Twilight Sparkle

Twilight Sparkle, or Empress Twilight Sparkle, is the eternal ruler of the Equinos Empire and previous student to Princess Celestia and under her tutelage would then become the Princess of Friendship and after Celestia abdicated, Twilight would become ruler of Equestria. Twilight Sparkle now leads the Friendship Council.

## History

Born on August 21st, 1861 to Night Light and Twilight Velvet in Canterlot, Equestria on the planet Equinos. Even as a foal, Twilight was a very shrewd magician, practicing magic orders of magnitude greater than what could ever be reasonably expected of her at her age. When she was four years old, she was placed in the Celestial School of Excellence at the behest of her parents.

Excelling in her studies, she became the prized pupil of Princess Celestia herself when Twilight was twelve. From this young age, she continued to be her loyal student until Twilight became the Princess of Friendship in the spring of 1886. After Twilight's twenty-second birthday, Princess Celestia sent Twilight on a quest to learn about Friendship in a town called Ponyville.

### Friendship Quest (1883-1886)

During this Friendship Quest, Twilight met five other ponies which embodied one of the Elements of Harmony: Pinkie Pie (Laughter), Applejack (Honesty), Rainbow Dash (Loyalty), Fluttershy (Kindness) and Rarity (Generosity). During their meeting, Nightmare Moon - a once brief tyrannical leader of Equestria - had returned from her imprisonment to threaten Equestria once more was swiftly defeated by the six ponies, releasing Princess Luna from her veil of hatred and envy.

The Prince of Chaos, Discord, was accidentally released from his prison of stone and wreaked havoc across Equestria until the Elements of Harmony pacified him and put him onto the path towards redemption. During this re-training of his morality, Queen Chrysalis - leader of the Changeling Empire - jumped onto an opportunity. During a political marriage between the Crystal Empire and Equestria, of one Shining Armor of Equestria and Princess Cadence of the Crystal Empire, Queen Chrysalis disguised herself as Princess Cadence while keeping the real Cadence locked away in a dungeon in order to stage a coup on the economic superpower of the Pony world. It was Twilight Sparkle, and the Elements of Harmony, that would eventually foil Chrysalis' coup, sending her and her Changeling army far away from the Crystal Empire.

On the day after of the wedding of the real Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, the malignant Shadow Pony of King Sombra awoke as the Crystal Heart, an artifact which protected the Crystal Empire from malign forces from sieging the city, was damaged during the attempted coup orchestrated by Queen Chrysalis. He manifested his shadow army to siege the city, and with the town's distance from Canterlot the newly aligned Empires did not have enough time to assist in its defense. The ponies who were there bore the Elements of Harmony and used it to both repair the Crystal Heart and banish King Sombra.

*For more details see: The Crystal Siege*

A year after The Crystal Siege, Twilight Sparkle was attempting to study an ancient spell of Antiquity penned by Starswirl the Bearded. In her failed attempt to recreate the spell, she instead swapped the Cutie Marks of the Elements of Harmony, mismatching each of their Elements left Equestria nearly defenseless against any and all threats. Twilight is able to reverse the spell, and it is revealed that this was all a test from Princess Celestia, marking a passing grade on the student who now has evolved into an Alicorn and the Princess of Friendship.

### Princess of Friendship (1886-1891)

After a series of concerning dreams and visions, Twilight is able to locate the Tree of Harmony, the original location where the Elements of Harmony were first founded by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna but was since lost. A year later, Lord Tirek escaped his mystical prison and begins his siege of Equestria - draining each and every pony of their magic to grow stronger. Princess Celestia sends Discord, immune to Tirek's magic-drain, to investigate him and search for weaknesses. However, Discord falls victim to Tirek's manipulation and betrays the ponies of Equestria. Discord tricks the Elements of Harmony, save for Twilight, allowing Tirek to drain them of their magic and severing their connection to the Elements.

Cornered, the Princesses of Equestria give Twilight Sparkle all of their power in order to not give Tirek the chance to steal it from them. Upon their capture by Lord Tirek, he learns of the location of Twilight who had fled to the Tree of Harmony. With the magic of more than 80% of all ponies in Equestria having been drained, and millions of ponies either deathly ill or killed, Twilight is trapped against the dormant Tree of Harmony with Lord Tirek and Discord slowly encroaching upon her. Twilight makes the only move she can: she begins to fight both the Prince of Chaos and Lord Tirek - with Discord eventually becoming withdrawn during the fight. And with Twilight wincing at the ground, seemingly having lost the fight, Discord turns on Tirek and in a passionate fight Discord is able to trap Tirek in a bundle of Chaos Magic, squeezing the magic of all the ponies he has drained which return to their rightful bodies. Discord sends him to his own Chaos Realm, where he believes Tirek will reside until the end of time.

In the year following Lord Tirek's invasion of Equestria, the nation began rebuilding and reconstructing. During the reconstruction was the Friendship Castle - a place where Twilight Sparkle and the Elements of Harmony could reside in safety and where Twilight could rule as Princess of Friendship within Ponyville. The Elements of Harmony became known of a strange town led by Starlight Glimmer. She had hoped to make all ponies the same, each with the same interests, hobbies and cutie marks. Her methods were that of stealing each and every cutie mark to channel it into more powerful spells. Her plot was foiled, and the brainwashing of the town soon faded throughout the year.

At the year's end, Starlight Glimmer had appeared once more, this time not as a foe but as a possible friend. She had attempted to reverse time to stop the Elements of Harmony from meeting but she never could master the spell. And while in isolation, she discovered that what she craved was attention and love, and in making everyone the same she was the only one that was unique. Starlight would become Twilight's pupil from then-on.

After training Starlight for three years, she is kidnapped and subdued by Queen Chrysalis and then replaced. It is her pupil and her new friends that come to her rescue instead, without the requirement of any of the Elements of Harmony. After the Changelings' defeat, the new heroes are decorated with medals and honors for saving Equestria - however it is Discord that sows doubt in Twilight's mind that she has nothing more to teach Starlight Glimmer. Through consolation with Princess Celestia, Twilight graduates Starlight Glimmer from her apprenticeship.

Returning to Ponyville, Twilight calls for the construction of a School of Friendship - not only open to ponies of Equestria but as a diplomatic outreach to all the different kinds of creatures on Equinos.

### Empress of Equestria (1892-1904)

After the school's finish in only a year, Twilight learns that both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are abdicating their throne: leaving it to Twilight Sparkle in five years. During this time Twilight becomes Headmare of the School of Friendship while her friends all assume different positions as teachers and educators.

During Twilight's coronation, Queen Chrysalis frees Lord Tirek from Discord's Chaotic Realm using the Bewitching Bell. The combined forces siege Equestria once more - this time combining themselves with King Sombra to form a deadly alliance which capitulates Equestria in a matter of a few months. Twilight Sparkle and the Elements of Harmony lead the Equestrian Resistance, and abusing a vacuum of power following the assassination of Queen Chrysalis, Twilight calls upon her allies she has made with the School of Friendship, and through a global conflict that spans seven years, Equestria is reclaimed with Twilight having to lead Equestria into a new era.