Twilight Sparkle

Twilight Sparkle is a unicorn pony who is an apprentice of Princess Celestia and is the main protagonist of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. She lived in Canterlot where she studied under the Princess' tutelage, but moved to Ponyville where she now works as a librarian and continues her studies. Twilight regularly maintains correspondence with her mentor through the use of letters. She lives at the town's library along with her young dragon assistant Spike and owl pet, Owloysius. Twilight represents the element of magic, and is Shining Armor's younger sister, sister-in-law to Princess Cadance.

Development
Lauren Faust's of Twilight 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, she also shares a number of personality traits with Wind Whistler, such as her tendency to rely on logic rather than instincts and her habit of using more advanced and technical terms.

In a 2008 sketch for the series' "show bible", Twilight's cutie mark resembles that of the character Moondancer from earlier My Little Pony generations.

Sociability
When Twilight is first introduced in Friendship is Magic, part 1, she was quite anti-social considering knowledge more important than friendship, and 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 briefly 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 exact opposite to their Elements of Harmony. Over the course of the two episodes 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; in 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 Princess Celestia in A Bird in the Hoof when she finds out Fluttershy took the princess's pet bird Philomeena without permission. She imagines the Princess would be so displeased that she'll banish or imprison both Fluttershy and herself; when Princess Celestia 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.

As friends, they confide in each other. Twilight, under the watchful eye of Pinkie Pie, keeps both Rarity and Fluttershy's secrets in Green Isn't Your Color: both ponies want an end to Fluttershy's modeling career, but both of them ask Twilight not to relay this to the other pony; Twilight feels revealing their secret would solve the conflict, but she is bound to her word. Her tension worsens from being under Pinkie Pie's surveillance, and she pops up from unexpected places (such as in an apple crate and behind a mirror), startling Twilight. Eventually Twilight is so stressed and on edge that she has to physically stop herself from revealing the secret. Near the end of the episode, after Rarity and Fluttershy share their feelings and find they both want Fluttershy to stop her modeling career. After that Photo Finish comes to tell Fluttershy that they need to go to someplace. But Fluttershy says she can't make any of her appointments, after that she and Rarity presumably go to the spa. At this time Twilight Sparkle has her head in a potted plant. But when she is alone with Photo Finish she yells out: "Spike has a crush on Rarity!" Pinkie Pie appears on the reflection-side of a mirror and expresses her disapproval of Twilight.

During Lesson Zero, Twilight becomes extremely anxious and hyperactive, trying desperately to find something to report about friendship in her letter to Princess Celestia, as she isn't tardy with her weekly reports. At one point in the episode, she approaches the Cutie Mark Crusaders by teleporting into the ball they were playing with, breaking the ball. She then proceeds to introduce her doll Smarty Pants to them, all while grinding her teeth, showing impatience and aggressiveness.

During It's About Time, Twilight receives a warning from an injured future Twilight (though she states she is merely from next Tuesday). She traveled back in time to warn Twilight of something that will happen in the future, but wasn't able to finish explaining what it is. This causes Twilight to panic, believing a horrible disaster would happen in the near future. She starts to get extremely anxious trying to find out what this disaster would be, and unwittingly injures herself many times. Eventually, she infiltrates the archives in Canterlot in an attempt to find a spell to stop time, but was unable to find it before Tuesday morning. Twilight finally realizes that there was no disaster, and uses a spell of time travel to warn past Twilight not to worry. Unfortunately, she was unable to explain this to past Twilight, which would probably drive past Twilight into the same nervous breakdown.

However at other times, Twilight shows considerable empathy and patience that stand in stark contrast to the many examples of her overreacting to a situation and often to other people around her. In Luna Eclipsed when Princess Luna shows up at the Ponyville Nightmare Night celebration, she seemingly alone in the town is undaunted - in fact genuinely excited - by her presence, seeking out the Princess to welcome her personally when her dramatic entrance backfired. Correctly identifying that the root causes of social awkwardness in the Princess were much the same as her own awkwardness upon arriving in Ponyville, Twilight spent much of the night guiding, lecturing and at times downright bullying her Friends, the Towns Population and even the Princess herself until she had succeeded in ensuring Luna had both become a welcomed guest to the celebration and that she understood the children (and Pinkie Pie for that matter) were not really scared of her, but just enjoyed being frightened on Nightmare Night.

Studiousness
As noted above, Twilight is heavily invested in her studies even before coming to Ponyville. Her studiousness leads her to discover the imminent return of Night Mare Moon, and helps her in many more instances throughout the series. She remains very studious even after opening up to making friends. At the beginning of Griffon the Brush Off, Twilight is preoccupied with reading a book while Pinkie Pie goes on about Rainbow Dash's aerial acrobatics; Twilight pretends to follow everything Pinkie Pie says by replying "uh-huh" in a deadpan tone, but keeps reading her book. Similarly, in The Best Night Ever, Pinkie Pie talks to Twilight enthusiastically while Twilight tries to concentrate on learning a new spell.

Twilight 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: All You've Ever Wanted to Know About Slumber Parties But Were Afraid to Ask", 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 of going slow and steady and then, when all the other participants are tired, sprints to the finish line.

Twilight's studiousness is sometimes more than her assistant, Spike, can keep up with. He complains about her excessive 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, Owloysius, 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.

Twilight is dismissive, sarcastic, and skeptical even in the face of evidence in Feeling Pinkie Keen towards Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Sense. She keeps claiming Pinkie Pie's fulfilled predictions are coincidences, despite many of them causing her numerous physical injuries, and tries to find contradictions and faults in Pinkie's premonitions. By the end of the episode she admits her inability to understand how the Pinkie Sense works and simply accepts it.

Leadership
As the protagonist of the series, Twilight serves to a large extent as the leader of the group that coalesced around her in Friendship is Magic, part 1. Ironically, she initially wanted little to do with those who would become her close friends, intent on setting off alone to challenge Night Mare Moon and only learning through this very quest just how necessary and powerful friends could be. While perfectly willing to play a supporting role and let any of her other friends take the lead as appropriate, it is almost inevitable that in a major crisis such as the Return of Discord or the Changeling invasion of Canterlot that Twilight will step forward and take the lead, rapidly determine a course of action, and lead from the front, with her friends following close behind.

Magic

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Organization
Twilight's organizational skills are quite impressive as well, though she sometimes overdoes it. In Winter Wrap Up, she is able to coordinate the actions of several different teams 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, and Twilight receives a special team coat, comprising of all the team colors. At the beginning of the episode, she starts the morning with a checklist; she makes another, longer checklist at the beginning of Lesson Zero, which exasperates Spike with its length and minute details, even going so far as to make sure every cupcake in a box she was given are perfectly matched and that the icing on each isn't touching another cupcake's icing, which eventually leads her to remove all but a tiny smudge of icing on each. This level of organization could suggest Twilight having Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD).

When smoke threatens to envelop Equestria in Dragonshy, Twilight informs the ponies in Ponyville of the danger and organizes a task-force comprised of her friends to deal with the problem. When Fluttershy doubts herself and says she's not up to the task, Twilight encourages her and expresses confidence in Fluttershy's way with animals.

While she is extremely quick at organizing the raw materials for the bird's nests in Winter Wrap Up into neat little piles, her craftsmanship skills are lacking. The nest she makes is so terrible that Spike sarcastically quips it should be condemned as an outhouse for the birds, and Rarity spends most of the day trying to fix it.

In A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1, Twilight is asked by Princess Celestia to organize the wedding between Princess Cadance and Shining Armor. Once again, her various checklists were near omnipresent as she organized both the aborted wedding of her Brother to the Changeling imposter, and again when the real Princess Cadance had returned and the wedding needed to be hurriedly re-organized.

Despite all this however, Twilight apparently has difficulty finding books, even when they are well organized. This is a running gag in the series.

Princess Cadance
As a filly for an unknown amount of time, Princess Cadance was Twilight's Foalsitter. Precisely why the niece of Princess Celestia was so involved with Twilight is not clear, but the two shared a very close bond and Twilight looked back at her as "...the greatest foalsitter in all the history of foalsitters!" The two shared a special secret greeting and hoof shake that both would remember well after they had moved on and it was to a large extent the imposter's inability to repeat Cadance's own half of their secret greeting that aroused Twilight's suspicions and ultimately exposed Queen Chrysalis, with the real Cadance perfectly repeating it and telling Twilight that she could never have forgotten "...the filly I love to sit for the most".

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, which shares a similar name with Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, the school founded by Professor X in the X-Men comic book series. 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 enormous magical power to manifest completely out of her control, hatching the infant Spike.

With her eyes now 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 takes quick notice of the later while walking by outside and quickly intervenes to control Twilight's magic and return everything back to normal. Twilight apologizes, but Princess Celestia is not upset; instead, she recognizes Twilight's raw power and recommends that she learn to tame her abilities through focused study. She offered to take Twilight Sparkle as her own personal protégé at the school. Twilight excitedly accepted the offer, and at that moment, her cutie mark appeared, much to her joy.

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

Canterlot
Twilight is first introduced in Canterlot, where she soon learns about the impending return of Night Mare 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, Pinkie Pie's surprise party and rapid-fire one-sided conversation, 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.

Accidents and mishaps
Twilight is the butt of a "things couldn't get any worse" gag in Look Before You Sleep when the tree crashes through the library window, and in The Best Night Ever when Fluttershy sends the animals fleeing through the Gala hall. She suffers bodily harm throughout Feeling Pinkie Keen as the victim of the prophecies of Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Sense, and in Stare Master, Fluttershy finds her turned to stone by a cockatrice. Twilight herself inflicts accidents and mishaps on others, too: she turns her parents into potted plants in a flashback in The Cutie Mark Chronicles, and sends many of the ponies of Ponyville into a frenzy in Lesson Zero by enchanting her doll Smarty Pants with a want it need it spell. In It's About Time, she (unintentionally) causes herself much suffering and turmoil by going back in time to warn herself not to do so.

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, and Pinkie uses that balloon again in Party of One to provide her Singing Telegram to Rainbow Dash. In The Return of Harmony Part 2, the ponies use it to fly with Fluttershy in order to capture the corrupted Rainbow Dash.

Parents
Twilight's parents are first introduced in The Cutie Mark Chronicles. They are shown to be very supportive of their daughter's aspirations for magic, enrolling her in Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns and encouraging her to take the offer to become an apprentice to the princess. They are (briefly) shown again in A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2, where they attend the wedding of their eldest son Shining Armor.

Shining Armor
Shining Armor, Captain of Canterlot's Royal Guard, is Twilight Sparkle's older brother and is mentioned, and subsequently introduced, in A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1. Twilight admires him greatly, to a point where she turned only to him during their childhood and before her relocation to Ponyville. A prevalent plotline in both parts of A Canterlot Wedding is her dedication to her brother; Twilight voiced her disappointment in the fact that Shining Armor was unable to tell her personally of his upcoming wedding, and did everything in her power to save him from Queen Chrysalis's influence.

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.

My Little Pony magazine description

 * Intelligent
 * Artistic
 * Friendly

''Raised in the Queen's court in Canterlot, Twilight Sparkle is a born leader. She loves to study and wants to learn everything about the Magic of Friendship.''

Appearances

 * See also: Character appearances

Quotes
"[spit] [giggle nervously] Okay, well, I can see the food situation is handled, so we'll be on our way."

- Friendship is Magic, part 1

"Pfft. Please. They'd never accept a Pegasus who can't even keep the sky clear for one measly day."

- Friendship is Magic, part 1

"All the ponies in this town are crazy!"

- Friendship is Magic, part 1

"You think you can destroy The Elements of Harmony just like that? Well, you're wrong, because the spirits of The Elements of Harmony are right here."

- Friendship is Magic, part 2

"I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you, to see you, how much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside me when I realized that you all -- are my friends. You see, Night Mare Moon, when those Elements are ignited by the... the spark, that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth element: the element of... magic."

- Friendship is Magic, part 2

"Oooh... Pretty! Where do these come from? They're not in the book either!"

- Look Before You Sleep

"We've learned that friendship isn't always easy. But there's no doubt it's worth fighting for."

- The Return of Harmony Part 2

"If I don't send her a letter by sundown, I'll be... tardy!"

- Lesson Zero

"If I can't find a friendship problem, I'll make a friendship problem!"

- Lesson Zero

"Cutie pox. This puzzling pony plague afflicted a population of ponies back in the paleopony period."

- The Cutie Pox

"Who are you? I mean, you're me, but I'm me too. How can there be two 'me's? It's not scientifically possible. You are not scientifically possible!"

- It's About Time

"Maybe I was being overprotective. I could've gained a sister. But instead... I just lost a brother."

- A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1

"Now this was a great wedding."

- A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2

Gallery

 * Twilight Sparkle image gallery