What if Spike left?

[ManaMinori 4,144]

What if Spike left, by royal order- just as Sunbutt decreed that Twilight stay in Ponyville to continue her studies (though - loophole- that was UNICORN Twilight), Spike wound up leaving - not being written off, but maybe being given a promotion and is requested for his heroic services, to serve as a knight in distant lands? (Or maybe he gets his own spinoff series being a dragon knight on epic adventures)

 

[DJ Wolfe 5,320]

Say he did (for the greater good), and a few years, maybe more, of being away, he returns and will become a fully grown dragon [knight] and have wings. I wouldn't mind seeing that if it happen.

Edited March 27, 2017 by .Wolfe.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,368]

Wouldn't like this. Spike is an integral part of the show and at this point I cannot imagine the show without him. Sounds cliche but I mean that. Sure, Spike has had some rough times, but seeing him be all royal and serious would completely ruin his character. I prefer the more positive and playful Spike. He can be serious already but it isn't overdone.

[ManaMinori 4,144]

2 minutes ago, .Wolfe. said:

Say he did (for the greater good), and a few years, maybe more, of being away, he returns and will become a fully grown dragon [knight] and have wings. I don't mind seeing that if it happen.

Yeah. Give the guy some breathing room, and opportunity to grow, while also staying true to mlp dragon lore. Instead of greedily protecting a stash of material items, he would be protecting his "hoard" of pony friends, in allied lands (much like his having to become dragon Lord was to protect ponykind)

[ManaMinori 4,144]

12 minutes ago, Kyoshi said:

Wouldn't like this. Spike is an integral part of the show and at this point I cannot imagine the show without him. Sounds cliche but I mean that. Sure, Spike has had some rough times, but seeing him be all royal and serious would completely ruin his character. I prefer the more positive and playful Spike. He can be serious already but it isn't overdone.

How would it ruin his character? He's a former dragon Lord, he's saves empires and common valley ponies. He has a statue in the empire, and stained glass windows in Canterlot castle....

Edited March 27, 2017 by Nightmare Muffin

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,368]

1 minute ago, Nightmare Muffin said:

How would it ruin his character? He's a firmer dragon Lord, he's saves empires and common valley ponies. He has a statue in the empire, and stained glass windows in Canterlot castle....

And his character hasn't changed because of it, because he isn't constantly surrounded by all of this stuff. If he was sent away, it would make him far more serious because he would thrown into a far more serious environment.

[ManaMinori 4,144]

1 minute ago, Kyoshi said:

And his character hasn't changed because of it, because he isn't constantly surrounded by all of this stuff. If he was sent away, it would make him far more serious because he would thrown into a far more serious environment.

So we're just supposed to ignore his dreams of being a knight, when all his friends have gotten to  achieve their dreams, and then some?

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,368]

Just now, Nightmare Muffin said:

So we're just supposed to ignore his dreams of being a knight, when all his friends have gotten to  achieve their dreams, and then some?

We don't even know if that IS his dream. All we have seen is his knight fantasies in two dream things and not much else. That isn't enough to go off of I don't think. He didn't want to be the dragon overlord either so there is that too.

[MissDiamond 157]

I think I'd miss him. It's not a show without Spike, no matter how much annoying he is. 

[cmarston1 5,952]

I do know that I want to see Spike become an ambassador for Equestria, but I don't know if his character would benefit from leaving the show.

Or no longer being prevalent in the show.

[ManaMinori 4,144]

9 minutes ago, Kyoshi said:

We don't even know if that IS his dream. All we have seen is his knight fantasies in two dream things and not much else. That isn't enough to go off of I don't think. He didn't want to be the dragon overlord either so there is that too.

True, he didn't want to be Dragon Lord, but he did it anyway, out of duty and justice. Those are signs of a knight, my friend. And if he were to receive a promotion as such in a foreign land that is Ally to Equestria, by royal pony order, then I highly doubt that he would decline. 

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,368]

1 minute ago, Nightmare Muffin said:

True, he didn't want to be Dragon Lord, but he did it anyway, out of duty and justice. Those are signs of a knight, my friend. And if he were to receive a promotion as such in a foreign land that is Ally to Equestria, by royal pony order, then I highly doubt that he would decline. 

He did it anyways because he HAD to do. That doesn't indicate anything. He gave up the chance to be Dragon Lord nearly instantly, because it wasn't something he wanted. If he absolutely wanted to be a knight, he would have stayed there and trained with them, now with Ember being in charge he could do that. Yet, he didn't. I am not saying he isn't knightly but I am convinced that being a knight is not high on his priority list.

[FlareGun45 2,221]

25 minutes ago, cmarston1 said:

I do know that I want to see Spike become an ambassador for Equestria, but I don't know if his character would benefit from leaving the show.

Or no longer being prevalent in the show.

I'm with this! I can see Spike going on his own adventurous journeys without Twilight, I mean she goes on journeys without him so why not the other way around? However, he will always be a big support to Twilight, and I don't see him leaving her side permanently. At least not in G4 MLP! If G4.5 MLP shows the future with new main characters, and those who were main characters in G4 had new lives, then we'll see! He is proving himself to be a more of an individual character! It's about damn time, right? XD

[BastementSparkle 20,312]

Nah, honestly? I feel like more than anything, the most fitting life for Spike is by Twilight's side. Sure, he's done some pretty impressive things and become a hero in his own right, and he has some fantasies of being a big strong knight, or an intelligent wizard as seen in "Dungeons and Discords", but he seems fairly content to stay with Twilight despite everything, ignoring his journey in "Dragon Quest" to learn about being a dragon, he's never really wanted to leave her.

I feel like the proper future for him would be to stick with her, I could envision him being an ambassador for Equestria by her side, or becoming a Knight/Bodyguard for her, something like that. They have one of my favorite relationships in the show actually, and I like the thought of them sticking together.

[Prospekt 10,984]

After FiM ends, a Spike spinoff would be a nice change of pace. Maybe pair him with Ember or something and dive into a side of Equestria that has hardly been explored.

That being said, Spike is like a younger brother to Twilight. Those two have an unbreakable bond. Add in Spike's growing friendships with characters like Starlight, Big McIntosh, and Discord, and he's got a nice squad of his own in Ponyville. No taking Spike away before FiM is over.

[Tropico 225]

i would like it if he left lmao. 

six seasons and i feel hes still the same annoying kid with the same old jokes. also he and rainbow dash tend to be the ones that always remember the somepony something they did in the past and made feel them bad. for example spike does it a lot with starlight. and i really dislike it when he does it, cause he does it "innocently", but as i said, we are at season 7 now, its time for a change on him. at least rainbow dash (and CMC) learned some friendship lessons, fullfilled her dream goals etc. 

 

Edited March 27, 2017 by Tropico

[Truffles 2,033]

There's no believable reason that would explain his ever leaving the show (short of death, which will never, ever happen.) While it's true he said he was willing to stay behind to be dragon lord, there's ample evidence he would have tried to finagle his way out of the deal or figure out some way of ruling without being away from his friends - especially Twilight.

Speaking of Twilight, the show has clearly established those two are bound in some way and Twilight has already promised she will "never send [him] away." If Celestia were to make some kind of royal decree, Twilight would fight it, even if it meant going against the wishes of her mentor. (She already showed us she's capable of that in the very first episode.)

Sending him away to "change" doesn't make any sense. The first rule of storytelling is "show, don't tell," and by sending him away to become something else is about the worst kind of "telling" you could do in a story. If he needs to change (which I don't think he does because he's already in mid-redevelopment thanks to S6) then it would be a lot more interesting to show us how he's changing rather than to it offscreen in some faraway land.

So some might say have a few episodes showing what he's doing while he's away. Bad idea - that would only garner the same kind of hatred Starlight gets now because he'd be "stealing" time from the Mane 6 to introduce a bunch of new OC's. If anything, the show would be better off having more ensemble episodes like they did in S1, not less. It's bad enough as it is right now when 2 or 3 characters head off to Manehatten and leave everyone else behind.

[Malcontent 196]

I've often said you wanta beat Twilight? Isolate her.

 

Spike leaving would be rather awesome for story points. It would by far teach anyone watching that aometimes..you have to go alone.  

 

Because in the end..thats all we have..is ourselves to count on. A harsh yet needed lesson in life. 

[Malcontent 196]

Additionally he should tell Rarity off. She's been purposefully exploiting him for at least 2 seasons now. 

[Marimo 555]

6 hours ago, Nightmare Muffin said:

What if Spike left, by royal order- just as Sunbutt decreed that Twilight stay in Ponyville to continue her studies

Thing to note is that Twilight didn't want to leave her newly made friends. After she said that, Celestia made up that decree to give Twilight a reason to continue staying in Ponyville. Spike seems pretty happy to be with Twilight. In fact, during The Crystal Empire Part 2, when Spike looked into the door that created his worst fear, it was of Twilight sending him away, and it was something the real Twilight promised would never happen.

[BrawnyCharger 511]

I don't think he's going anywhere. In context. Ponyville is his home and Twilight is like a sister to him. Out of context. Spike is, was, and always will be (for better or worse) My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic's main male character.

Sure there are plenty of prominant stallions such as Shining Armor and Big Mac and other male characters such as Discord who could get some more screentime. But Spike is clearly the show's main boy character.

Plus, I don't think Twilight can imagine having anyone else as a trusty assistant quite like Spike.