My Sixth Plot Pony: Friendship is Sufficently Advanced

[nemonowan]

Jorlem wrote:

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Or she really believes in the philosophy she is preaching, and the only reason she kept her own cutie mark is because without her magic the goal of bringing equality to all of Equestria is impossible.  And as Meghan McCarthy has said* that Starlight Glimmer really thinks that being different ruins friendships, I'm of the opinion that she wasn't in it to hold power over others, or anything else like that.  I think what she wanted was exactly what she said she wanted: for all the ponies in Equestria to willingly give up their cutie marks, because she truly thinks that is better than the way things are now. 
*Source.  (Warning, spoilers for future episodes after 1:08)

Humm... If that is what she is about, I would have preferred the big reveal scene to include her trying to use the spell on herself, only for it to fail the moment she removes her own cutie mark, because she loses her special magic, thus immediately getting her cutie mark back. An in, she physically CAN'T remove her own cutie mark.
Of course, that would let her paint herself as a martyr of the new regime, being the only one that can't share the true happiness of the rest of the village, which wouldn't fly with the author's intentions of delegitimizing her rule and getting her run out by a mob.