Twilight Sparkle

**Twilight Sparkle** is a fictional character from the _My Little Pony_ franchise and the protagonist of _My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic_, a 2010–2019 animated children's television series. Voiced by Tara Strong, she is depicted as a unicorn from the fictional country of Equestria who later temporarily becomes an alicorn and a princess. She has a dragon assistant named Spike and five best friends: Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity. Collectively, Twilight and her friends (known as the Mane 6) represent the six Elements of Harmony. She eventually becomes the Princess of Friendship, finds a student in Starlight Glimmer, and opens the School of Friendship. In the distant future, Twilight is depicted as the ruler of Equestria.

Twilight first appears in "Friendship Is Magic", the two-part series premiere of _My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic_. She is depicted as the student of Princess Celestia, the main leader of Equestria. She predicts that Nightmare Moon, the corrupted evil sister of Celestia is about to return. Celestia responds by sending her to the town of Ponyville to learn about friendship. She makes her five best friends and defeats Nightmare Moon with the Elements of Harmony, turning her back into an uncorrupted Princess Luna.

Outside of _Friendship Is Magic_, Twilight Sparkle appears in _My Little Pony: Equestria Girls_, _My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks_, _My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Friendship Games_, _My Little Pony: The Movie_, _My Little Pony: Pony Life_, _My Little Pony: A New Generation_, _My Little Pony: Make Your Mark_, and several other animations. She also appears in the _My Little Pony_ comics by IDW Publishing.

## Fictional biography

Twilight Sparkle was born in Canterlot to Night Light and Twilight Velvet. She grew up with her older brother Shining Armor, who was her best friend. At a young age, she became interested in magic and enrolled in the School for Gifted Unicorns. At her entrance exam, she had to hatch a dragon egg. She struggled to do so at first, but seeing a sonic rainboom created by Rainbow Dash unleashed her magical potential and allowed her to hatch the egg, giving birth to Spike. Spike was adopted as a little brother to Shining Armor and Twilight and went on to serve as Twilight's assistant. Twilight spent several years at the school, becoming the personal protégé of Princess Celestia.

During her time at the School for Gifted Unicorns, Twilight developed a rivalry with her brother Shining Armor to compete for the title of "Sibling Supreme". She also became friends with Minuette, Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine, Moon Dancer, and Lyra Heartstrings, though she was not very close with them because of her social awkwardness.

## _Equestria Girls_ variant

In _My Little Pony: Equestria Girls_, there is a human version of Twilight Sparkle. She is known in the fandom as "Sci-Twi," a portmanteau of "science fiction" (shortened as "sci-fi") and "Twilight" (shortened as "Twi"). Sci-Twi and Twilight Sparkle from _Friendship Is Magic_ are canonically different characters, but they have similar personalities and have met each other.

In _My Little Pony: Equestria Girls_, Sci-Twi is indirectly mentioned by Pinkie Pie, who recognizes Twilight Sparkle as "not familiar" and asks if she has a twin who lives in the city and has a pet dog named Spike. Twilight, unaware of Sci-Twi's existence at the time, answered "maybe" to Pinkie Pie's question.

In _My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks_, Sci-Twi appears briefly in the post-credits scene, where she is depicted investigating the magical occurrences happening at Canterlot High School.

In _My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Friendship Games_, Sci-Twi makes her first full appearance. She is depicted as the star student of Crystal Prep Academy and a socially awkward nerd. She is drafted Principal Abacus Cinch to represent Crystal Prep at the Friendship Games, a competetion against Canterlot High. Cinch later peer pressures Sci-Twi into using magic against Canterlot High, which turns her into a monster known as Midnight Sparkle. Sci-Twi is stopped by Sunset Shimmer, who offers forgiveness and friendship. Sci-Twi accepts Sunset's forgiveness and transfers to Canterlot High to learn about friendship.

In _My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Legend of Everfree_, Sci-Twi serves as the protagonist. She and her friends go to Camp Everfree, where Sci-Twi suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) over her transformation into a monster in _Friendship Games_. She gains the magical ability of telekenesis and finds a love interest in Timber Spruce. By the end of the film, her friends help her overcome her PTSD and she uses her powers to save the camp from Gloriosa Daisy.

### Television appearances

|Year|Television series|Voiced by||
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|2010–2019|_My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic_|rowspan="4"|Tara Strong|
|2017|_My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Summertime Shorts_|||
|2020–2021|_My Little Pony: Pony Life_|||
|2022|_My Little Pony: Make Your Mark_|||

### Film appearances

|Year|Film|Voiced by||
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|2013|_My Little Pony: Equestria Girls_|rowspan="9"|Tara Strong|
|2014|_My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Rainbow Rocks_|||
|2015|_My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Friendship Games_|||
|2017|_My Little Pony: The Movie_|||
|2018|_My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Forgotten Friendship_|||
|2018|_My Little Pony: Best Gift Ever_|||
|2019|_My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Spring Breakdown_|||
|2019|_My Little Pony: Rainbow Roadtrip_|||
|2021|_My Little Pony: A New Generation_|||

## Reception

In 2011, _The Mary Sue_ praised Twilight Sparkle's character for having a mixture of maturity and nerdiness.

In 2019, Theresia Sitinjak claimed that Twilight Sparkle represented American values of individualism, altruism, and industry.

## Related pages

- List of _My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic_ characters

## Infobox (character)

- **name**: Twilight Sparkle
- **nickname**: Twi
Twily
Sci-Twi (_Equestria Girls_)
- **title**: Princess
- **occupation**: Student of Princess Celestia (seaons 1–3)
Librarian of the Golden Oak Library (seaons 1–4)
Princess of Friendship (seasons 4–9)
Head teacher, Principal of the School of Friendship (seasons 8–9)
Ruler of Equestria (season 9)
- **species**: Unicorn (usually; seasons 1–3)
Winged unicorn, Alicorn (temporarily; seasons 4–9)
Human (_Equestria Girls_)
- **gender**: Female
- **nationality**: Equestria, Equestrian
- **first**: "Friendship Is Magic (My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic), Friendship Is Magic, part 1" (2010)
- **creator**: Lauren Faust
- **voice**: Tara Strong
Rebecca Shoichet (singing)
- **series**: My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
- **affiliation**: Mane 6
- **family**: Night Light (My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic), Night Light (father)
Twilight Velvet (mother)
Shining Armor (older brother)
Spike (My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, Spike (adopted younger brother)
- **significantother**: Flash Sentry
Timber Spruce (_Equestria Girls_)
- **relatives**: Princess Celestia (aunt-in-law)
Princess Luna (aunt-in-law)
Princess Cadance (sister-in-law)
Prince Blueblood (distant cousin)
Flurry Heart (niece)