cruel toward the others in Canterlot High and her goal was to gain more power by stealing the Element of Magic and conquer Equestria. Also, she had to perform manual labor because she destroyed a portion of the school. In contrast, Starlight honestly thought that the ponies in her village would be happier without their cutie marks. When she was trying to escape with the Mane Six’s cutie marks, she never tried to directly attack the four that were chasing her.

@Jades  
They didn’t force her to become her friend, she just passed some time with them in order to prove she now meant well. After that period, she returned to her old “friends” to make peace with them, and maybe staying with them although that is shady.

@Mr grump  
And even then the Humane 5 still treated Sunset as an outsider for a large percentage of Rainbow Rocks. Even Twilight was reluctant to take her hand when she reemerges from the portal.

@Pagan  
Ha, And even after I went over my mistakes I still missed a “the”, See if you can spot where it was suppose to go. I better hop off the computer for awhile cause I’m starting to slip.

@Mr grump  
Sunset did not try to physically harm anyone until she was transformed into a raging she demon and responsibility for her care was given to the humane 6 by twilight. They still expected an apology and was not automatically given best friend status.
 
Starlight had no problem physically attacking 4 of her former followers the moment they became a nuisance and treated them like flunkeys more the friends she claimed they were. That’s why her seeming instant forgiveness by them no questions asked was so irritating for so many people.

@Mr grump  
We all do.

@Mr grump  
Hmm, way to many grammar and sentence structure mistakes then I would like in my previous statement. I wish this site had an edit button.

@orbsah  
Sunset did not try to physically harm anyone until she was transformed into a raging she demon and was given responsibility for her care was given to the humane6 by twilight. They still expected an apology and was not automatically given best friend status.
 
Starlight had no problem physically attacking 4 of her former followers the moment they became a nuisance and treated them like flunkeys more the friends she claimed they were. That’s why her seeming instant forgiveness no questions asked was so irritating for so many people.

@orbsah
 
@Mr grump  
EQG is not FIM your argument is mute.
 
If you want to ignore evidence that’s your prerogative just don’t try and convince other people otherwise when you have none in return and willfully ignore facts that are presented.

@Mr grump  
Humane six accepted Sunset wihout doubt, mane six accepted Starlight without doubt.  
other humans were suspicious of Sunset, other ponies oblivious about what happened.  
Completely different circumstances.

Twilight using a shield spell is enough to tell that that spell was bad news. if it looks, acts and sounds like a death beam and the user is staring daggers at you its safe to assume that it aint a tickle ray.