History Recap / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS5E26TheCutieRemarkPart2

* NoEndorHolocaust: In the timeline in which Nightmare Moon won, the everlasting night doesn't cause the end of all living things, at least by the time Twilight arrives (alegedly several years after the fact).

* NoEndorHolocaust: In the timeline in which Nightmare Moon won, the everlasting night doesn't cause the end of all living things, at least by the time Twilight arrives (several years after the fact).

** The only one that stands out is Discord's. While probably unpleasant for the ponies living in it, it's easily the least terrifying option of all potential futures, and definitely the only one that doesn't result in the death or subjugation of all of Equestria.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Starlight starts tearing up the time-travel spell, knowing that this will lead to the death of all life in Equestria. She says she doesn't believe this will happen, while experiencing a VillainousBreakdown, and Twilight is frantically trying to talk her out of this destructive act without trying to physical/magically force her to. It finally leads with Starlight taking Twilight's offered hoof and releasing the scroll. Now, does that resemble leading someone away from a high ledge? Keep in mind that Starlight is in ''Cloudsdale'' and nothing but her own levitation is keeping her afloat.

'''Twilight Sparkle:''' Starting is easy! All you have to do is make a friend, and you've got ''[[SixthRanger seven of them right here]]''.

* WhamEpisode: The Mane Six, as we have known them since the beginning, aren't the Mane Six anymore. They're the Mane Six plus one with Starlight Glimmer joining the cast.

* BefriendingTheEnemy: The episode ends with the Mane Six and the protagonists from the season premiere befriending Starlight Glimmer, with the possibility of Starlight becoming a [[SixthRanger seventh]] member of the mane group.

* BigBadWannabe: Nightmare Moon really comes across as this compared to [[TookALevelInBadass Starlight]]. She's not exactly as competent a villain in her universe since she's easily duped by Twilight. Possibly justified, since without the Mane Six nopony was there to stand in her way besides Celestia, and she seems to have gotten even ''more'' unhinged and insane than she already was since her victory.

* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: A remorseful and guilt-ridden Starlight Glimmer throws herself at the mercy of the Mane Six. She receives her "punishment" in the form of becoming Twilight's own personal student of Friendship, effectively making Starlight [[SixthRanger a new addition]] to the cast and potential ''seventh'' member.

* FreudianExcuse: Starlight Glimmer and her only childhood friend named Sunburst ended up separated by Sunburst getting his Cutie Mark (he had so much magic potential his parents decided to send him away to study magic in Canterlot). Starlight ended up being too scared to try and make new friends for fear that she would lose them, too. And began to see Cutie Marks as the source of conflict between ponies.

* FromBadToWorse: Every alternate timeline Twilight and Spike travel to is worse than the last. In the previous episode, Equestria at least had Princess Celestia to lead the charge against King Sombra, even with their dwindling resources. But in the second timeline, only a small pocket of resistance stands against the changelings, and in the third, everyone has either become Nightmare Moon's servant or prisoner. The very last timeline shown is a completely barren wasteland, and if Twilight is right, it'd somehow just get worse from there.
* FunnyBackgroundEvent: Filly Fluttershy can be seen falling off the clouds in the background during the final confrontation of Twilight and Starlight..

* FutureBadass: The Zecora of Chrysalis' timeline, who is a badass RebelLeader willing to take Chrysalis head-on if it means helping Twilight set things right, ''and'' has created a mixture that can expose changelings and block their shapeshifting.
* GirlishPigtails: Starlight Glimmer sported twin pigtails as a filly.

* GoneHorriblyRight: Starlight Glimmer wanted to change the past to get revenge on the Mane Six. She does, but due to the ButterflyEffect, a lot more change than she intended to.

* HeelFaceTurn: Starlight Glimmer makes one in the end.

** During the final encounter, Starlight argues that Twilight doesn't know a thing about her. And yet she likewise has no clue about the Mane Six and how their bond would go on to save Equestria multiple times, initially refusing to believe so through her jaded view. In fact her plan pretty much rested on the knowledge that the lack of Dash's Rainboom would just equal the six not getting their cutie marks at the same time. Not the long reaching effects it would have afterward outside of Twilight.

* IJustWantToHaveFriends: Ultimately, what Starlight ''really'' wanted: a place where she could make friends without worrying that a Cutie Mark or difference would rip it apart.

* NoEndorHolocaust: In the timeline in which Nightmare Moon won, the everlasting night doesn't cause the end of all living things, at least by the time Twilight arrives.

* NoodleIncident: Whatever caused the barren wasteland in the last timeline.

* ThePowerOfFriendship: The two-parter explores this, with Twilight ultimately realizing that even shattering one bond can cause disaster if not fixed, whether it leads to personal pain or TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, as it reduces the Magic of Friendship that fills Equestria. She also manages to defeat Starlight, not with magical laser blasts, but with [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath simple reasoning and conversation]]. Twilight literally saved the day with ''Friendship''.
* PragmaticVillainy: Nightmare Moon's future. Compared to Sombra (whose kingdom is forced into war), Chrysalis (who is so bad that the remaining pony population had to go into hiding), Tirek (who has no kingdom because he's just destroying everything) and Discord (who's plunging Equestria into chaos for his own pleasure), Nightmare Moon seems to be the only villain [[AffablyEvil who's even remotely pleasant]] to her subjects, to the point that the castle actually has guided tours and attracts tourists. Why? Because Nightmare Moon wants everyone to adore her, which they obviously won't do if she treats them like dirt.

* PyrrhicVictory: Invoked. Twilight shows Starlight that even if she succeeded with her plans, Equestria would be led to ruin as a result, and in turn would ultimately doom ''herself''. Starlight ''[[MyGodWhatHaveIDone doesn't like this]]''. ''At all.''

* RebelLeader: Zecora in the timeline where Chrysalis rules.

** And in Discord's Timeline, Twilight decides to leave the moment a pie falls on her head, being too irritated at the time to deal with Discord, his chaos, and what he was doing to Celestia and Luna right in front of her eyes at that moment.

** Starlight seems to have gotten much stronger since we last saw her, able to fight Twilight to a standstill with magic. She can even use her magic to levitate herself.

* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: In the end, with her plans foiled once again, and her subsequent breakdown from witnessing the awful truth and giving up her misguided ideals, Starlight Glimmer is left utterly broken and stricken with guilt. Thankfully the Mane Six decide to bring her in as a SixthRanger, with Twilight in particular seeing and stating Starlight's incredible potential, that Starlight supposedly doesn't see in herself.

* DarkMagicalGirl: Starlight Glimmer fits this like a glove. Magical? Check. Talented? Check. DarkAndTroubledPast? Check. Deep seated social issues? Check.

* EasilyForgiven: Played with, as Starlight ''did'' witness how her actions could've destroyed all of Equestria and has to live with that fact, which she clearly feels horrible about. Also discussed as Applejack points out that someone like Starlight can't be let to roam around free as powerful and unhinged as she is and Twilight pointing out how powerful friendship really is in Equestria. Not to mention that no-one seems to even mention all the serious crimes Starlight had committed in this episode, some of which (conspiring against and assaulting a crowned princess) could even be considered acts of treason against Equestria.

* GreaterScopeVillain: Starlight unwittingly sets herself up as this in regards to all the other villains' {{Bad Future}}s.
* GroundhogDayLoop: What the time loops Twilight, Spike and Starlight are stuck in resemble the most rather than other type of temporal travel. They never encounter themselves in the past, despite using the spell several times; instead they always arrive before the race between Rainbow Dash and the bullies, and Starlight can interrupt it in several different manners, while Twilight tries various different tactics to stop her. It also shares a common element of this trope: finding the "right" way to stop it, in this case convincing Starlight to renounce her revenge.

** Likewise, stating Twilight has an overblown ego upon hearing that Equestria does indeed need the Mane Six's friendship to save it. This coming from a unicorn who's going after Twilight just because she and her friends had to forcefully stop her from ruining their lives which ''Starlight herself'' forcefully tried to invoke her belief of cutie marks onto them. Keep in mind, Twilight was pretty much ''pleading'' with her about the importance of her friendships, not boasting about it.

* BigGulp: It's Starlight's turn to gulp when Spike calls her to join the Mane six in the throne room to hear what they decided about her.

* PyrrhicVictory: Invoked. Twilight shows Starlight that even if she succeeded with her plans, Equestria would be led to ruin as a result. Starlight ''[[MyGodWhatHaveIDone doesn't like this]]''. ''At all.''

** Green: Queen Chrysalis and her Changeling army have chased ponykind to the forests.

* DarkestHour: While in most timelines Twilight and Spike show up at no particularly significant time, in the one where Equestria fell to the Changelings she has the bad luck of being brought to the hidden village just as it is attacked by Queen Chrysalis and her army. Zecora and the resistance choose to make an HeroicSacrifice to stall them and allow Twilight to escape back to the past, which she manages -- but barely.

* DefiantToTheEnd: When offered to surrender by Queen Chrysalis -- with it made clear their village is woefully outnumbered against the Changelings --, Zecora and her rebel camp decide to go down swinging. Mostly because Zecora knows that their timeline is a false one, but also because they know Chrysalis will likely not keep her word, even if they agree to her terms. It is a lose-lose situation either way.

* DispelMagic: Alternate Zecora's magical salve forces Changelings to revert to their true form. Whatever properties accomplish this also helpfully react to the fact that Twilight and Spike are time travelers, convincing Zecora to help them.

* FromBadToWorse: Every alternate timeline Twilight and Spike travel to is worse than the last. In the previous episode, Equestria at least had Princess Celestia to lead the charge against King Sombra, even with their dwindling resources. But in the second timeline, only a small pocket of resistance stands against the Changelings, and in the third, everyone has either become Nightmare Moon's servant or prisoner. The very last timeline shown is a completely barren wasteland, and if Twilight is right, it'd somehow just get worse from there.

* FutureBadass: The Zecora of Chrysalis' timeline, who is a badass RebelLeader willing to take Chrysalis head-on if it means helping Twilight set things right, ''and'' has created a mixture that can expose Changelings and block their shapeshifting.

* KnightTemplar: In the Changeling timeline, Fluttershy, of all ponies, is about to kill Twilight on the off-chance she might be a Changeling, without giving her a chance to prove otherwise.

-->'''Applejack''': Uh, What's ''she'' doing here?

* TheMole: One of the foals in Zecora's camp is a Changeling infiltrator.

** Continuing on from the last episode, Fluttershy nearly kills Twilight right on the spot without giving her a chance to prove she isn't a Changling (even after Spike shows that he's a legitimate dragon). It's only thanks to Zecora that she's stopped from going through with it.

* ThePowerOfFriendship: The two-parter explores this, with Twilight ultimately realizing that even shattering one bond can cause disaster if not fixed, whether it leads to personal pain or TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, as it reduces the magic of friendship that fills Equestria. She also manages to defeat Starlight, not with magical laser blasts, but with [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath simple reasoning and conversation]]. Twilight literally saved the day with ''Friendship''.

* RageBreakingPoint: After escaping the Changeling future, Twilight stops trying to play nice and attacks Starlight repeatedly. This backfires several times, such as when Starlight nonchalantly dodges so that Twilight's spell hits Rainbow Dash instead.

* LaResistance: Zecora, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy lead a resistance against Chrysalis and her Changeling army. Chrysalis {{Lampshade}}s this.

* ShadowDiscretionShot: The last stand of the resistance in the Changeling-dominated timeline is shown through their darkened silhouettes, with Zecora clashing against Chrysalis in the center.

* SugarApocalypse: This episode showcases [[ApocalypseHow even more possibilities]] than the [[WarIsHell war-torn Equestria]] from the previous episode, and [[FromBadToWorse each is worse than the last]]: under Queen Chrysalis, Equestrian society has retreated to the forests and is gripped by paranoia of Changelings; Nightmare Moon brings about eternal night and has absolute reign over ponykind; Lord Tirek reduces everything around him to flaming rubble; Discord [[RealityIsOutToLunch turns Ponyville upside-down]] and reduces Celestia and Luna to being his personal clowns to torture for eternity; [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking the Flim Flam Brothers have industrialized everything]]; and finally, all life on Equestria is apparently wiped out.

* TeleportSpam: Once again, Twilight makes good use of her teleportation during dangerous situations, escaping from the Changelings and from Nightmare Moon and her guards (along with Spike), or avoiding a direct shot from Starlight.

* TribalFacePaint: The resistance ponies in the Everfree Forest all wear green paint markings. Zecora shows up to put some of the same on Twilight and Spike, showing us its purpose (beyond camouflage): the green salve is magical and reveals Changelings.

** A twofer from the Changelings' future:
--->'''"Rainbow Dash":''' The Changelings attacked Ponyville! We barely escaped with our lives!\\
'''Zecora:''' The only Changeling attack I see, is the one that came here looking for me!\\

* YouAreTheNewTrend: The tribal ponies in LaResistance from the Chrysalis timeline are wearing tribal paints made from a magical green salve. Its practical purpose is to reveal Changelings. That most of them choose to pattern the markings like zebra stripes, on the other hand, is quite likely aiming at emulating their leader Zecora, showing the respect they have for her.

* SympathyForTheDevil: Twilight Sparkle starts to show sympathy for Starlight Glimmer and apologizes to her for taking away her village and ruining her aspirations. Its what causes Starlight (in the midst of her breakdown) to show Twilight [[StartOfDarkness where her philosophy comes from]].

* CoolAndUnusualPunishment: A remorseful and guilt-ridden Starlight Glimmer throws herself at the mercy of the Mane Six. She receives her "punishment" in the form of becoming Twilight's own personal student of Friendship, and gets invited into the Mane Six as a ''[[SixthRanger seventh member]]''.

* NothingIsTheSameAnymore: At the end of the episode, rather than just being set free after she is defeated, Starlight is taken in as Twilight's pupil in the study of friendship and becoming the seventh mane character.

* SixthRanger: Starlight Glimmer becomes Twilight Sparkle's personal student so she can learn a lot more about Friendship, and gets welcomed as a ''seventh'' member of the Mane Six.

* GoodTimesMontage: At the end of the episode, we see short clips of Starlight Glimmer's new status as the [[SixthRanger seventh mane character]], having fun and bonding with each of the Mane Six. Starlight is enjoying a dress made by Rarity, petting animals with Fluttershy (as well as receiving an affectionate BearHug from Harry), apple bucking with Applejack, flying (or rather levitating) with Rainbow Dash, baking cupcakes with Pinkie Pie, and finally, reading and studying magic with her new teacher, Princess Twilight.

''[Under the salve, Twilight and Spike glow.]''\\

** The reason why Twilight Sparkle does not punish Starlight Glimmer for maliciously tampering with the past is because no good would've come from doing so.
-->'''"An eye-for-eye and tooth-for-tooth would lead to a world of the blind and toothless."''' ~Book of Exodus [21:24]
** And the reason why Twilight Sparkle forgave Starlight Glimmer and made her both a friend and a pupil to study friendship was not only to give her a second chance but to help ensure that she never falls down the path of evil again.
-->'''"Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?"''' ~Abraham Lincoln

Returning to the Sonic Rainboom race, in desperaton Starlight is prepared to tear up the scroll , trapping them both in the past to and prevent Twilight from stopping her. Twilight then [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath chooses to reason with her]], telling Starlight that cutie marks won't change a pony, differences between friends are what make a bond stronger and that she shouldn't let one event in the past prevent her from moving forward and trying to make new friends. With this finally getting through, Starlight lets the Sonic Rainboom come to pass and the future is restored.

* SimultaneousArcs: With ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsFriendshipGames''. As this episode is taking place, the movie's events likewise are unfolding as well. It's the reason why Twilight wasn't able to answer Sunset's call for help as she was too busy dealing with Starlight and hopping alternate timelines to do so. By the time she finally does get Sunset's message and goes into the human world, Sunset has already taken care of the problem.

* TemptingFate: After Twilight's attempt to engage Starlight fails, causing her to inadvertantly stopping the race, Starlight boasts that Twilight [[NothingCanStopUsNow "can't stop her no matter what she does"]]. As you may expect, she's wrong.

'''"Applejack":''' It's taken quite a while to find you... ''Zecora''. (''transforms into Queen Chrysalis'')

* AnAesop: Every friendship is important, no matter how small, and keeping them together takes work. You shouldn't let a ruined one taint your view of future ones.

* SimultaneousArcs: With ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsFriendshipGames''. As this episode is taking place, the movie's events likewise are unfolding as well. It's the reason why Twilight wasn't able to answer Sunset's call for help as she was too busy dealing with Starlight and hopping alternate timelines to do so. By the time she finally does, gets Sunset's message and goes into the human world, Sunset has already taken care of the problem.

->''"What's ''so special'' about your friends?! [[EvilCannotComprehendGood How can a group of ponies that are so different be so important?!]]"''

* BriarPatching: When Twilight and Spike arrive in the Nightmare Moon ruled world and she finds out about the map and time travel. She forces Twilight to show her under threat of harming Spike. Twilight agrees but states in order to do so they have to get past the Timberwolves, knowing full well Nightmare Moon is strong enough to deal with them. Since they take their time getting to the map, it gives time for Twilight to recharge her magic and eventually allowing Twilight to teleport Spike and herself onto the map and back into the past before Nightmare Moon can stop them.