sopchoppy's A Friend in Need: Twilight Sparkle PRT Executive Summary · 4:51am May 14th, 2015
Again, I am the beta-reader for the Worm crossover A Friend in Need by soppchoppy, and I have written some supplementary material to go with it that has been declared canon by the author.
If you are not familiar with the PRT classification and ranking system used in Worm, see this wiki entry and the classifications section of this document for context.
This was written to reflect something that was hastily updated by PRT Thinkers and analysts during the period covered by Chapter 9 and Interlude 10 of the main story. There are spoilers for the story up to that point if you haven't read it yet. Various gaps and inaccuracies have been included in the document below deliberately to reflect the limitations of incomplete information and cultural misunderstandings that are likely to exist at this point in the story.
Twilight Sparkle: PRT Executive Summary
Description: Twilight Sparkle has the appearance of a four-foot tall, purple, vaguely horse-like quadruped with wings and a single spiral horn. Mane and tail are of a darker shade than her coat and have stripes of darker and lighter shades. A symbol of a pink star with surrounding small white stars is displayed on each flank. A purple glow around her horn is observed in conjunction with the use of most of her abilities. She uses telekinesis regularly to manipulate objects or otherwise interact with her surroundings.
History: Twilight Sparkle is, according to her own statements and the best evidence available, a native of another world. The first reported sighting of Twilight Sparkle was made on the evening of April 11, 2011 by Armsmaster who was responding to a disturbance in the docks area of Brockton Bay. Twilight Sparkle had become involved in an altercation with the Parahuman villain known as Lung, the mercenary known as Skitter, and the Undersiders (See document Sparkle-0001). In her conversation with Armsmaster that night and all subsequent discussions with protectorate or PRT personnel she has proven to be both friendly and cooperative.
Since that meeting, and upon reasonable confirmation of her origins, she has been in contact with the State Department and various representatives of foreign governments facilitated by their U.N. Ambassadors. She has claimed to have no official standing in her government on which to negotiate, but it has been deemed appropriate for the time being to extend diplomatic curtesy do to her unique situation. (See document Sparkle-1037)
During her time in Brockton Bay she has been Involved in several incidents, including but not limited to: the foiling of a bank robbery by the parahuman gang the Undersiders (See Document Sparkle-2043), The operation to track down and eliminate the leaders of behind the parahuman gang the ABB including the aforementioned Lung and the Tinker Bakuda (See documents Sparkle-2083,2084,2085), and personally defeating two members of the Slaughterhouse 9 (See documents Sparkle-3031,3047,3054).
In addition to her confrontations with various parahuman elements, in the weeks before the Battle of Brockton Bay she was heavily involved in a reconstruction and revitalization effort focused on the port area of Brockton Bay and showed a remarkable skill in coordinating with various business and government interests in service to that goal (See Documents Sparkle-2067-2085).
On May 15, 2011 Brockton Bay was hit by the Endbringer Leviathan and the Endbringer Simurgh. Twilight Sparkle exhibited a wide range of previously unknown abilities in the course of the attack ranging from intelligence gathering, shielding, power dampening, teleportation, time travel, and various other Blaster, Shaker, and possibly Master powers to varying degrees of effectiveness. Of particular note, it has been determined that she was instrumental in the attack that appears to have eliminated the Simurgh (For a detailed report on the Battle of Brockton Bay, participants, and powers utilized by Twilight Sparkle, see Documents Sparkle-4047-5065, and the Executive Summary of the May 15th Endbringer attack report BB051511-0001).
Profile: For in-depth professional psychological evaluation, see PRT psychological casefile Yamada-Sparkle.
Twilight Sparkle holds some sort of high position in her native society. While parahuman abilities are apparently common to the point of being universal for her species, her own capabilities are exceptional even by their standards. The rulers of her nation are viewed as close friends and mentors, and she has been called upon to deal with various threats to the town she lives in and to her nation. Statements by Princess Luna following the Battle of Brockton Bay indicate that Twilight Sparkle’s physical transformation in gaining wings automatically promotes her to the uppermost political and social tier in her society.
Miss Sparkle is highly intelligent and knowledgeable in a number of academic and scientific fields. She seems friendly, but somewhat naïve. It is uncertain how much of this naivety is inherent and how much is a product of being in a truly alien culture. She is somewhat obsessive-compulsive, being driven to plan everything out in detail with a checklist for every eventuality, and has a tendency to panic when things don’t go according to the plans. On the other hand, she has proven herself adept at dealing with emergencies when she doesn’t have time to panic.
Miss Sparkle has demonstrated a high reluctance to use lethal force and is emotionally distressed by the prospect of lethal force being used by anyone towards anyone. However, she is fiercely protective of others, especially those she views as personal friends.
As an additional note for interaction, Twilight Sparkle’s species is herbivorous. She does not eat meat, and her diet does include long grasses and flowers. Eating meat in her presence may make her uncomfortable. Fruits, vegetables, breads, and pastries suitable for human consumption seem to be suitable for her as well.
Power Classifications and Ratings: Twilight Sparkle is difficult to quantify in terms of the standard PRT rating scales and classifications. All indications are that she is a genuinely alien being and that the manner in which her abilities function is unusual even by the standards of parahumans. At least some of these abilities lack Manton Effect limitations. Many of her abilities are learned skills, with each skill being equivalent to a parahuman ability in its own right. Unlike most parahumans, there is no theme linking these powers other than the fact that Twilight found them to be sufficiently interesting or useful at some point and made them the subject of her studies.
The information below is partially speculative and is believed to be incomplete as Twilight Sparkle has shown a tendency to demonstrate a new ability or greater scope of a previously known ability when she has need to do so. The categories shown should be taken as minimum rankings with the possibility of higher levels yet unrevealed. Additionally, it might be prudent to assume a potential ranking of at least 2 in any category not covered in the list below.
Trump 7 - Twilight Sparkle has spent her life studying parahuman abilities in the form of “magic” which is apparently a well-developed and thoroughly-documented science in her homeland. Over those years she has learned a number of “spells” and has stated an ability to learn new ones quickly. Her ability to learn new abilities is currently curtailed by the lack of relevant research material, but she has also shown facility in affecting the parahuman abilities of others. In particular, she greatly curtailed Leviathan’s hydrokinesis during the initial stages of the Brocton Bay attack. If she were to have access to a “spell library” of the sort found in her world, an adjustment of +2 or more would be applied to this rating
Blaster 10 – Twilight Sparkle does not have a single Blaster power. She has a number of separate Blaster abilities with different effects. Of particular note are her ability to lift several tons telekinetically, a concussive force blast that can shatter stone and may also be telekinetic in nature, and the ability to transmute materials into other elements or forms of mater. The transmutation effect has no Manton limit as was demonstrated by turning sections of Crawler into water. However, the rating of 10 (possibly higher) is primarily for the “Rainbow Strike”. Currently, we have no idea what this is, other than it has a charging time of several seconds, several people in attendance felt they were contributing to it in some fashion, it finished off the Simurgh, and it turned the ruins of Brocton Bay into lush grasslands.
Mover 8 – Twilight Sparkle has shown the ability to not only teleport across city blocks but to perform a rapid series of teleports. She recently gained wings usable for flight, and an ability to walk on clouds as if they were solid objects. Reconstruction of events during the Battle of Brockton Bay indicates that Twilight Sparkle jumped several seconds backwards in time on two separate occasions during the battle in order to protect herself and her companions from Endbringer attacks. Interviews indicate that this time-travel ability has severe limitations related to avoiding paradox.
Shaker 7 – As with the Blaster category, Twilight Sparkle has a number of separate abilities that fall under this classification. She has demonstrated her ability to use telekinesis over a large area in the form of force fields capable of temporarily resisting Endbringers and in lifting the upper floors off a building and floating it intact through the air as a form of group transport. She has demonstrated the ability to teleport other people against their will. She can perform permanent transmutation of materials, though the scale tends to be smaller than that for her Blaster-effect temporary transmutations. Her initial encounter with the Slaughterhouse 9 left altered weather patterns and a disturbing emotional aura in the area for a few days. She can modify the effect of gravity in an area, or on a specific object. Crawler is currently on his way out of the solar system due to a permanent effect created by this ability. Her recent transformation has given her the ability to shape and manipulate clouds, apparently as the initial stage of greater weather manipulation yet to be learned. Finally, there is the wide scale re-landscaping of Brockton Bay as an apparent side effect of the attack that eliminated the Simurgh.
Thinker 5 - Twilight Sparkle can easily perceive the energies utilized by parahuman powers and observe how they work. Observing in detail tends to produce a trance-like state and a power-glow in her eyes. She can also perceive the social and emotional connections between people, gaining insight into their motivations. This requires deep concentration on her part, but has proven to be effective on the Endbringers. She is also highly intelligent with a great capacity for analysis, organization, and multi-tasking.
Tinker 3 – Twilight can store recorded visual illusions in crystals and has indicated the ability to store other “spells” to be triggered later in a similar fashion. This is technology in the sense that it creates tools others could use, though it is even more alien in nature than most Tinker products.
Brute 3 – Twilight Sparkle’s recent transformation supposedly includes the inherent strength and endurance of a subset of her species known for those qualities. She has been observed to still be functional with several injuries that should have been debilitating.
Master 5 – Unlike the categories above, this rating may be overstating Twilight Sparkle’s capabilities, but is included here for safety. In her time on Earth Bet, Twilight has assembled a number of followers and allies. At least one of these was suffering from severe mental illness until Twilight performed a “cure” that seemingly rewrote the subject’s personality. At least some of her abilities seem to have some sort of emotional effect, either intentionally or as a byproduct. It may be that Twilight Sparkle is simply charismatic. Her social position in her homeland makes it likely that she is trained and experienced in leadership and persuasion. But caution proportional to this rating is recommended in face-to-face dealings in case it goes beyond that.
Stranger 3 – Twilight Sparkle has demonstrated the ability to create a realistic-looking prerecorded hologram/illusion of herself. During the Battle of Brockton Bay, Twilight Sparkle somehow interfered with the Simurgh’s ability to perceive Twilight and her actions. Additionally, see the Master category for potential mental influence abilities.
Strategies: Due to diplomatic concerns, Twilight Sparkle is not to be engaged except under the direst conditions of necessity. If interactions become heated, it is recommended that she not be pressured and that members of the Wards who have grown close to her be asked to defuse the situation.
In social situations, Twilight Sparkle may give the impression of being naïve. As noted above, it is unclear how much of this is an artifact of culture or translation. In light of her demonstrated intelligence and other abilities, it is recommended that personnel not attempt to take advantage of this apparent naivety. Establishing long-term good will with herself and her government is of vital importance.
If a worst-case scenario does emerge. Containment methods are likely to be ineffective and Twilight Sparkle is assumed to be able evade or form a defense against any attack she can see coming. Thinker abilities and the possibility of time travel potentially enlarge the scope of her threat perception considerably. She has demonstrated the ability to analyze and counteract parahuman abilities. Use of drugs or poisons is not recommended due to unknown effects of an alien biology. She can be rendered unconscious with physical blows, though they must overcome her Brute rating. The strategy with the highest likelihood of success is an ambush of overwhelming power launched using conventional surprise or Stranger abilities to achieve surprise. If the initial strike fails, evacuate.
Again, hostile actions against Twilight Sparkle are to be avoided if at all possible.
So in other words, if concentrated Five Rounds Rapid, Stock Superpowers, and Applied Phlebtonium fails, run like f*ck.