Way back in the day, I posted my Thoughts on Twilight Sparkle. It was a simple analysis of her character in both canon and fanon, up through the end of Season Two. Now that another season has come and gone, and because the original was horribly written compared to the much stronger ones that followed, we are revising and updating the old to bring it more in line with the show's current state.
So let's look at Twilight Sparkle and see what makes her tick.
Twilight Sparkle is the prized student of Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria and apparent sun goddess. When she was just a filly, she tried to enroll in Princess Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, but suffered stage fright when performing her entrance exam (hatching a dragon egg) and would have failed...had a rainbow explosion not jostled her out of her funk. Unfortunately, it also caused her magic to start going out of control, and she had so much raw power that she turned her parents into plants and the baby dragon into a full-grown one. Things only settled down when Celestia arrived, calming Twilight and causing her damage to reverse itself in the process. Realizing that this filly would need to tame her abilities through focused study, the Princess offered Twilight a chance to become her student, which she gladly accepted.
As an adult, Twilight was an especially studious pony, but refused to make any friends, since all her attention was on her books and pleasing Celestia. This changed, however, when she discovered that Nightmare Moon was set to return and tried to warn her teacher. Instead, she was shipped off to Ponyville to supervise preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration, where she met five ponies who would come to help her recover the Elements of Harmony once Nightmare Moon returned and Celestia vanished. In the end, it was her realizing their connection and what the Elements truly mean that created the Element of Magic and ultimately restored Princess Luna. Celestia granted Twilight the right to stay in Ponyville and learn all there was about friendship, as long as she kept sending her letters about her findings.
And then Season Two happened.
When Discord attacked and corrupted her friends, Twilight was ready to give up herself and leave...until Celestia sent back all the letters, reminding her of just how much friendship meant to her. Unfortunately, this moment of levity was followed by her losing her damn mind over the possibility of Celestia disowning her over a missed friendship report and subsequently brainwashing everypony in town into fighting each other in order to force a problem. This trend continued for the rest of the season, and well into Season Three, with Twilight constantly panicking and throwing fits over the slightest possibility of displeasing Celestia or losing her friends. It wasn't until the tail end Season Three that she learned a calming technique from Princess Cadance that finally got her over her stress and panic attacks. The season ended, however, with Twilight ascending into alicornhood by Princess Celestia, apparently as the endgame for a lifetime of study, guidance and accomplishment. There's really not much to say on that front yet, since it'll be Season Four that'll have to deal with the fallout.
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Out of all the Mane 6, Twilight is by far the most booksmart. She is constantly reading, constantly studying and experimenting with new magic, and always on the lookout for something new and exciting to gloss over. Merely mentioning the word library can made her excited, and if you bring her to a truly grand one like the one in the Crystal Emprie, she'll reach orgasm levels of pure joy. She's such an avid reader that she considers “Re-Shelving Day” to be an absolute treat, a mood her assistant, Spike, does not really share. This attitude has helped her and her friends through a number of problems, but it's also somewhat limited her knowledge outside of the written word. When confronted with something like the Crystal Empire, which wasn't mentioned in any of her books, she is utterly flabbergasted and distraught, and her subsequent misunderstanding about the Crystal Heart's true significance (thanks to Sombra tampering with any books on the subject) only makes things worse.
Twilight's biggest flaw early on were her poor interpersonal skills. Twilight was initially very much a loner, preferring to study in quiet and eschewing social gatherings in favor of her books. She was also insistent on going things alone, only accepting the other five's assistance because they foisted themselves upon her. It wasn't until they all showed the true strength of their character that Twilight realized how wonderful they were, and subsequently how magical friendship could be. This lead to a rather tough period of adjustment, where Twilight tended to be a bit awkward when dealing with others. The most prominent example of this was in “Look Before You Sleep,” where she insists on running a slumber party strictly by the book and refuses to deal with a tree branch until she can find the page about branches crashing through your bedroom window.
Over time, however, she got better and better at talking to her friends, which lead to the creation of her second, more defining flaw in the eyes of many: her near-insane devotion to Celestia and tendency to stress herself into madness. This was touched on twice in the first season, but the second almost entirely overrode her character to make this her most prominent trait. “Lesson Zero” made her lose it over a friendship report, “It's About Time” made her lose it over a vague warning of disaster. And “A Canterlot Wedding” made her lose it over her friends not believing her about Cadance after behaving like a possessive psychopath for the rest of the episode. Season Three touched on this briefly in “The Crystal Empire,” but Twilight's subsequent appearances made no mention of it, and “Games Ponies Play” finally showed her learning a deep breath technique to overcome her fears...most of the time. She still almost hyperventilated in the same episode when the true magnitude of their mistake was realized, and “Magical Mystery Cure” had her afraid of losing her status as Celestia's student.
One other thing that defines Twilight is her devotion to her friends. She's always on hand to help, whether they want it or not, and truly cherishes the bonds they've made over the years. When her friends are Discorded in “Return of Harmony,” she puts up with them as long as she can; it isn't until they all split up that she finally breaks down and turns gray. In turn, it is being reminded of the true depths of their friendship that restores her. Likewise, when she accidentally altered reality and trapped her friends in lifestyles unsuited for them, thus making them miserable, she was reduced to a depressed blob on her bed until Spike motivated her to try and set things right.
Twilight's special talent is her penchant for magic. While all unicorns have one or two spells they can reliably do, usually relating to their special talent, Twilight is actually capable of using just about any spell with enough study time and power. She can copy Rarity's gem-finding spell with ease, levitate Ursa Minors (albeit with a great deal of stress), and perform numerous spells simultaneously. She's also skilled in teleportation, a spell that only Celestia and a powered-up Trixie have also been seen performing, and can magically wink herself or others across great distances. This natural talent has been reinforced from training by Celestia, self-study, and later on, tips and tricks from her friend Zecora. That being said, there are definite limits. She cannot use a spell she hasn't studied, and “Magic Duel” establishes that there are some areas of magic, such as age spells and gender switching, that are simply out of her league. How much of this is true after she became an Alicorn is unknown, but she was already obscenely powerful compared to your average unicorn.
Twilight's Element of Harmony is magic, which has a double meaning. On the one hand, her special talent is magic, so it's very literal. But as the title of the show says, friendship is magic, so it's more apt to call it the Element of Friendship. She's the one who unites the disparate other five ponies together, although their bonds have grown so much that she's not completely necessary for them to be friends anymore. She's also often the voice of reason in the group, mediating between disputes and trying to keep everyone thinking rationally and reasonably. That being said, there are times where even her own patience is tried. She does not suffer insanity or stupidity well, which tends to make things difficult when Pinkie is really being Pinkie. She's also a bit arrogant about her status as Celestia's student, and when presented with something unexplainable like the Pinkie Sense, she flipped right out and refused to accept that it couldn't be rationalized away, only admitting defeat after nearly being killed and seeing the Pinkie Sense work.
One interesting thing in the fandom is that Twilight is apparently a total klutz when it comes to spellcasting. Far too many stories to count include Twilight botching a spell, causing her friends all manner of grief until she manages to reverse things. In the canon, the only times she's failed to use a spell have been due to outside influence, such as when Pinkie interrupted her rocks-into-clothing spell in “Feeling Pinkie Keen.” The only time she really botched things was in “Magical Mystery Cure,” and that was more because of the spell being unfinished than her being a bad magic user. According to fanfiction, though, she can only make things worse using her magic, most likely in an attempt to reign in her power and make her more comical with reducing her to a crazy cat lady.
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Shipping-wise, Twilight can be paired off with just about anypony. Rarity and Fluttershy are obvious choices, with Applejack kind of hanging around the back. Pinkie...doesn't get shipped with her very often, and doesn't make a lot of sense considering how utterly frustrated Twilight gets with her in the show. Rainbow Dash was also a bit rarer, but after “Read It and Weep” canonized Dash's love of reading, they now have a common bond that can be explored and utilized towards having them make out.
But the all-time queen of Twilight shipping is her and Trixie. The two form a sort of shadow rivalry, with Twilight being the stronger but more humble magic user and Trixie the blowhard who thinks she's better than she really is. Immeasurable reams worth of stories have been written about these two, there's several tumblrs based on the pairing (one of which kind of got weird), and just about everyone has paired them up in their heads at one time or another. This wasn't helped by the two reconciling in “Magic Duel,” the kind of things shippers go ga-ga over.
In terms of platonic friendships, there's really not one that stands out significantly over another. I personally enjoy her interactions with Pinkie the most, as the two form am almost perfect classic comedy duo, but otherwise, she seems to value her friends about equally. While she lacks Applejack's wisdom, Fluttershy's calmness, and Rainbow Dash's extreme determination, she is still level-headed most of the time and willing to help her friends in any way she can, even if it's just with a lecture.
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Overall, Twilight Sparkle has probably grown the most out of the entire cast, which stands to reason since she was initially the main character and used in every episode to facilitate the lesson. She has changed a great deal since her early days, for better and worse alike, and now faces new challenges with her new Alicorn state. Will she be able to stand up to the pressure this new life brings, or will her calming exercises ultimately fail her in her hour of need? Only time will tell.
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As always, any omissions or thoughts are welcome. Next time, we look at the pony who wants to make you smile: Pinkie Pie.
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