At least Discord can be entertaining

I’m happy for you Starlight and let you finish…

@Barhandar  

 
Pretty much. If Starlight Glimmer is Hitler on the Equestrian political spectrum, then Discord would be Stalin.

@Alara Rogers  
Starlight claims it is. One doesn’t make a successful cult while actually believing and honestly patricipating in what they preach.
 
And order is kinda hard to represent directly, unlike Chaos. Math and geometry would send incorrect message, pyramids are immediately associated with conspiracies instead of the orderly structures they are, crystals are already taken by Crystal Empire…

@Barhandar  
True, but Starlight thinks it is. “Order”, as a force, has never been mentioned in the ponyverse thus far. I think this is a textbook example of it, but it was never specifically pointed out in the episode that Starlight Glimmer’s dystopia was built on order rather than harmony.

@Alara Rogers  
It’s not harmony in the first place, and unyielding order is just as bad as complete chaos. And harmony, by definition, is both working in tandem to provide greater result.
 
It’s like the political horseshoe - parties on the opposite dead-ends of spectrum are actually closer to each other in their actions and looks than they are to the center of it.

@Alara Rogers  
you have a good point.
 
A lot will say they did the same thing which they did, just for the opposite reasons. One for equality the other for chaos. But that would mean, that the sirens did what discord and starlight did only to feed, so now we have three mind benders who can bend any living things mind to their will?

@Background Pony #D441  
*slipped

@Background Pony #D441  
Good point. That shipped my mind earlier.

I actually think it’s quite possible the series creators were making a point by this.
 
Extreme, psychotically controlled “harmony” imposed from outside by rigid totalitarianism is disharmony. A state of anarchy and helplessness and conflict produces the same mental condition as a state of rigid control. Discord and Starlight Glimmer, opposite ends of the political spectrum, generate similar effects in their victims.
 
The funny thing is how much they would completely hate each other. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if, in the future, Starlight tries to discredit the Mane 6 by bringing up their friendship with Discord, with the implication that they can’t possibly be true representatives of Harmony if they have befriended pure Chaos.

@ImRaidAccount  
discord only needed magic to brainwash fluttershy, the rest he did with words and illusions

@shadowfire  
That’s not Clippy.
 
This is Clippy!
 

@shadowfire  
No actually was just expressing my opinion, sorry if it sounded like that

I would like to point out she didn’t need magic to brainwash

@Background Pony #F172  

It’s ok cause Starlight is better than Discord

That’s a pretty shallow view, considering several key differences between Discord and Starlight Glimmer. For starters, there’s motive: Discord was trying to sow disharmony because that was his nature - he was a being of chaos. Changing the core identities of ponies suited him for no better reason then it amused him, and he did this purely through his god-like powers. Sure, he’s scary in the super-villain sense, but he was easily defeated because he had no real goal.
 
Starlight, meanwhile, is scary in the heartless dictator sense. Which, frankly, is a lot more terrifying. Remember, her magic only removed a pony’s talents - on it’s own, Starlight’s spell had no effect on each pony’s personality. Instead, she had to use brainwashing and propaganda, creating an army of ponies who actually believed that they were better off giving up their own individuality under a pretence of hollow peace.

@shadowfire  
That’s missing a bit of context.

Instead of “Discord did it all first” it should say “Bitch please”

@shadowfire  
A simple drop of water!  
;)

One is now a current recurring character, the other was defeated by a drop of water.

One is Lawful Evil, the other is Chaotic (formerly) Evil.

Except they are on different levels: Discord wants chaos but glimmer demands complete control

Except she didn’t need to be a reality warping chaos god to do it.
 
And she didn’t get captured in her first two-parter. Nice try, though.

I think we cant really totally reject OP claim that they are indeed similarities in the modus operandi of the characters but it’s also important to remember that their personalities and their goals differs greatly