Twilight Sparkle: Fillyhood to Marehood
Greetings and salutations, friends and fans and readers! I am Thomas Holmes II, and here, I introduce you to the Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle. She's so many adventures with her friends in Equestria that going over them all would be a drag. So, instead, I'm going to cover all the essential moments of her life. Some of them, you'll know well, though they occurred differently to how your media did her, and others may be foreign to you. It will also include moments from my previous story about Twilight Sparkle 'Fillyhood Friends'; though some scenes may be different, as some details were incorrect. So, without further ado, join me as we chart Twilight Sparkle's journey from fillyhood to marehood.
Disclaimer: MLP belongs to Hasbro and Lauren Faust in your world. This chapter is a blend of MLP episode 'The Cute Mark Chronicles', written by M.A. Larson, MLP IDW issue #40, written by Ted Anderson; and 'Twilight's First Day' by deviantART by Muffinshire. In the case of the official IDW comic, I cannot believe they wrote Celestia as essentially parentifying Twilight!
Admirer to Student:
Canterlot, Equestria 987 CP
Exams are always stressful. Many students have driven themselves mad with worry over whether they'll pass or not. However, most exams are taken at the end of a school year, which gives the student time to prepare for it. But if it's an entrance exam, without prior training, it's practically worse than end-of-year tests
Six-year-old Twilight Sparkle, a lavender Unicorn filly, purple eyes and an indigo mane with purple and raspberry highlights, gritted her teeth and strained her magic as hard as she could. She was trying to unleash a spell that would hatch the Dragon egg she'd been given as a test for her enrolment in Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns.
She could remember going to the Summer Sun Celebration not long ago with her parents and big brother. Seeing Celestia raise the Sun had been the most amazing, most wonderful sight she'd ever seen.
But no one had told her about the entrance exam!
Twilight tried her hardest, but all that issued from her horn were sparks. The examiners were frowning down at her; one of them yawned.
The filly made several poses and tried various angles, but nothing worked.
At last, Twilight gave up, and flopped down on her haunches.
"I'm… sorry for wasting your time," she whispered miserably. She'd blown it! Her future was in shambles now…
Just then, BOOM! The whole room shook, as a massive rainbow-coloured shockwave spread across the land outside. Twilight suddenly felt a surge of power course through her body; it was beyond anything she'd ever felt. Her heart rate increased rapidly, and her body tingled as if electricity was zapping through her.
Next moment, a burst of magic shot from her horn at the egg. Next moment, it cracked open to reveal a tiny Dragon whelp with mulberry scales, harlequin spines, and pistachio green eyes. It yawned widely, and stretched.
But the surge didn't stop there. Before Twilight knew it, her eyes glowed blinding white, and she was encased in glowing pink energy. She couldn't control it; nor did she really want to. It was amazing! Such power! Such potential! She could do so much with it! She was ecstatic.
Suddenly, she felt a hoof on her shoulder, and looked up. There, looking down at her, was Princess Celestia herself, smiling warmly.
All at once, Twilight calmed down, remembering why she was here to begin with. Her eyes returned to normal, and the magic dissipated. She looked around, just in time to see the examiners fall to the floor from being levitated; a pot plant and cactus turn back into her mother and father respectively; and a massive dragon return to being a baby, who instantly begun to suck on his tail.
Twilight realised that her magic must have done all this. Oh, now she'd done it! She'd gone too far! She'd never be accepted now!
"Twilight Sparkle, is it?" Celestia asked gently.
"I-I'm so sorry!" Twilight stammered hastily. "I didn't mea-"
"You have a very special gift," Celestia rhapsodised. "I've only ever come across one other Unicorn with your raw abilities."
Twilight blinked up at her, puzzled. Was she not getting punished? "Huh?"
"But you need to learn to tame these abilities through focussed study."
"Huh?!"
"Twilight Sparkle," Celestia announced, "I'd like to make you my own personal protégée here at the school!"
"HUH?!"
Celestia grinned at Twilight. "Well, Twilight?"
Twilight was lost for words. The Princess, the ruler of Equestria, make her, a simple filly, her protégée?! This was beyond anything she'd imagined! She looked at her parents. Her father, Night Light, was nodding vigorously, and her mother, Twilight Velvet, gestured flamboyantly with her hooves to accept. This was all Twilight needed.
"YES!" Twilight squealed, leaping several feet into the air in excitement.
"One other thing, Twilight," Celestia added, causing Twilight to fall to earth. Celestia pointed at Twilight's flank. Where it had been blank, as with all fillies and colts when they were born, there was now a hot pink, six-point star atop a white star, surrounded by five smaller white stars.
"My Cutie Mark!" Twilight gasped. She began bouncing around Celestia in delight, saying, "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes…!" over and over again.
It was almost a quarter of an hour before Twilight finally stopped saying 'yes' and she collapsed with exhaustion.
Unknown to Twilight, she hadn't been the only filly to get her Cutie Mark that day.
However, things didn't start all bright and sparkly. When Twilight arrived at school on her first day, she found not everyone was so welcoming. Celestia was waiting for Twilight outside the school with another Unicorn filly close to Twilight's own age. She was amber with cyan eyes and a curly red and yellow mane and tail. Her Cute Mark was of a shimmering sun.
The filly frowned as Twilight and her parents trotted up to them, splattered with mud due to their taxi getting stuck on their way.
"Arriving muddy on your first day?" she huffed. "Not exactly the best way to make a good first impression."
"Now, Sunset," Celestia admonished. "Let's be nice. The important thing is that she's here now." She smiled at the lavender filly. "So nice to see you again, Twilight Sparkle. This is your new classmate and fellow protégée, Sunset Shimmer."
"Hello," Twilight greeted, rather timidly. Sunset looked away.
"Sunset's also a protégée of mine," Celestia explained. "She was that other Unicorn with incredible raw talent. I hope you two will get around nicely."
Initially, this was somewhat wishful thinking.
After getting herself cleaned up, Celestia introduced Twilight to a familiar face: the baby Dragon she hatched.
"Does… does he have a name?" Twilight asked, approaching the crib in which the whelp lay.
"Hmm, not yet," Celestia admitted. "I didn't want to choose a name that I didn't like, since you were the one who hatched him."
Twilight was surprised and somewhat touched that Celestia valued her opinion on this. As she reached the crib, the whelp saw her. His green eyes widened and he clapped his tiny hands, laughing cheerfully.
"I think he recognises you," Celestia observed. "He must see you like you're his mother."
Twilight was simultaneously touched and shocked. It sounded adorable that the whelp saw him like a mother, but… she was only a filly herself. She wasn't even ten!
"Don't worry," Celestia assured. "We're taking good care of him. But…" She thought for a moment. "How about, in-between your studies, you come and visit him, and perhaps help take care of you when you do?"
Twilight was surprised by this offer. Then, the whelp reached up and touched her face. Twilight was immediately overwhelmed with a cutesy feeling. She smiled.
"That sounds wonderful, Princess! Anything you need me to do, I'll do it!"
Celestia beamed. "I'll leave you two to get acquainted." And she clopped out of the room.
Twilight leaned towards the baby Dragon, smiling. "We're going to have some fun together, little one! Helping to care for a baby; shouldn't be too hard…"
"I don't know about that, Twilight." Twilight looked round. Sunset Shimmer was standing in the doorway, frowning.
"Caring for a baby is a big responsibility. Besides, you're above this sort of thing, surely."
Twilight frowned. "I helped hatch this baby; it's only right that I help raise him. The Princess is counting on me."
Sunset jerked her head to one side, the Pony version of a shrug. "Well, it's your struggle," she asserted, as she left.
Twilight allowed the baby to suck at her hoof while she thought. If she was going to help care for him, she'd have to know how to do it right. She decided to look up Dragons and how to raise them in the library. However…
"You don't have any books on raising Dragons?!"
"I'm sorry!" apologised the librarian. "Nopony's ever written one!"
This made things much more difficult. With no basis to work off of, Twilight was worried that she would let Celestia and the baby down. She worried so much over this that Twilight failed to keep track of the time. As a result, she was late for her first lesson, which earned her a stern reprimand from Professor Inkwell, an elderly and somewhat strict Mare.
The next time she came to see the baby Dragon, Twilight was less affectionate, and more apprehensive. Not helping was that the nurses admitted that they didn't know how to raise a baby Dragon either, though they certainly tried their best. Even so, the baby's loud cries, tendency to burp green flames and liking for shiny objects, like gems, jewellery, or anything made of metal, made him a real handful.
Unfortunately, things didn't improve for Twilight as time went on. Juggling magical studies and helping to care for a baby Dragon would be a taxing experience for a full-grown mare, let alone a filly. Twilight's attention kept slipping in class, meaning she sometimes answered questions wrongly, and needed extra concentration for practical demonstrations. When visiting the baby, Twilight was distracted by worry over her less than ideal performance in classes, and this made the baby upset that she wasn't giving him her full attention. The nurses weren't pleased by Twilight's ineffectiveness, and Celestia herself soon noticed this too.
"Is everything alright, Twilight?" she asked, concernedly.
Twilight was trying to rock the baby to sleep as he cried loudly.
"Yeah, yeah!" she chuckled nervously. "Just… just settling in, you know, heh, heh… I'm sure I'll get on top of this."
But Twilight didn't really believe it. She just didn't want to give the Princess the impression she couldn't do it. She had to do as well as Sunset had been doing. The amber Unicorn had been remarkably well in all her classes so far.
By the middle of the semester, Twilight was dangerously close to a mental breakdown. She was starting to fall behind in her studies. Her only confidant was her doll, Smarty Pants, given to her by her big brother, Shining Armour, before he left for Royal Guard training.
Despite that, Twilight refused to give up. She still didn't tell the Princess about her struggles, even though Celestia asked her if she was alright several times.
"That's enough, Miss Sparkle," Professor Inkwell told the filly gently, after Twilight tried and failed to levitate a flowerpot in class. "You can return to your seat."
Twilight was tempted to keep trying, but she barely had enough energy to walk.
"S-sorry, Professor Inkwell," she lamented, her eyes brimming with tears. As she returned to her seat, Inkwell looked worried, as did most of her classmates. Trixie, an azure Unicorn with purple eyes and cornflower blue mane snickered quietly. Sunset shot Twilight a brief, concerned look. Twilight registered this glance, but not the possible sentiment.
At the conclusion of the lesson, Twilight made to leave, but…
"Miss Sparkle, would you mind staying after class for a moment?"
Twilight's heart shrivelled in fright. This was it! She'd been dreading this! Now Inkwell was going to tell her she was in detention! Or that she was going to the Princess! Or… that she was going to be expelled! Or…
"Twilight…"
Twilight looked up in slight surprise. Inkwell looked genuinely concerned.
"The Princess recommended you highly, and you obviously had magical talent, but… well, you're not living up to your potential. You seem distracted. Is it the baby Dragon you're helping to care for?"
Twilight hung her head. "Yes. I have to help care for him; Celestia is counting on me."
Inkwell sighed. "I understand that, but you're putting too much pressure on yourself. Now, I'm willing to let some things slide, but I can only help you as a teacher. I think that what you need… is a friend."
Twilight gaped at her teacher. A friend? How could a friend help her out of this? She didn't have time to make a friend! Twilight needed to buckle down and focus.
Twilight turned away. "Thank you, Professor Inkwell. I'll be fine; I just need some rest, that's all…" And she left.
But all the rest in the world couldn't have prepared her for the fiasco that was the Annual Royal High Tea. All the teachers, students and their parents were in attendance. Night Light and Twilight Velvet were very excited to meet their daughter's teachers, but Twilight herself was nervous about what her parents would say when they learned she was doing badly. She was so nervous that she almost failed to realise that the baby Dragon, whom the Princess had brought with her that evening, had unzipped the pouch he was in, until he jumped out with a cheery cry. The filly caught him in her magic.
"No, no, bad Dragon!" she cried, trying to sound stern, but only sounding cute in the process. "I need to keep an eye on you today, baby Dragon!"
Keeping a beady eye on the whelp, Twilight placed him back in his carrier and zipped him up tightly. But as Celestia greeted Twilight and her parents, the filly's thoughts continued to whirl about frantically.
"Twilight, why don't you head into the students' room?" Celestia suggested, interrupting her thoughts. "Spend time with your friends?"
"Uh… yes…" Twilight answered, awkwardly. "My friends… for which I have many… he, he, many, many friends…" She gave such a wide fake grin to the Princess that her cheeks hurt.
"On second thoughts, how would you like to come to the parents' room?" Celestia recommended, after a moment's pause. "I'm sure everyone would like to meet you and your Dragon."
Twilight was so relieved, her legs almost folded.
Her relief was short-lived. When her parents asked her how her classes were going, Twilight tried to brush off her worries as nothing major. This façade didn't last.
"I've just been so stressed trying to help care for the Dragon, I haven't had time to study! And I'm so worried about my studies that I can't help care for the Dragon!"
Her parents and Celestia stared at her. Twilight couldn't hold it back anymore. She might as well brace herself for her parents' disappointment. She was so wound up that she didn't notice that the baby Dragon had escaped from his carrier.
"And then, I couldn't levitate the flowerpot, even though I know how to do levitation, and I know I'm going to fail the transformation exam next week and I haven't even started studying for my history of magic test!"
She slumped over the table, bracing herself for the Princess' coming reprimand.
"Twilight… is that why you've been struggling in class?" Celestia's voice was surprisingly gentle. But it had to be an act! She was going to yell at Twilight!
At that moment, there was a splashing crash. The cloth on a nearby table had been pulled to the floor, the food, cutlery and crockery coming down with it.
There was a ringing silence, broken by the cheerful coos of the baby Dragon, followed by a shriek of anguish. Then, everything went black for Twilight, and she knew no more.
When Twilight came to, she was lying on her bed in her dormitory. She had no memory of getting there. For a moment, she thought, or perhaps hoped, that the incident in the parents' room had been a dream; until she realised that Celestia and her parents were standing around her.
"Mom… Dad… Princess, what happened?"
"You-you passed out in the parents' room, sweetie," Velvet soothed. "We brought you back here to rest."
"Twilight, I want you to be fully honest with me this time," Celestia asserted, firmly but gently. "What's wrong?"
Twilight sighed in defeat, her heart deflating rapidly. There was no getting out of this. She might as well accept her expulsion.
"That baby Dragon needed me," she whispered, her gaze fixed on her hind hooves. "You asked me to help care for him, but I didn't know how. I'm sorry, Princess…"
"Twilight, I never asked you to be so responsible for the boy," Celestia pointed out. "I only meant it as something to give you a break from your studies, since you seemed to really like him. If you didn't know how to care for him, that's fine. No one knows, but trying to find a way isn't your responsibility."
"But I hatched him!" Twilight cried desperately, looking Celestia in the face with a considerable effort. "He sees me like a mother, as you said!"
"You didn't have to take it so literally, honey," Night Light told her gently. "I mean, your concern for him is understandable and lovely, but you shouldn't grow up too fast."
"I'm sorry if I inadvertently put more pressure on you than expected, Twilight," Celestia apologised. "But if you really care about his well-being, perhaps… your parents can take care of him."
Night Light and Twilight Velvet's faces lit up at this.
"That sounds wonderful!" Velvet gasped. "With Shining and Twilight away, it'd be lovely to have some new company. We'll have so much fun! Dashing through the park, playing with bubbles, splashing in puddles…!"
"Now, now, honey," Night Light advised. "Let's not get too carried away now. We had enough of that with our last two babies." He turned to his daughter. "What do you say, Twiley?"
Twilight hesitated. "Won't he miss me?"
"Hey, he'll be fine with us, we promise," Night Light assured her. "And we'll miss you together, don't worry."
"Although, he really needs a name," Velvet noted. "Or are we just going to keep calling him 'the Baby'?"
"'Ike Smuh-Pah!"
Everyone looked round. The baby whelp, whom Twilight had not noticed until now, was playing with Smarty Pants.
"D-did… did you just say something?" Twilight asked in amazement.
"Smuh-Pah!" the whelp cooed, holding up Smarty Pants. "'Ike Smuh-Pah!"
"He's talking!" Velvet cried, awed.
"I think he's trying to say 'Smarty-Pants'," Twilight realised. "Yeah, Smarty-Pants is sweet, isn't she?"
The baby cooed in agreement, as Celestia levitated him onto the bed. Twilight nuzzled him affectionately. She'd quite forgotten how adorable he was. He really needed a name.
"'Ike Smuh-Pah!"
"No, no, silly!" Twilight giggled. "That's Smarty-Pants' name. Actually… how about… Spike?"
"Spike!" exclaimed Velvet. "That's a lovely name! What do you think, Princess?"
Celestia didn't answer. Her eyes had glazed over and she was gazing out into the distance; she didn't seem to have heard Velvet.
"Spike…" she whispered, apparently to herself. "Spike…"
"Are you alright, Princess?" Night Light asked.
Celestia seemed to come to herself. "Yes, yes, I'm fine, Mr. Sparkle; just zoned out there for a moment. Anyway, that's a lovely name, Twilight."
"'Ike!" 'Spike' cried in delight.
"And I think he likes it too. Spike, it is! I think you've just made a good friend."
"Friend…" Twilight considered, looking back at Spike, who was sucking at her hooves.
"I think that what you need… is a friend."
"Looks like Professor Inkwell was right," the lavender filly smiled.
Later, after her parents had left, taking Spike with them, Twilight lay on her bed, still resting after her breakdown.
She was relieved at how things had turned out, especially since she now had a new baby brother. Shiny would be so pleased!
Even so, Twilight had to catch up with her studies, and she was worried she might fall further behind still. She'd still let the Princess down! She'd just have to study harder from tomorrow.
Just then, there was a knock at the door. Could it be the Princess?
"Come in," Twilight called tentatively.
The door swung open. There, on the threshold, was Sunset Shimmer.
"Sunset," Twilight gaped. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to talk, Twilight," Sunset replied, a little apprehensively. "I… want to apologise for my initial reaction when you first came to school and for being so distant during the semester. I was just afraid that Princess Celestia was replacing me or something."
"I'm sorry if I gave you that impression, Sunset," Twilight countered. "I've always admired the Princess and I just couldn't turn her down when she offered me a place as her protégée."
"No, no, it's my fault," Sunset affirmed. "I should've been more respectful. In any case, Twilight, I've been watching you this past semester, and I have to say; your commitment is incredible. I was honestly impressed that you tried to juggle studying with babysitting."
"Yeah, but that was a mistake," Twilight admitted. "Now, I'm significantly behind in my studies."
"That's actually why I'm here, Twilight," Sunset acknowledged. "I just had a talk with Princess Celestia, and she recommended I help you catch up."
Twilight's purple eyes lit up. "Really? You'd help me?!"
Sunset smiled. "Of course! Anything you need, I'll help. Celestia says we're both her protégées, and should help each other out. Something called being friends, apparently…"
Twilight's own smile widened. She got down from her bed and approached Sunset. "That sounds wonderful, Sunset. Thank you."
"My pleasure."
"So, does that make us friends, then?"
"I guess it does."
At this, Twilight threw herself at Sunset, hugging her tightly. Sunset was startled, though not unpleasantly so.
"Yay! I got another new friend!" Twilight squeaked in delight. "Let's be best friends! Let's study together, always! Let's learn magic together! We'll do so much better!"
Sunset's eyes suddenly widened in amazement. "You're right, Twilight! I like it! Together, we could be the best Unicorns in all Equestria!"
Twilight was hooked. "Yeah, and make Celestia so proud!"
Sunset Shimmer giggled, hugging Twilight in turn. "Oh, we'll do that, and more! Just you wait and see, Twilight Sparkle!"
From a distance, Princess Celestia, who had been listening, beamed.