I’ve always wanted to try and take on redesigning the mane six, and in general give it a spin based on how I would tell the story if given the prompt. So, I sat down and sketched out some things for Twilight earlier.
I kept the idea that she has no horn, but I gave it a twist. By all accounts, Twilight should have a horn. She has unicorn features, and most importantly of all, she comes from two families of prestigious scholars and sorcerers. No one was ever sure about the strange birth defect and mark on her head, but Twilight was healthy, so her family simply counted their blessings. However, it was never enough for Twilight.
So, when the opportunity arrived, she ran away from home to find her answers and, maybe, a solution. She was barely a teen when she ran away, and she spent a good few of her adolescent years in seedy back alleys and the far corners of Equestria talking to all kinda of creatures. She changed her name to Twilight Dawn to protect her family as well as herself, and this universe’s version of Twilight is much more hardened than FiM.
She comes to Ponyville on a whim, originally intending to just pass through and follow a trail of crumbs possibly leading to her next big break. She ended up discovering a group of ponies far more like her, and that’s where the new journey begins.
This universe’s Twilight is still very intelligent and interested in learning, but her knowledge on her personal magic is as limited as a surface level of study. Her primary knowledge comes to lie in Equestrian history, different cultures, and, in terms of magic, potions and incantations and many other forms of physical magic channeling. While being able to meet Spike on her journey, Twilight has come to be very lonely and distrusting over the years. She’s become very socially awkward and, at the start, often has issues perceiving the actions of ponies and just how nice everyone is.
One of her biggest flaws, I would say, is that she often doesn’t look before she leaps, and even though she knows many things she can often completely freeze up and freak out if she doesn’t know the answer to a problem, life threatening or not. Consider it a by product of being a nomadic, almost vigilante, ever since you were young, where any false step, miss action, or misinterpretation could lead to your death or enslavement.