//------------------------------//
// 5: Twilight Sparkle 
// Story: For the Good of Equestria: Shadows 
// by brokenimage321 
//------------------------------//

Sill slips back in the room, where Posie, with some difficulty, is managing to calm Celestia down again. Eventually, Celestia indicates she's ready to continue, despite the protests of her listeners. 

Celestia picks up her story where she left off--the instant she laid eyes on Twilight.

Celestia freezes in place. She's suddenly and acutely aware that there's something undeniably special about Twilight, something that shakes her to her core. Somehow, she knows that Twilight can wield the Elements of Harmony--something that Celestia has not thought of for centuries.

Celestia allows herself to be introduced to the little family. Mr. and Mrs. Sparkle are poor, though not desperately so, and they're doing their best to do right by their family. This includes seeing them whenever they can--meaning, Night Light takes his lunch break right after school to spend a little time with the kids, and Twilight Velvet works a short shift so she can go home with them. Cadance actually met Twilight Velvet first, and befriended her, before coming to know the remainder of the family. And, Cadance being Cadance, she declared that she was going to help them by keeping an eye on the kids, letting Twilight Velvet work a few more hours. Mr. and Mrs. Sparkle wouldn't normally trust a kid her age to babysit, but one doesn't say no to a Princess...

This entire time, Twilight is hiding behind Night Light, sneaking glances at Princess Celestia. Celestia, who's only been listening with half an ear, interrupts and asks about Twilight. Night Light tells her that she's a rather shy eight-year-old, but very very smart. He says, with obvious pride, that they hope to send her to Canterlot Community College when she's older, to help her get a good job!

Celestia does not reply to his comment. Instead, she asks both Mr. and Mrs. Sparkle if they've considered having her apply for the School for Gifted Unicorns. Both look away, before Twilight Velvet turns back to her and says, with a smile, that they haven't, and give her a lame excuse for why not. Celestia, guessing the real reason they didn't apply, tells them there's a scholarship program for underpriveliged fillies (it's a lie, but Celestia decides she can spare some money from her personal allowance), which makes both of them brighten up immediately. Celestia tries to talk to Twilight directly, but she won't answer. 

Celestia quickly realizes that Twilight has a bad habit, or a quirk of her personality, or whatever you want to call it, that she finds alternately endearing and worrisome: specifically, Twilight has incredibly high expectations of herself, which causes her to try and go above and beyond others' expectations. 

Celestia first notices this tendency of hers during her School entrance exam. By the time it comes to the exam, the student has already been accepted (and, in this case, her funding secured); the purpose of the exam is not to see if they should let the given foal into the school, but to see what classes they should be placed in. To this end, the student is given one of several magical objects and instructed to perform some simple tasks with them; the exam committee watches carefully, and places them in one of several levels depending on their demonstrated level of magical power and skill.

However, for some reason--maybe someone forgot, or her parents misunderstood, or due to some jealous teasing from Shining Armor--this wasn't communicated to Twilight. Instead, she tries to hatch her dragon egg, with the results seen in the show. Celestia herself had to show up and try and calm down a hysterical Twilight, who had convinced herself that she had ruined everything (though, to be fair, there was a giant hole in the ceiling...). After another incident or two like this--Twilight expecting too much of herself, pushing the boundaries, and causing a dangerous accident--Celestia does something that she's never done for one of her Students before: she invites Twilight to weekly tea, where they can just chat about stuff. After Celestia begins these regular visits, Twilight's accident rate falls off sharply; Celestia likes to think that their visits help to keep Twilight grounded. 

Over time, the two of them become good friends, though Celestia purposely keeps her at arms' distance. She feels that she can't allow herself to become too close to Twilight, given all the other ponies that she's already let down.

As time rolls on, Celestia becomes closer to the entire Sparkle family. She gives both Mr. and Mrs. Sparkle promotions, eventually recruiting them for clerical positions (which pay better and aren't so backbreaking). And, when it's time, she recruits Shining Armor for the Royal Guard, where he very quickly (and without her help) climbs the ranks until he is appointed Captain. She is on good terms with all of them, but her favorite is very clearly Twilight.