Are the ponies helping or hindering Spike?

[ManaMinori 4,145]

One thing that has always bugged me, rubbing me the wrong way was the treatment of a certain purple reptile amongst the pony kind. It just feels wrong that Spike is not only a fish out of water, where he is- much like Zecora, but tat his own closest friends don't even really accept him for what he is. Like the fruit bats and parasprites, and how the ponies just found it easier to try and magically alter how those species were meant to be, it feels like Spike's getting similar treatment.

 

Not only is he continually reminded and trained to fight against his dragon greed, which is inherent by nature, but this also keeps him from physically maturing as well; so his friends keeping him under their hoof, forever thinking of Spike as a baby, and in their servitude.

 

Wouldn't a good friend train Spike to embrace his inherent instints, allowing him to physically mature, but walking him through being moderate about the greed and growth?

 

Wouldn't good friends do everything in their power to help him connect with his dragon heritage, not limiting themselves to just one library or dragon clan for information?

 

Wouldn't those good friends even invite Spike on more outings/ parties/ missions?

 

Wouldn't good friends inspire Spike to set and work toward goals for himself, to find his purpose, like Rainbow Dash and Rarity and Twilight have accomplished, and get out from under Twilight's wing, now that she's less reliant on an assistant and voice of reason, than she was in season 1?

 

Being a simiar fish out of water, I could see Spike going to Team Zecora, since both have just so much more plot potential and opportunities. But what do you guys think? Are the pony friends helping or hindering Spike's character?

[green 331]

Spike is meant to be comedy relief.

 

Thats all I can say.

[Jeric 46,848]

Just ship him off to Academy to lower his screen time so he can find himself off screen, because fans don't like him and the ones that do think his mother and the rest of the cast mistreats and/or does not appreciate him. Eventually he can become a larger geek icon due to his social media saavy.

 

 

Make it so.

[RarityFan01 2,444]

I think Rarity is the biggest reason for Spike's inability to physically grow. Spike has a crush on Rarity, and as long as he has that crush, he wouldn't typically make decisions that she wouldn't like. He became greedy once, then Rarity scolded him. (She didn't know it was him, but that doesn't make a difference.) So if Rarity was gone for any reason, Spike may grow. But then there is also Twilight Sparkle. Spike sees Twilight as more of a motherly figure, so he wouldn't want to get on her bad side, either. So that would make it hard for him to physically grow. Get Rarity and Twilight out of the picture, then there's a chance he would grow. Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash may contribute to his lack of growing, but I think Rarity and Twilight do it the most. 

 

Rarity represents the element of generosity. I don't think she would want anyone to be greedy. If dragons could grow without greed, I'm pretty sure Rarity wouldn't stop him. She doesn't want him to be greedy because it's wrong, not because he wouldn't be her little slave anymore. (he was never her slave in the first place.) 

 

Twilight is more likely to not want Spike to grow, but that's because she may have the fear of losing him. I think Spike doesn't want to grow either for that same reason. 

 

In fact, maybe Spike doesn't want to grow. He doesn't need to grow right now, either. He's still mentally a child. He's getting more mature, but he still has the mind of a child. It's best, right now, for him to remain the way he is. I doubt Spike would want to leave his friends. He prefers ponies to dragons. He also didn't like himself when he grew to a giant dragon. 

 

So my final answer is: Rarity and Twilight are the ones who prevent Spike from growing the most, and I don't think Spike wants to be a big dragon. 

[CastletonSnob 3,069]

Just ship him off to Academy to lower his screen time so he can find himself off screen, because fans don't like him and the ones that do think his mother and the rest of the cast mistreats and/or does not appreciate him. Eventually he can become a larger geek icon due to his social media saavy.

 

 

Make it so.

 

I guess Spike isn't popular with fans.

 

Or is this post sarcastic, with the "Social media savvy"?

Edited November 4, 2015 by VG_Addict

[Jeric 46,848]

Or is this post sarcastic, with the "Social media savvy"?

 

 

 

It was an inside joke, unfairly comparing Spike with another young character that had some development issues and couldn't carry an episode well. I shall explain ... no ... it will take me too long. I shall summarize instead.

 

 

 

[CastletonSnob 3,069]

It was an inside joke, unfairly comparing Spike with another young character that had some development issues and couldn't carry an episode well. I shall explain ... no ... it will take me too long. I shall summarize instead.

 

 

 

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I'm pretty sure Spike is more popular than Wesley Crusher. At least, i would hope so.

[Jeric 46,848]

 

 

In fact, maybe Spike doesn't want to grow. He doesn't need to grow right now, either. He's still mentally a child. He's getting more mature, but he still has the mind of a child. It's best, right now, for him to remain the way he is. I doubt Spike would want to leave his friends. He prefers ponies to dragons. He also didn't like himself when he grew to a giant dragon. 

 

 

That I agree with. Big Jim did say he would like for Spike to deal with problems more akin to teenage issues. A catalyst that makes him consider wanting to grow up fast could be a way to add internal conflict

[pony.colin 156]

Interesting OP, there have been a number of questions about Spike that have been raised. 5 seasons later, we're still kind of in this situation of "well what do we do with him?" I'm going to reply in different parts.
 

Not only is he continually reminded and trained to fight against his dragon greed, which is inherent by nature, but this also keeps him from physically maturing as well; so his friends keeping him under their hoof, forever thinking of Spike as a baby, and in their servitude.

Wouldn't a good friend train Spike to embrace his inherent instints, allowing him to physically mature, but walking him through being moderate about the greed and growth?

'Secret of my excess' raised actually a couple of questions about dragon growth and development that haven't really been answered yet. I can't remember if there is an exact episode or part where they go a little bit indepth about dragon growth and development, but its an area that has been a little unexplored for a bit. Like do all dragons age and mature that way?

Spike growing into this obsessive and aggressive kleptomaniac dragon in 'secret of my excess' - is supposed to make (I think) a basic connection back to 'Dragonshy' in terms of talking about (adult?) dragons and how they behave. I'm pulling this out of my butt because I don't recall where it was said, but I think its implied that dragons that have gotten to that large of a size, have grown that way because of their greed (and subsequent kleptomania).(oh wait, I guess that's from 'secret of my excess' then). Gold treasure for the red dragon in 'dragonshy' and random junk for Spikezilla. Implied unchecked greed leads to this giant growth spurt in the dragon.

Now here's the thing, is that actually natural? Or is that some sort of underlying condition? Is it a genetic trait found in all dragons?
What about the "teen" dragons from 'dragon quest' ? Did those teens physically grow and mature to their age without having to go through this "excessive greed" period? They certainly seemed like they were older than Spike, in terms of size. What I'm getting at is it possible for dragons to grow and age without having to go through this "excessive greed" spurt? Is this greed spurt really something natural to dragons or is due to some other underlying condition that we don't know about? I can't really tell. Really ambiguous area to me, could be explored me in the show if they ever want to. Teen dragons apparently exist. Did they grow due to "small amounts of greed", or did just grow "naturally" ? What about the female dragons?
 

Wouldn't good friends do everything in their power to help him connect with his dragon heritage, not limiting themselves to just one library or dragon clan for information?

Wouldn't good friends inspire Spike to set and work toward goals for himself, to find his purpose, like Rainbow Dash and Rarity and Twilight have accomplished, and get out from under Twilight's wing, now that she's less reliant on an assistant and voice of reason, than she was in season 1?

One of those other things about 'dragon quest'. Some will say that dragon quest could have had so much more potential or that it was handled "wrong" (subjective take). Anyways, they let Spike go and meet with the other dragons, they let him explore on his own and they let him decide for himself and they only jumped in when he decided he wanted to leave those dragons for good. The thing is, he made a decision. He decided that he didn't want to become a dragon or at least he didn't feel the desire to pursue this endeavor of looking into his dragon heritage anymore. That was his decision and that was his choice. Thing is, he might have had identity dilemma and personal cognitive dissonance about what he thought about himself earlier in the episode, but he come to a conclusion at the end and decided that he didn't identify with these other dragons and couldn't connect with them and his personal identity dilemma was quickly resolved.

His words:
Spike: Dear Princess Celestia, Seeing the great dragon migration made me wonder what it meant to be a dragon. But now I realize that who I am is not the same as what I am. I may have been born a dragon, but Equestria and my pony friends have taught me how to be kind, loyal, and true! I'm proud to call Ponyville my home, and to have my pony friends as my family. Yours truly, Spike


He made a choice, he a made a decision and followed up with his own conclusions about his own self.

Though, he could go back though at any time to re-examine things and re-think about his decision/re-think about the whole situation and try to get a broader view of dragon life.  He could review his decision and rethink about whether or not he was too prejudgemental of the first encounter and needs a second opportunity to re-explore more with other dragons. I would believe that Twilight would be more than willing to give him another chance and be supportive about him exploring again. Depends on how you write that story up, its possible try to wedge it in again, but I think you have to be good at making it feel legit.

Right now, he has no identity, personal purpose, cognitive dissonance dilemma at his current moment (as of writing this in S5). But he could have it again, if the writers tried hard enough to make it seem legit again.
 

Wouldn't those good friends writers even invite Spike on more outings/ parties/ missions?

FTFY - No real offense intended, just a joke.


He might be able to grow physically older and mature mentally without having to go through greed growth spurt. We just don't know.

Edited November 4, 2015 by pony.colin

[colt .45 259]

Pony colon made some good points using "Dragon quest", but I'd like to make a few more using the same episode. Towards the beginning, when Spike was asking Twi about dragons, she said, "I wish I had the answers for you Spike, but ponies know virtually nothing about dragons." So, with ponies knowing nothing about dragons, I'm not sure they could help, even if he wanted them to. Which brings up the second point. Also from that episode, near the end, Spike tells PeeWee (the just hatched phoenix) "I'll teach you all about being a pony". It seems Spike is content being a pony.

 

Addressing Spike not going on adventures, he dose'nt seem to miss going. Like when you were younger, and your parents would go out of town for the weekend, Spike seems to enjoy being home alone. I think it also gives him a sense of responsibility, that Twi trusts him to "hold down the fort", and to not feel like a baby. When he does go, the writers usually have a good reason, and he is treated well ("Princess Spike" not withstanding). Think about "Power Ponies" and "Equestria games", or most importantly, "Crystal Empire". Which brings up the third point.

 

Remember in "Crystal Empire" when he was standing in Sombra's magic basement, and he was in front of the closed door crying, because the door had shown him his worst fear realized. His worst fear was that Twilight didn't need him anymore and would send him away. That leads me to believe that he's just fine with where his place among ponies is.

 

In the future, when Twilight is the ruler of Equestria, having a full grown, fully realized dragon as an ally, along with Twi's weaponized friendship rainbows, would make Equestria a nation not to be fucked with!

[CastletonSnob 3,069]

Pony colon made some good points using "Dragon quest", but I'd like to make a few more using the same episode. Towards the beginning, when Spike was asking Twi about dragons, she said, "I wish I had the answers for you Spike, but ponies know virtually nothing about dragons." So, with ponies knowing nothing about dragons, I'm not sure they could help, even if he wanted them to. Which brings up the second point. Also from that episode, near the end, Spike tells PeeWee (the just hatched phoenix) "I'll teach you all about being a pony". It seems Spike is content being a pony.

 

Addressing Spike not going on adventures, he dose'nt seem to miss going. Like when you were younger, and your parents would go out of town for the weekend, Spike seems to enjoy being home alone. I think it also gives him a sense of responsibility, that Twi trusts him to "hold down the fort", and to not feel like a baby. When he does go, the writers usually have a good reason, and he is treated well ("Princess Spike" not withstanding). Think about "Power Ponies" and "Equestria games", or most importantly, "Crystal Empire". Which brings up the third point.

 

Remember in "Crystal Empire" when he was standing in Sombra's magic basement, and he was in front of the closed door crying, because the door had shown him his worst fear realized. His worst fear was that Twilight didn't need him anymore and would send him away. That leads me to believe that he's just fine with where his place among ponies is.

 

In the future, when Twilight is the ruler of Equestria, having a full grown, fully realized dragon as an ally, along with Twi's weaponized friendship rainbows, would make Equestria a nation not to be fucked with!

if Spike grows up soon, Equestria will have:

 

Four Alicorn princesses

The rest of the Mane Six

Rainbow Power

A reality warper

A full-grown dragon.

 

They'd be nearly unstoppable.

Edited November 4, 2015 by VG_Addict

[Vulcan 3,254]

I have always envisioned Spike as the future bearer of the elements of harmony ,

when all the current guardians have long since passed,

In this way, the ponies are 'indirectly' helping spike,

through their ordeals and trials,

instilling within him, the morals and knowledge

that may someday allow him to master all the elements.

[3k932jd22328jdsf 113]

I think they are helping spike because of tbe episode were spikes greed takes control of him and he becomes a self centered, unkind dragon and goes on a rampage. Being friends with the ponies gives spike the opportunity to help and care for others keeping him from being overcome by greed and allowing him experience the magic of friendship which is something he would seldom have a chance to experience as a selfish overgrown brutal greedy monster.