Twilight Sparkle

Twilight Stupid is a unicorn pony and the lead character of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. Her hometown is Canterlot, where she began studying under Princess Celestia. The series chiefly follows her adventures in Ponyville with her friends and her assistant, Spike. She represents the element of magic.

Development
Lauren Faust's early design of Twilight Sparkle shared a similar color scheme and cutie mark to the G1 pony named Twilight, who appeared in the pilot episode Rescue at Midnight Castle, Twilight Sparkle's color scheme was later changed to that of the G3 earth pony Twilight Twinkle, with slightly different mane and tail. G1 Twilight teleports by wishing, and Twilight Twinkle likes to watch fireflies; Twilight Sparkle shares both aspects of both of these ponies, with her ability to teleport and her occasional stargazing, though she is much more studious and possesses more powerful magical abilities.

Sociability
When Twilight Sparkle is first introduced in Friendship is Magic, part 1, she is so devoted to studying that she even studies during her breaks, much to her assistant Spike's dismay. She deliberately avoids contact with other ponies who ask her to a party, as she states that "the fate of Equestria does not rest on me making friends" and that Night Mare Moon's return is a more important business to attend to.

When she is ordered by Princess Celestia to see to the arrangements of the Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville and to try and make friends, she still tries to avoid the latter request and focuses more on her studies. When Night Mare Moon appears, she tells her new friends that she's going to face her alone, but even so they all insist on aiding her with the task. After seeing how much her new friends would do for her, she begins to open up and realize that she needs her friends to defeat Night Mare Moon, and together they save Equestria from eternal night. Twilight expresses her desire to stay with her new friends in Ponyville to Princess Celestia, and the princess tasks her with studying the "magic of friendship" with her friends in Ponyville, and send regular friendship reports detailing her findings.

She shorly loses her faith in her friends in The Return of Harmony Part 1 and Part 2. Princess Celestia calls the ponies to her castle to once again wield the Elements of Harmony, where they encounter Discord. After luring them into the castle's labyrinth with a riddle, Discord magically makes all of Twilight's friends behave in an unfriendly manner. Over the course of the two episode their attitudes get to Twilight too, until she almost abandons Ponyville. When she finds all the friendship reports that Princess Celestia has been sending back to her, she reads through them and regains her faith in her friends, venturing out to restore them to their regular selves with a "memory spell". Once they all return to normal, they use the Elements of Harmony to defeat Discord and encase him in stone.

Temperament and anxiousness
Twilight ignites into flames both in Friendship is Magic, part 1 and Feeling Pinkie Keen, though these instances are more likely cartoon stylization: the first instance she was overwhelmed by hot-sauce, and in the second she boils over after Pinkie Pie tells her there's something even "doozier" to come after the life-threatening hydra attack.

When things don't go her way in Swarm of the Century and it seems Princess Celestia will imminently come to a ruined Ponyville, Twilight breaks down and nonsensically suggests building an exact replica of Ponyville in the seconds before the princess arrives. Similarly, she gets nervous at the thought of disappointing the princess in A Bird in the Hoof when she finds out Fluttershy took the princess's pet bird Philomena without permission. She imagines the princess would be so displeased that she'll banish or imprison both Fluttershy and herself; when the princess actually finds out that her bird has been taken by Fluttershy, she doesn't seem bothered at all, and chuckles at her bird's mischievous behavior.

Studiousness
Noted above, Twilight is heavily invested in her studies before coming to Ponyville, and remains very studious even after opening up to making friends. Her studiousness led her to discover the imminent return of Night Mare Moon, and helps her in many more instances throughout the series.

She demonstrates her reliance on books in her first ever slumber party that she holds with Rarity and Applejack. During the slumber party, she employs an instructional book, "Slumber 101", and consults it throughout the night. When the storm outside topples a tree through her bedroom window, she is at a loss for handling the situation and keeps searching her book for answers.

On the other hand, her reliance on books comes in helpful when she participates in the Running of the Leaves. Applejack and Rainbow Dash mock her for having only ever read about the sport, but she manages to beat both of them and come in fifth place by practicing the advice in the book.

Twilight's studiousness is sometimes more than her assistant, Spike, can keep up with. He complains about her excessuve devotion to her studies in Friendship is Magic, part 1, and falls asleep while still in session in Owl's Well That Ends Well. In the latter episode, Twilight adopts a pet horned owl, Owlowiscious, who also assists her with her studies by fetching books and keeping her company, however Spike remains her only assistant in all other episodes.

Skepticism
Twilight is dismissive of what she considers superstition. While her friends are convinced that Zecora is "an evil enchantress" at the beginning of Bridle Gossip, Twilight and Apple Bloom simply wish to understand her. Later, when the "evidence" shows Zecora is going to eat Apple Bloom, Twilight begins to share their beliefs briefly, though soon Zecora and Apple Bloom set the misunderstanding straight. Incidentally, the very same dismissiveness of superstition that led her to doubt Zecora is evil also led her to miss the true cause of the ponies' various afflictions, as she skipped over a book titled "Super Naturals" because she mistook it for a book about the supernatural. Twilight and the other ponies apologize to Zecora and become friends with her, and Twilight ventures to the Everfree Forest to visit Zecora again in Stare Master.

Humility
Despite her great power, Twilight remains very humble, not wanting to outshine her friends or make a big deal out of her talents, although she is willing to admit that she is the most talented unicorn in all of Ponyville by the end of Boast Busters.

Magic

 * This section is transcluded from the article magic. If you wish to edit this section, click here. 

Organization
Twilight's organizational skills are quite impressive as well; in Winter Wrap Up, she is able to coordinate the actions of several different pony groups and make them more efficient as a whole, allowing them to finish the Winter Wrap Up on schedule for the first time in years. The mayor of Ponyville is so impressed with her, she makes Twilight the official organizer of the pony teams for all future Winter Wrap Ups.

As for areas in which she lacks, while she was shown to be extremely quick at organizing the raw materials for the bird's nests in Winter Wrap Up into neat little piles, the result of her work was shown to be so inept that Rarity spent most of the day trying to fix it. In Fall Weather Friends, it is shown that even her close friends place no confidence whatsoever in her athletic abilities, and they are surprised that she would even think about entering the Running of the Leaves without any previous experience in the sport. Based only on her book learning, she places fifth and considers this a good result for someone of her level of experience.

Cutie mark
Twilight Sparkle tells the Cutie Mark Crusaders in The Cutie Mark Chronicles how, as a young filly in Canterlot, she always wanted to go to the Summer Sun Celebration. There, she witnessed Princess Celestia raising the sun, which inspired her to learn everything she could about magic. At first she finds it difficult to magically turn a page in her book, but she quickly achieves her goal. In a time-lapse sequence, she reads through two big piles of books, and her parents enroll her in Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. However, she has to pass an entrance exam before joining. Under the supervision of four examiner ponies, she has to use her magic to hatch a dragon's egg. Despite her best efforts, the egg does not hatch, and Twilight apologizes for wasting the examiners' time. Just then, Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom startles her and causes her horn to fire off a beam of light at the egg, hatching infant Spike.

With her eyes glowing white and a purple aura around her, Twilight fires off a flurry of spells: she makes the examiners float in the air, turns her parents into potted plants, and transforms Spike into a giant dragon with his head breaking through the roof. Princess Celestia took notice of this and quickly arrives to control Twilight's magic and return everything back to normal. Twilight apologizes, but Princess Celestia is not upset; instead, she recognized Twilight's power and recommends that Twilight learn to tame her abilities through focused study. She offered to take Twilight Sparkle as her own personal protegé at the school. Twilight excitedly accepted the offer, and at that moment, her cutie mark appeared.

Throughout the series, Twilight continues to study magic, and in particular she studies the "magic fo friendship" under the decree of Princess Celestia, and sends her reports of her studies.

Canterlot
Twilight is first introduced in Canterlot, where she soon leanrs about the impending return of Nightmare Moon. She resides in a literal ivory tower, and boasts to Spike about being Princess Celestia's "most faithful student", which is how the princess addresses her in her letters throughout the series. She is invited to Moondancer's party, but she chooses to study about Night Mare Moon's imminent return instead. She is soon sent to Ponyville by Princess Celestia under the pretense of seeing to the arrangements of the Summer Sun Celebration.

Ponyville
Twilight first ventures into Ponyville in the first episode, where she befriends Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy. She quickly learns of the skills of her friends: she admires Rainbow Dash's ability to clear the skies, Rarity's beautiful decoration work, and Fluttershy's bird choir's melodious music. She is less impressed with Applejack's over-abundance of hospitality and Pinkie Pie's party, and even runs away from Rarity when she practically forces her to get a makeover.

She shares many adventures with her friends throughout the course of the series.

Fluttershy – Twilight is extremely confident in Fluttershy's natural empathy with animals, even more so than Fluttershy herself, as shown in Dragonshy, when Twilight expressed that they needed Fluttershy to go with them to tame the dragon. Fluttershy in turn admires Twilight's magic and wisdom, and has more than once personally confided her problems to Twilight in her times of need, such as when needing to express her feelings about her career as a fashion model in Green Isn't Your Color.

Applejack – Applejack is the first pony to give Twilight a more formal introduction during her arrival in Ponyville. Twilight Sparkle has been seen to appreciate Applejack's hard work, offering to help her with farmwork on at least one occasion. In Applebuck Season, Twilight spends most of the episode trying to help Applejack with the apple harvest when she learns that Applejack was doing it all by herself. The two have a few things in common such as being hardworking, stubborn and thinking they can take care of things on their own without accepting help when needed, and are the most practical and level-headed of the other ponies.

Pinkie Pie – Twilight seems to enjoy being around Pinkie Pie most of the time, but is quick to show her disinterest in Pinkie Pie's antics when focused on studying. At the beginning of Griffon the Brush Off she reads a book and pretends to agree with everything Pinkie Pie says in a deadpan tone; likewise, in The Best Night Ever, Pinkie Pie talks to Twilight enthusiastically while Twilight tries to concentrate on her studying. Twilight occasionally gets frustrated with Pinkie Pie's randomness when she does things Twilight can't figure out, but Pinkie Pie takes her outbursts when that happens in stride.

Hot air balloon
Twilight rides a purple hot-air balloon in the title sequence, and uses the same balloon to fly with her friends to Cloudsdale for Rainbow Dash's competition in Sonic Rainboom. Pinkie Pie and Spike use the balloon to report on the Running of the Leaves race in Fall Weather Friends.

Hasbro.com description
''Dutiful and intelligent, Twilight Sparkle is obsessed with one thing: studying magic! She once studied so much, she made no time for anypony else. That is until her mentor, Princess Celestia charged her with a special kind of magic--- friendship! Newly converted to the joys of friends, she uses her knowledge and unusually powerful gift for magical spells to help her companions in Ponyville. Though sometimes she gets on her "high horse" about what's right or wrong, her eagerness to learn and lend a helpful hoof endear her to her new friends in Ponyville, and when the going gets tough, her big brain and love for her friends transform into a natural born leader!''

Hubworld description
''For a unicorn who's new to the magic of friendship, Twilight Sparkle gets an "A+." She uses her magical powers to help her friends, and she's always ready to lend a helping hoof. Sometimes she gets on her high horse, but her love for her pals makes her a natural leader.''

Teacher for a Day description
''Meet Twilight Sparkle! She loves to read and study. The Royal Princess Celestia of Equestria has charged Twilight with learning something new: the meaning of friendship! She has a powerful gift for magical spells and uses it to lead her new friends through adventures in ponyville.''

There's no problem Twilight Sparkle can't solve, especially with the help of other ponies, a little bit of magic and guidance from Princess Celestia.

Appearances

 * See also character appearances

Twilight Sparkle appears in every episode of the series so far. She is the only character to hold this distinction.

Gallery



 * Twilight Sparkle image gallery

Trivia

 * Twilight dresses for the Grand Galloping Gala in a cyan and indigo caped dress with stars, light blue slippers to match, and has a star hairclip on her ear.
 * Twilight runs away from some bats and snakes in Winter Wrap Up, and gets startled by Pinkie Pie's toothless alligator Gummy in Feeling Pinkie Keen.
 * When Twilight becomes enraged in Feeling Pinkie Keen and when she drinks some hot sauce in Friendship is Magic, part 1, she bursts into flames.
 * Despite her intelligence, Twilight apparently has difficulty finding books, even when they are well organized.
 * Twilight's original cutie mark was originally planned to resemble Moondancer's from the 1980s, but the idea was changed to her current cutie mark.
 * Twilight is the butt of a "things couldn't get any worse" gag in Look Before You Sleep and The Best Night Ever.