@Background Pony #3E53  
Hah, man, good point.

Wait, actually using friendship to defeat evil instead of some ridiculous friendship-powered rainbow death laser?
 
UNHEARD OF.
 
Seriously though, for all this finale’s flaws, I’m glad they actually used friendship for once instead of another magical artifact that just happened to have the word “friendship” in its name.

@Somber Star  
Here’s a fun ethics question.
 
There’s two people. Let’s call them Sid and Henry.
 
Henry joined the army to protect his people, wanting to do good and change the world. When he encountered the horrors of war, he was mortified, but still he valiantly fought to protect the people around him and end the terrible war. When there were injured and unarmed enemies around, he spared them, and would even go to great lengths to save them and treat their injuries.
 
Sid, meanwhile joined because he was excited to shoot people. He realized, though, that often that meant getting shot back at. But one day, there was a battle - and there was this one guy in his unit he just didn’t like, and so in the heat of battle, he shot this comrade on his own side, grinning at he’d managed to spill some blood. Even if it was someone in his own squad, it was thrilling and he loved it, and he loved that he could get away with it. It just made him giddy.
 
Well, one of those people that Henry spared, taking pity on them and hating the inhumanity of violence, was Adolf Hitler - this was something actually alleged to happen at one point (the sparing part, not the saving), though probably didn’t. And the guy Sid killed - well, that was Adolf Hitler, too, during his service in WWI.
 
So, one person sought to save and spare lives, and his actions resulted in the deaths of 60 million people. Another was a cold-blooded murderer, but saved 60 million.
 
So what should we concern ourselves with? What people intended, or what the results of their actions were?
 
Do we charge doctors with first degree murder if they made good - but not good enough decisions in taking care of their patients?
 
If a navy officer really doesn’t like some guy so gives him an extra swim training at some place where everyone has swim training regularly, and he ends up getting killed by a shark due to that extra assignment he was given, do you charge the officer with murder?
 
At one point Starlight just told the bullies that bullying was wrong and they shouldn’t be cruel to Fluttershy. She taught those children that good lesson because she was jealous of friends Fluttershy would end up making due to those bullies, and so set Fluttershy on a different course with different friends. Are you really going to call that murder?

I wonder how Rainbow flew by without noticing them, oh well they were probably out of view of the other ponies in the past, kinda following the rule from Harry Potter 3: you must NOT be seen.
 
@Somber Star  
I don’t think they’re lying to themselves…(not trying to start an argument).
 
@HighRollerHydra
 
I think a problem is people just try to look too deep or think too much…

@Badman Giant
 
It’s ok. This was YEARS ago.

@gingerninja666  
I know this is sort of out of topic, but my condolences about your uncle

@gingerninja666  
What I want is for you to accept your emotions as a part of who you are. If you genuinely didn’t feel hatred for her, that’s fine. But lying to yourself now is only going to cause problems later.
 

 
So you think the only people who deserve help are the ones who are so incapable of controlling their emotions that they end up inflicting harm on themselves and those around them? Okay. Well, I won’t argue that those people certainly need help.
 
As far as Starlight goes, what she did was calculated. She spent a year stalking Twilight and learning about her for the sole purpose of destroying her happiness. That was her entire motivation for improving the time-travel spell so she could attack Rainbow Dash before her first Sonic Rainboom in the first place.
 

 
That’s not how that works. Even people who genuinely enjoy the harm they cause others still regret it, so long as they have empathy. Most people are inherently conflicted over everything, so long as they can and do think about it. That’s my problem with Starlight Glimmer: she has no empathy. She didn’t show any inclination to stop what she was doing until Twilight showed her that she also stood to suffer the consequences of her actions.
 

 
Like I said before, the killer’s feelings don’t make the victim any less dead.
 

 
Which would have been fine, if they’d given her any punishment. But they didn’t. They gave her a free pass and a better life. And she still hasn’t shown any signs of developing empathy.
 

 
You mean she clearly didn’t take any guidance growing up. We don’t know if anypony tried.
 

 
And if not, she’ll have to find a new way to wipe out all life on the continent that will be harder to interfere with than time travel. Or resume ripping off the Cutie Marks of everypony who crosses her path. Or something else equally bad for the population and the environment, because nopony can stop her.

@Somber Star
 
It really sounds like you WANT me to hate her. Well I don’t.
 
I just think that there’s a difference between a hatred that temporarily clouds your mind, and a cold, sadistic maliciousness. An intent to harm and damn the consequences while knowing full well what they are the entire time.
 
The latter I find much more hateable because with the former that anger isn’t the only thing that defines you. There’s a whole side to you that doesn’t wish harm on anyone and feels bad when you do. You can work to keep that side in control and minimize the other side flaring up. With help of course.
 
With cold malicious sadism you have analyzed what’s going on and decided, unanimously, with no mental quibbles, that the awful things are worth doing because the end goal is something you like. I find that disgusting.
 
If the person wasn’t the type of person who hated themselves for killing someone, I wouldn’t be defending them.
 
Starlight DID feel bad. She accepted ANY punishment they would give to her. She clearly didn’t have ANY guidance growing up. If they can help her. If she can learn things, then even if she loses a friend in the future she can move on without going insane again.

@gingerninja666  

 
The only ‘unnatural’ states of mind are those induced by drugs or traumatic brain injuries. All others are natural, pleasant or not. Including hatred.
 

 
Well, no, then it ceases to be “blind”. Driven hatred is the product of something like years of abuse or the destruction of something or someone held dear by the person doing the hating at the hands of the one being hated.
 

 
You can do that with any emotion, even those you are indoctrinated into. It’s just the latter take significantly more effort.
 

 
You didn’t say anything about ‘forcing’ her to do anything. You said you wanted her to get help. Like she had an addiction or something. Rather than, you know, be locked away until she could be rehabilitated so she wouldn’t be a threat in the meantime.
 

 
A reasonable human being would not have killed somebody unless they were taught to believe it was the right thing to do.
 

 
As I said before, hatred is as natural as any other emotion. It’s not ‘too much’ of anything, so long as you don’t let it consume you as it did her, or you’d end up creating a cycle. Also, if they’re already at the point of expressing themselves by killing people, what do you think is an appropriate level of punishment?
 

 
Certified. Professional. Help. The kind of which is utterly absent from Equestria, and whose absence is reflected rather frequently in the activities of its characters.

The ride. It never ends.

@PonyPon
 
The saviours of Equestria and the official princess of friendship doesn’t class as someone who could help?
 
The mane 6 have all experienced bouts of insanity over the show’s history. And they’ve all had each other to fall back on. If anything, that makes them more able to deal with Starlight.

@gingerninja666  
Call me crazy, but I’m not sure the main six count as certified professional help.

@Somber Star
 
Blind hatred isn’t a natural state of mind. It’s something you’re driven to. You can come back from it and feel remorse. You can work to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
 
Don’t you DARE say I considered it “okay”. I wrote RIGHT in the comment that I wanted something to be done about her. For her to be forced to get help to protect other people from her anger. I just couldn’t bring myself to hate her.
 
A reasonable human being will be haunted by the memory of the awful things they’ve done. I don’t believe in layering it on when I know that. Too much punishment could just make them hateful of the world. A potential force for good gone.
 
This isn’t to say I wasn’t angry as hell at the time. But it was blind, irrational anger of my own.

@gingerninja666  
So somebody killed your uncle, but it’s okay because it was while she was throwing a tantrum and not thinking rationally?

I really am one of those people who judges people by their intentions rather than JUST their actions.
 
A woman killed my favourite uncle. I don’t hate her. Because she honestly didn’t mean to do it. She did it in a fit of blind rage. I expect cold, calculated maliciousness or complete unrepentance to truly hate a person for their actions.
 
That said, I certainly wanted something to be done and some help to be gotten for her so this shit wouldn’t happen again.
 
Similar thing with Starlight. She desperately needs help so this shit won’t happen again. That’s why they became her friends. She was too dangerous to be left on her own.

Remember, forgiveness is for weaklings and idiots; if anyone wrongs you, make them pay.

@Somber Star  
(munches popcorn)

@achy  
I think you don’t understand what that word means.

@Somber Star  
I think you’re triggered.

@HighRollerHydra  
That point has been raised before and continues to mean nothing.

@Somber Star  
Guys. Guys. It’s a kid’s cartoon.

@Blissey1  
Only for the person who committed the act. It doesn’t change anything for the victim and their family.

I bet the instant Glimmer’s hoof touched Twilight’s, AleximusPrime flipped his desk.

@Somber Star  
it doesn’t completely excuse them, no, but it does matter.
 
Intention is a large part of the different between murder and manslaughter, after all.

@Blissey1  
I stand by my argument that an individuals intentions do not excuse the results of their actions.