Friendship is Magic: Twilight Sparkle · 3:03am Mar 30th, 2020
This is the first in the series of blogs I have planned. We begin with our much-adored main character, Twilight Sparkle.
As I described in a past blog, Twilight Sparkle is the main character of the series. It seems like a good place to start when trying to wrap one's head around what it was that we got from the series.
I've also gone into great length about her backstory already. That said, I'll start with a summary of that. Twilight grew up in Canterlot, the youngest of two children of Twilight Velvet and Nightlight. Early in life, she was inspired during the Summer Sun Celebration by the sight of Princess Celestia raising the sun on the longest day of the year. She studied hard at magic in order to join Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. On the brink of failure during the entrance exam, Rainbow Dash's Sonic Rainboom triggered a surge of magic in her, which drew the attention of Princess Celestia and earned Twilight her cutie mark. She also hatched Spike's egg and the infant drake came home to live with her as a younger brother.
The series begins with an adult Twilight Sparkle worried about a prophecy she read indicating that Nightmare Moon would return to Equestria after a thousand years of banishment. At first, it seemed no one was taking her seriously, especially Princess Celestia who sent her on a task to Ponyville to ensure preparation for the Summer Sun Celebration was being accomplished properly by various ponies.
Nightmare Moon does return, banishes Celestia into the sun, and threatens eternal night. Twilight and her new acquaintances rush off into the Everfree Forest to confront her in the Castle of the Pony Sisters. They awaken the Elements of Harmony and cleanse Nightmare Moon of her evil, revealing Princess Luna, Celestia's little sister. Returned to Equestria upon Nightmare Moon's defeat, Celestia revealed that she knew Twilight needed to make friends and that Friendship would be the key to success. This sets the tone for the series that follows.
Season One
In the early part of the series, Twilight adjusts to her new life in Ponyville with episodes like Winter Wrap Up and Swarm of the Century giving us more details about the setting and her interactions with these new friends. Ticket Master, Suited For Success, and Best Night Ever (Season 1 finale) form a seasonal story arc. The emphasis is on getting to know the characters and the setting. The Gala is something Twilight is familiar with as a native of Canterlot, while Ponyville is treated as a rural "unknown" place in the cultural landscape of Equestria. Twilight's new friends are all interested in this event.
Boast Busters, Look Before You Sleep, Bridle Gossip, Winter Wrap Up, and Owl's Well That Ends Well form our initial impression of who this Twilight Sparkle is. We see her sense of humbleness, book smarts, and her kindness across these episodes. She showcases her different perspective from the Ponyville natives as well as her generally scientific approach to situations with an emphasis on study.
Season Two
The series took a step back from a seasonal story arc in Season Two, shifted focus away from Twilight, and explored her various friends more. Where Season One had Twilight in nearly every episode, Season Two gives us a lot more of the M6 members interacting with each other and Twilight making token appearances here and there.
Return of Harmony (premier), Lesson Zero, Luna Eclipsed, It's About Time, and A Canterlot Wedding (finale) Focus on "serious Twilight" trying to handle big conflicts. Discord and Chrysalis were proper villains, but Lesson Zero had Twilight fretting about not doing anything important (or fulfilling her perceived duty), Luna Eclipsed had Twilight handling one of the rulers of Equestria, and It's About Time again had Twilight playing in (what she thought were) high-stakes matters. Where her friends are "just a baker, just a seamstress, just a farmer, just a weather pony, and just a crazy cat lady" Twilight is a government official, living there by royal decree and with duties to the Crown and Equestria as a nation.
With episodes like Lesson Zero and It’s About Time we see Twilight’s flaws brought to the forefront.
Season Three
We see a big return to story and Twilight’s role in the series in Season Three, which featured The Crystal Empire (premier), Magic Duel, Games Ponies Play, and Magical Mystery Cure (Finale) as "Twilight focus" episodes. Twilight is given a mysterious test by Celestia and tasked with saving the newly returned Crystal Empire from another villain. An old nemesis returns with a magical artifact and takes over Ponyville. She's tasked with being a sort of diplomat for the Pony Olympics. Then she meddles with the very fundamental magic of cutie marks and destiny itself and winds up ascending to alicornhood and becoming a princess.
Equestria Girls
Twilight Sparkle is taken away from her familiar friends for the first time since the start of the series, though she quickly encounters doppelgangers of each. After navigating the physical changes to her body as well as the apparent rules of the setting, she manages to not just rekindle the friendships between the H6, but knock down the social barriers and cliques formed in CHS to unite the whole student body. She “magical friendship lasers” Sunset Shimmer to good instead of bad.
While easy to dismiss as a “spinoff” EqG is officially canon according to those in charge of the show. Between Season Three’s big emphasis on conflicts above the personal/local scope of Twilight and friends or Ponyville and EqG’s having Twilight’s efforts affecting more than just her villainous target, the initial hints of “diplomat Twilight” are foreshadowed. Twilight isn’t just “some girl” but someone destined for greatness.
Season Four
This season returns us to the convention that began in Season One having a seasonal story to tell and dips back into previous seasons to create a few inter-seasonal arcs. Princess Twilight Sparkle (premier), Three's a Crowd, and Twilight's Kingdom (finale) form an arc with Discord's antics (which, from his perspective, began in S2). While not likely intentional, the "Equestria Games" arc (Games Ponies Play in S3, Flight to the Finish, Rainbow Falls, and Equestria Games) feel like another arc.
As for Twilight herself, Season Four has her questioning the purpose of her ascension. Castle Mane-ia, Twilight Time, and Trade Ya! showcase Twilight attempting various forms of "leadership" that would feel at home back in Season Two. Part of Discord's arc as it relates to Twilight is his pushing her to be the leader he seems to expect her to be. This is a trend we'll see more of by the time the series ends. More villains are defeated by the end of this season and Twilight's home in Ponyville, the Golden Oaks Library, is destroyed.
Rainbow Rocks
Twilight’s second (and last of any significance) return to CHS has her face some of Equestria's problems dumped there: the sirens. She's struggling with the expectations others (probably) have of her and being her own worst enemy by attempting to meet those expectations to be perfect and have all the answers.
After the movie, Sunset Shimmer periodically corresponds with Twilight via magical "journals" in which the writing of both girls appears in both books. Sunset Shimmer isn't officially her student but there are some vibes that their friendship carries that tone.
Season Five
After Tirek’s rampage through Ponyville, this season has us growing accustomed to Twilight's new castle. We learn about the Cutie Map and meet Starlight Glimmer. While Twilight has had to face villains in the past without the use of the Elements of Harmony, Starlight is the first villain that she had to take on without the help of her friends. She managed to convince Starlight to change her mind rather than winning with mysterious "friendship magic" or related deus ex machina.
Castle Sweet Castle, Amending Fences, The Hooffields and McColts, and The Cutie Re-Mark (finale) showcase Twilight's progress through the season. Unlike previous seasons, Twilight's focus episodes feel more down to earth and personal. Castle Mane-ia and Amending Fences, in particular, have personal stakes that help bring Twilight down to the same level as her friends. As mentioned already, "defeating" Starlight Glimmer involved treating her as a person instead of as a monster.
Season Six
Twilight's role as mentor to Starlight Glimmer begins with a fairly slice of life premiere to the season in The Crystalling (weird magic storm and demon baby aside). The finale has her student win the day without her, much like how Celestia experienced in Season One when it was Twilight that solved the major crisis. Several of the "Starlight focus" episodes in this season feature this theme of Twilight (and her friends occasionally) stepping out of the picture to let "the new student" find her legs.
Outside of the “student/mentor” arc, Pony Point of View has Twilight mediate a dispute between Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie. On the whole, Season Six felt fairly "Twilight hands-off" like Season Two. She was present in many episodes, but the focal character of those episodes was someone else.
Season Seven
Going a step further than the last season, this one began with an explicit slice of life episode and not a two-parter in Celestial Advice. Twilight's student, Starlight Glimmer, is "graduated" due to saving Equestria in the prior season. The focus is on Twilight's anxiety about "letting her student go" with helpful interaction with Celestia who experienced the same thing letting Twilight go to Ponyville. Great having the story come around full circle like that.
A Flurry of Emotions, Fame and Misfortune, Once Upon a Zeppelin, and Shadow Play (finale) give us more material of the same two broad sorts as before. Flurry and Zeppelin are personal-stakes, slice of life stuff while Fame and Misfortune shows a slice of life consequence of her rising prominence as a public figure. Shadow Play gives us another villain and intertwines Twilight's past (fan of Starswirl the Bearded) and present (Starlight Glimmer as her student) in another "save the world by talking it out" that truly lets friendship be the savior of the day.
Forgotten Friendship
During or after Season Seven, Sunset Shimmer visits Equestria again. This time heading to Canterlot with Twilight to meet with Princesses Celestia and Luna and to research a problem going on in CHS in the royal library alongside Twilight. We get to see an interesting, if brief, bit of insight into both Sunset's as well as Twilight's relationships with Celestia in contrast. We get to see Twilight's mentor/friend role to Sunset shift to one of mutual researchers.
The MLP Movie
Equestria faced its largest threat ever in the form of an entire army backed by an actual empire. Twilight attempts to follow past success by seeking out the powerful magic/artifact needed to beat the Storm King but once again has to rely on her friends and the power of their friendship to save the day.
Twilight has learned several lessons leading up to this conflict. She was forced to unlearn some of those lessons as well. Between the Elements of Harmony and the Crystal heart, it’s no surprise that her go-to plan to save the day involved seeking out and using some powerful artifact. The Storm King, Like Sombra or Chrysalis, represented a large-scale threat and not a personal one like Trixie or Starlight Glimmer. For the first time it was the power of her friendships that prevailed against such a foe and not some deus ex machina. It was that friendship that filled her with resolve after being broken, and it was that friendship that inspired Tempest Shadow to turn on the Storm King instead of resigning herself to his mistreatment.
Season Eight
Nearing the end of the series, we get another big change to the status quo. Inspired by the events of the movie, Twilight builds her own School of Friendship in order to spread the magic of friendship past Equestria's borders. Make all the friends.
School Daze (premiere), Marks for Effort, The Mean Six, The Hearthswarming Club, Friendship University, What Lies Beneath, and School Raze (finale) introduce us to the "student six," introduce us to Cozy Glow (the season villain), foreshadow future conflicts with Chrysalis, keep us updated on the Tree of Harmony, and Twilight's involvement in getting her school off the ground. Various other episodes in the season show her friends adjusting to being teachers at her school.
Outside of the "Friendship School'' seasonal plot and other plot-episodes, Twilight's personal story is focused on in Surf and/or Turf, Horse Play, and a Rockhoof and a Hard Place. While Twilight has typically been involved in many episodes without being the focus, Season Eight had a distinct feel that her only participation in the season was for plot-relevant appearances. Even her low-stakes, slice of life episode appearances like The Hearthswarming Club or The Mean Six felt plot-important. Her cameo appearances in episodes like Non-Compete Clause and The End in Friend were framed as her role as Headmare of the school and as the boss of her friends.
Spring Breakdown
This EqG special takes place at some point after the movie, perhaps between Seasons Eight and Nine (based on air date) or perhaps between Seasons Seven and Eight (based on some in-show details and when it was written).
Sunset Shimmer, Twilight "Sci-Twi" Sparkle, and Rainbow Dash (human) visit Equestria via a different portal than the one between CHS's statue and the mirror in Twilight's castle. Not much happens in Equestria or with Princess Twilight, but she does get to spend some time with her (mostly) human friends and help them on their quest. An entire cruise ship worth of humans-turned-ponies makes a brief trek through Equestria to return home through the mirror portal.
Season Nine
The final season presented us with the seasonal plot that Princess Celestia and Luna planned to retire and have Twilight (and her friends) succeed them. Twilight's anxiety, when presented with stress, is treated as even more severe than ever before. Discord cooks up a plot to bolster her confidence. He quietly guides several of Equestria's past foes (Sombra, Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow) to plot against Twilight in a morale-boosting exercise that somehow isn't treason. Sombra is dispatched again at the start of the season, while we see the other three doing various things through the season before they eventually betray Discord and "for reals" attempt to destroy/conquer Equestria. The Beginning of the End (premiere), Uprooted, Twilight's Seven, Frenemies, The Summer Sun Setback, and The Ending of the End (finale) show this seasonal story arc.
Twilight's personal life episodes include The Point of No Return, A Trivial Problem, and significant portions of Twilight's Seven. With how focused on "Princess Twilight" the show has been it almost feels a little weird to see her personal life in a couple of episodes this late in the series.
The Last Problem
Fast forward the clock years into the future for the series epilogue. Twilight is bigger with a wavier mane and sits on the throne in Canterlot. Her friends (other than Spike) don't appear to have taken on official government positions but (by Royal Decree) visit with her once a month.
Twilight has taken on another student, Luster Dawn. Showing Luster Dawn all the sights lets us tour this Equestria of the future and shows us the conclusion to various stories. We get a flashback (back to present-day Equestria) where Twilight is crowned and, of course, some hijinks occur but no one minds.
Seasonal Summary
I took a light hand approach to the various seasonal plots, villain stories, and so on. I'm more interested in showing Twilight's role in those things than detailing a bunch of plots. Most of the series isn't about the technical and logistical ramifications of threats to Equestria, justice, or broad moral questions. It's a show about friendship and how characters get along. My blog focuses on those components.
While Twilight the person is frequently on display, there is a very prominent emphasis on her growing role as a leader and as a figure of destiny. By taking a broad view and cutting out a lot of the “noise” we can see a pretty clear succession. It’s easier from this perspective to see how she behaved in the Movie, for example, as being in-character and fitting the larger progression. It’s easier to see how her ascension early in the series wasn’t that improper. Several controversial elements of the series feel like they fit this larger whole. Even things I personally disliked, like the School of Friendship, seem like a reasonable part of her growth.
Twilight’s role as a friend to various other characters, notably the rest of the M6 but many other supporting characters as well, plays an important component of the series. "Here is how Twilight Sparkle interacts with _____" is just as important and valid part of the series as "Twilight (and friends) defeat so-and-so." Unfortunately, attempting to be exhaustive on that front would result in cartesian multiplication of material. I'll attempt to briefly cover the important bits.
Applejack
While technically Twilight meets Pinkie Pie first, Applejack is the first of the M6 that she has significant interaction with during the pilot. I'll avoid repeating every moment of their interaction, but AJ is possibly the most friendly towards her and does actually use the phrase, "We here at Sweet Apple Acres sure do like makin' new friends!" AJ is also the first one Twilight interacts with during Ticket Master which served as our first slice of life “here are the characters” episode after the adventure pilot.
Applejack is often in the role of "Ponyville's normal" and commonly serves to advise her on "how things are usually done." Look Before You Sleep may be the first episode where the two interact outside of a mostly "professional" friendship, but most of that episode is focused on Applejack and Rarity's often revisited "friendship." Applejack is usually the "stable" one, serving as an anchor to the rest of the group's zaniness and quirks. She often seems "along for the ride" in episodes and doesn't draw much attention to herself unless she's interacting with Rarity or Rainbow Dash.
While Twilight and Applejack are pretty amicable towards each other, they don't appear to have a lot in common. Applebuck Season, Winter Wrap Up, Fallweather Friends, The Last Roundup, The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000, Castle Mane-ia, Bats!, Applejack's Day Off, Pony Point of View, and Non-Compete Clause all tend to show a dynamic that I feel was best presented in Applejack's Day Off. While Applejack is generally pretty good at advising others, her own problems easily get the best of her. Twilight Sparkle is often the voice of reason Applejack needs.
A problem arises, Applejack is among the first to offer a solution, but Twilight is generally the correct choice in the end. Applejack tries to get things that are abnormal back to normal, while Twilight tries to improve things so they're better. They're two different philosophies that the show brings up, with Twilight's being superior.
Rainbow Dash
Rainbow Dash comes next in the pilot. She collides with Twilight, tries to apologize and fix her mess, then laughs at the result. She has fun with Twilight and says, "Ha! You're a laugh, Twilight Sparkle. I can't wait to hang out some more." While she doesn't use the word "friend" she does offer up the invitation to do what friends do.
As the series progresses, the two make another odd pair that seem not to have much in common: the jock and nerd dichotomy. While Rainbow Dash does interact with Twilight in several other episodes, like Fallweather Friends alongside Applejack, It's not until The Cutie Mark Chronicles that we first see Twilight's appreciation of Rainbow upon learning of the role Rainbow's Sonic Rainboom played in each of them getting her cutie mark.
Read It and Weep begins the cementing of their bond in a mutual love of Daring Do novels. While Twilight has a generally amicable friendship with the rest of her friends, her common interest with Rainbow Dash is the most obvious one in the group. Daring Don't, Stranger Than Fanfiction, Daring Done, Daring Doubt form something of a paired character arc between them, with Rainbow's love of Daring Do novels continuing to be important as she interacts with the real Daring Do. We even see evidence of the impact of this change in Rainbow in Spike At Your Service where Rainbow wants Twilight to edit her fanfic.
We see Twilight and Rainbow interact in Games Ponies Play and Rainbow Falls as part of Rainbow's interest in that "arc." In Testing 123 and Top Bolt the two pair up to tackle Rainbow's pursuit of joining the Wonderbolts and as part of her membership in the same.
To Where and Back Again (S5 finale) makes heavy use of Rainbow Dash's Sonic Rainboom as an important plot point. Rainbow Dash is treated as vitally important to the friendship between the M6 members and with Twilight in particular. Both on a personal level as well as a plot level.
Rarity
Rarity's introduction makes their relationship seem pretty one-sided. "We are gonna be the best of friends, you and I." is said amidst an impromptu makeover session after which Twilight escapes.
Like Applejack, Rarity often takes on an advisor role to Twilight, often seeming to care more about Twilight's appearance and reputation as a princess than Twilight does. Unlike Applejack, Rarity is just as comfortable taking the lead on some project and dragging her friends along as she is tagging along with whatever her friends are doing.
While Rarity has her parts in Ticket Master, Boast Busters, and Look Before You Sleep, it isn't until Suited For Success that we really get to know her selflessly generous side. Green Isn't Your Color, like Look Before You Sleep, drags Twilight along while Rarity interacts with another pony (Fluttershy in this case). This is a trend that generally keeps happening. Twilight often is in Rarity-focused episodes, as part of the ensemble. Rarity is often in Twilight-focused episodes, again as part of the ensemble. Episodes like Sweet and Elite (S2) and It Isn't the Mane Thing About You (S7) have one of the two focused on a problem that directly relates to the other but their interaction is still somewhat minimal and diluted with other cast members.
It's not until Friendship University (S8) that we get an episode focused on just the pair of them working on a problem together. It's much harder to really pin down their dynamic than it is for any of Twilight's other friends. They give off a “we only hang out because we hang out with the same circle of friends” vibe despite the respect and admiration they have for each other.
Fluttershy
Fluttershy's introduction ends up being more of a conversation between her and Spike than with Twilight. Like with Rarity, it is difficult to pin down what exactly makes the two friends. At least with Rarity, we could see that she was interested in Twilight, but Fluttershy has always felt more like she's dragged along (literally in Dragonshy) than willingly part of the group.
While the episode doesn't make much of the ordeal, nor is it ever referenced again, Fluttershy did save Twilight's life in Stare Master. Fluttershy's showdown with the cockatrice resulted in it leaving her and the CMC alone, as well as reverting a petrified Twilight Sparkle to flesh and life.
The pair also interact in Bird in the Hoof, giving us a pretty solid foundation for friendship between the two from the first season. Fluttershy was instrumental in Keep Calm and Flutter On handling Discord, a task Twilight felt responsible for. Power Ponies, Bats!, It Ain't Easy Being Breezies, The Hooffields and McColts, and A Health of Information all feature good examples of their dynamic. In general, the group tries to shelter or take care of Fluttershy with Twilight being no exception. Fluttershy usually ends up more reliable than expected. They're helpful to each other despite expectations otherwise.
Pinkie Pie
Pinkie Pie's actual introduction sets the tone for many early fanfics: Pinkie throws the newcomer a party. "And now you have lots and lots of friends!" isn't her declaration directly that she wants to be friends but like Applejack's general appeal to friendliness, it is clearly an open invitation to include herself among those new friends.
Swarm of the Century is really where we get Pinkie's initial character and relationship to Twilight and everyone else. She's misunderstood and due to her high energy sometimes avoided. Feeling Pinkie Keen pit her unpredictability directly against Twilight's desire to understand and forced her to concede. Party of One takes this process in a somewhat dark direction. In Luna Eclipsed, Pinkie plays the part of the unwitting antagonist, making Luna's efforts to integrate into modern Equestria more difficult. MMMystery on the Friendship Express put Pinkie once again into something of an adversarial role with the rest of the group. Too Many Pinkie Pies again had Pinkie playing the part of antagonist.
While Pinkie does show more agreeable behavior in other episodes, it's not until Party Pooped in Season Five that Twilight and Pinkie work together and achieve success. The One Where Pinkie Knows takes their somewhat adversarial relationship into another context but Pinkie proves she, like Fluttershy, can be surprisingly reliable in the end. The two had a great conflict and forgiveness arc in the MLP Movie. A Trivial Problem dredges this dynamic back up for one last showing.
Like Twilight, Pinkie comes from a different culture than Ponyville. Their personalities clash pretty hard. Most of the "here's Pinkie's positive side" tends to be shown in ensemble episodes or ones focused on someone other than Twilight. Where it can be difficult to pin down Rarity and Twilight's friendship due to lack of material, with Pinkie it can be difficult to see when they actually get along at all. Pinkie most often seems to try Twilight's patience rather than be genuinely pleasant to be around. When Pinkie is around a lot of other characters she can bring the group's spirit up, but when taken one-on-one, she can be exhausting and distracting.
Sunset Shimmer
Sunset Shimmer does become officially one of Twilight's friends. Sunset is in an odd place in that she's not a part of Twilight's close circle of friends in Equestria, but instead copies of those characters in another universe. Twilight first meets her under the context of a villain in Equestria Girls (EqG1) but, after weaponized friendship to her face (like Luna), Twilight dumps her with those friend-copies and ditches her.
They meet a second time in Rainbow Rocks and despite Twilight supposedly "fixing" her, she doesn't readily warm up to Sunset. They do have a shipping-fuel moment at a sleepover but it's not until Sunset joins Twilight in the final battle against the Dazzlings that she seems to accept Sunset as a friend. Once again Twilight departs for Equestria but the two keep a long-distance friendship via magical texting.
Presumably Sunset or Twilight could go through the portal to visit each other whenever they feel like but if they did so, it happened off-camera and wasn't mentioned by either. Sunset's return visit in Mirror Magic was treated as an anxious matter and her clumsiness in her pony body indicates she may not have been back to Equestria in a while. We don’t really have strong evidence that this was or was not a big deal to Twilight, as a friendship problem called her away unexpectedly. Later, Sunset returns to Equestria in Forgotten Friendship and later still in Spring Breakdown. In both cases, there is a crisis to handle going on but the two get to hang out and bond some.
To further complicate matters, as of Friendship Games, there is a copy of Twilight in Sunset's circle of friends. While the two are separate people from each other (and briefly meet at the end of Friendship Games and later in Equestria in Spring Breakdown), they have incredibly similar personalities. Twilight's friendship to Sunset is weird, to say the least.
Starlight Glimmer
Starlight Glimmer became Twilight's friend tentatively in The Cutie Re-Mark at the end of Season Five. We got to see that friendship be tested and endure and even grow over the rest of the series. The Crystalling, No Second Prances, Every Little Thing She Does, Celestial Advice, A Royal Problem, Fame and Misfortune, Uncommon Bond, and Shadow Play cover the bulk of that process where Twilight goes from being Starlight's mentor and in charge of her rehabilitation to trusting her judgment and being her friend fully. School Daze reinforces the message that Starlight can guide Twilight as much as Twilight can guide her.
In a Horse Shoe In, Twilight has Starlight succeed her position at her school to take over as headmare while Twilight prepares to become ruler of Equestria. Out of all of her friends, she trusts Starlight the most to take over her legacy at the school.
Moondancer
In Amending Fences (S5), we learn that Twilight had a circle of friends in Canterlot while she was a student at CSGU. We meet some of them in the first episode of the series: Twinkleshine, Lemon Hearts, and Minuette. Moondancer is mentioned by name. Lyra rounds out the group to six. Unfortunately, the series didn't do much with that except for a cameo here and there. Twilight didn't really consider them important at the time but had a change of heart upon embracing friendship. While we don't have a lot of material to work with, the dichotomy between "old Twilight" and "new Twilight" in relation to this group of unicorns is pretty interesting and shows how much Twilight has changed.
Others
I'm not omitting Spike out of spite; he'll get his own blog. His relationship with Twilight is more family than friend. To that end, I'm also omitting several others. I'm also excluding some "friends" like Trixie, Discord, Celestia & Luna, Fizzlepop Berrytwist, and Vinyl Scratch (DJ PON3) due to a lack of material to really support a friendship to examine. Some will get their own blogs.
Friendships Summary
When listing episodes that showcase particular friendships, I brought up the episode list and relied on memory to pick episodes that I remembered substantial interaction. I mostly picked episodes focused on Twilight or the friend, but a few ensemble episodes if I felt they were significant. If you recall episodes that you feel showcased the friends' relationship well, feel free to point them out to me as I dismissed a lot of ensemble episodes in this process.
On the whole, Twilight generally seeks to be a teacher-sort to her friends. Either officially as a mentor as with Starlight Glimmer or by using her knowledge and study habits to help Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy or Sunset Shimmer. During a crisis, Twilight is generally looked to as the leader.
Outside of Crisis, she takes a back seat to whatever project Rarity or Rainbow Dash is working on or lends a helping hoof and horn to Applejack or Pinkie Pie with their day to day.
As "Princess of Friendship" she extends the notion of friendship to diplomacy, seeking to befriend nations (or at least their leadership). In the role of headmare of her school, she seeks to spread the philosophy of friendship and getting along far and wide.
She's the kind of friend you turn to for advice. If she doesn't know it, she'll read up on it.
Twilight Sparkle shows up in a lot of episodes. I hope that I've successfully indicated the important episodes that serve to progress her story and outline her friendships. While she appears in many episodes and plays important roles in those episodes, I feel I've picked the ones that most emphasize her personal journey. If I felt particular episodes would better go in another blog dedicated to another character (such as many Spike-focused episodes), I erred on not including them.
I'm generally leaving out my opinion on various episodes, seasons, or other meta-choices. I'm mostly just trying to present what is there with some assessment of Twilight's character arc. If you feel I left something important out, bring it up! I'd like to be fairly thorough in this. If you disagree with any of my assessments, feel free to comment to that effect.
This also isn't supposed to be a recap or literary/critical review. You'll have to be familiar with the show already to get much value out of this series of blogs. This won't serve to explain things in the absence of that familiarity. It might serve as an inspiration to rewatch certain strings of episodes to focus on the elements I covered.
For some reason, I find myself hesitant to admit that there actually have been a overall plan to how Twilight's story turned out, but as you charted it, it does seem that way. I guess I never was satisfied with how the whole thing turned out, so it seriously taints my perspective.
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Trust me. I'm not claiming the writers planned it all this way. This is very much my interpretation. It's my effort to focus on the most consistent narrative I can see.
The show has contradicted itself in many places. It's impossible to accept every piece of every episode. Since we're forced to ignore or cut some parts, how do we go about doing so? I hope my results are received as fair.
Perhaps you disagree with my end results. I encourage you to gather your own thoughts together, write a blog laying them out, and sharing what you come up with. Link it here in a comment if you do so I can read it.
Ignore what the show writers intended. Just read/watch what they made and see what stands out to you. For Twilight, I picked up that she was destined to become a princess. I know many people in the hiatus between S3 and S4 were blindsided by her ascension and very vocal about it. I'd like to see someone who still believes that way thoroughly support a different view from mine with as many references to episodes and scenes from the entire show as possible. Not just the first two seasons as many did at the time.
What does Twilight Sparkle's story look like in total to you?
Twilight's role as Solo Ruler of Equestria is the worst. -_-
huh... should watch the show at some point. Gotta be honest though, Starlight Glimmer has kind of left a bad taste and kinda kills the endeavor for me