Should Spike still stay with Twilight?

[A Talking Dragon 257]

Even as Twilight moved up in the world, Spike was right there by her side with his status not clear. Likely, he may still remain Twilight's assistant, but that doesn't make any sense.

 

I understand the purpose of Spike staying with Twilight before: Twilight was only Celestia's student, and as much potential has she had, resources can't be spent on someone far away who's just studying. Having one assistant who ran some errands and kept the connection with Celestia made sense.

 

Now though Twilight is a princess. Even if she stays in Ponyvile, it would make no sense for her not to have ponies by her side--you don't exactly leave your royalty out in the open in any situation. Twilight will have at least half a dozen assistants doing Spike's job, and this is not counting the royal guard, who also act as messengers. Really, is there a need for Spike to be there anymore?

 

Now many of you are going to bring up the family connection. But being family and assistant aren't equivalent to each other. If being with family is what's important now, then Spike has got more family in Canterlot, including Celestia (who may have taken care of Spike before giving him to Twilight). Also, because of Twilight's new position, she's not going to be able to give that family interaction as much. What interaction she'll give won't be separate from that she'll give an assistant.

 

Mind you, I am a huge Spike fan. I don't want Spike to leave the show; his role should be different though. If Spike leaves Twilight, he'll have the chance to grow into his own without being in Twilight's shadow. As an example, Spike could still stay in Ponyvile and take the role Twilight once had when she first came to town: the role of student studying life lessons and friendship. Or Spike can take charge of the library if Twilight gets her own castle.

 

 

What do you think? Should Spike leave Twilight?

 

--

Edited November 25, 2013 by A Talking Dragon

[lighting flash 207]

I've never seen Spike as an assistant. But kind of as a child of Twilight. And as many parents do, they make the child do the stuff they don't want to do. You could have any how many assistants you want, but the child still has to do their chores. (In this term: checklists and writing letters.)

[A Talking Dragon 257]

^ I'm sorry, but I've never seen Spike as a little child. Calling him such is, in my opinion, a complete disregard to his character.

 

Spike and Twilight have treated each other, more or less, on the level of equals and friends. Twiilight has told Spike things, weakness, about herself that she doesn't even tell her closest friends. They're both frank and open with one another that goes beyond what is acceptable for parent and child.

 

In addition, running catering for a party multiple times, going away on royal business in Canterlot, making breakfast for your "older sister" figure, making her a bed and tucking her in, running a whole library when needed, and going on a journey of self discovery isn't the actions of a little child.

Edited November 28, 2013 by A Talking Dragon

[Spikey-Wikey 378]

I am a huge fan of Spike also, but you can have more than half dozen (6) assistants.

[A Talking Dragon 257]

^ Even so, is that really the best thing for Spike?

Edited November 25, 2013 by A Talking Dragon

[Nature's Spell 526]

I'm not sure Twilight will have a staff, but even if she does I expect Spike to stay with her as her number 1 assistant. She needs him even more now.

[Rocky 68]

A huge Spike fan here. Here's the way I see the situation.

 

It's true. Twilight may not have as big of a need to Spike as she did before. Going into Season 4 Spike's role going into it was my biggest worry and it still is. You never get a vibe from Spike that he WANTS to leave Twilight and Twilight has never given a hint that she wants Spike to leave. We get that they have a tight relationship like mother/son, sister/brother, best friends, you name it. True she could use a large staff, but in the end that will be Twilight's decision.

 

How about this? Since Twilight was Celestia's student this whole time learning the magic of friendship, why not have Spike become TWILIGHT'S student and learn more about the magic of friendship?

 

Or even better. Twilight could still let Spike with her and Spike could start going to actual school with the other foals.

Edited November 25, 2013 by Rocky

[twilight24 321]

Hmm, actually it would be interesting too see Spike to develop on his own and maybe go on a path of self-discovery to see what his background and past is?

[Rocky 68]

Another thing you can make the argument for is that she needs Spike even more now than she did back then.

[Malinter 3,064]

Spike helps Twilight with her lists and organise her responiblities which she now as even more off. Also, lets not forget Spike is her personal messenger to Celestia, until Twilight is confident to manage a royal crisis alone, she'll need that link to fall back on.

 

What I want to know is why is there no other dragon like Spike? He has green magic fire that no other dragon we've seen has and when he goes all greed mode, he's also the biggest. Where are all the other magical godzillas? XD

Edited November 25, 2013 by Malinter

[That One Techpriest You Used To Know 2,286]

I honestly think that Spike should forge his own path. But, hey, the writers have a good reason to not go that path. I mean, think- Spike has been with Twilight ever since he was born. They have a strong, strong bond that the writers can't just go and buck out of the window. They quashed the theory that Twilight would ever willingly leave behind Spike- even if it is because she's moving out of Ponyville- with S3 E2. Remember Spike looking into the nightmare door?

 

So, I personally feel that Spike will willingly, lovingly, helpfull play the #1 Assistant role for a long, long time, if not for the rest of the generation.

[rainbowdashbrony1 130]

What if Spike doesn't  want to be assistant anymore ?

To Twilight Sparkle well he could always move in with Rarity !

The one he truly loves but would she trust him this time ?

[Seaweed-Headed Dragon 356]

Most definitely. Spike is Twi's number one assistant. Plus I think I've got use to seeing them together. Many of us have. Royal duties do not mean they should separate

[Rocky 68]

I think Spike's reaction while looking into the Nightmare Door that Spike doesn't want to leave Twilight's side. At least not right now.

[Fhaolan 4,468]

I'm a little puzzled as to why Twilight will suddenly get a staff? It's not like she has any actual duties to perform, other than a few ceremonial things. All those ponies (guards, admins, etc.) would have to be paid for, and there is no indication that Twilight's income is being increased by the promotion.

 

Twilight was already behaving like a Governor, or Commissioner depending on the exact system, before she was alicoronated. She was able to use her status as Celestia's protégée to override local government at any time, and take over any task that normally the Mayor or others should have been doing. All the alicoronation did was solidify the power that everyone was assuming she already had. I doubt anyone is really thinking that she *deserves* more staff than the eight (possibly nine) members she's already got. Those being Spike, Owlicious, the rest of the Mane 6, and some particularly nasty-minded pencil-pushers in Canterlot are probably counting Discord.

[Rocky 68]

I'm a little puzzled as to why Twilight will suddenly get a staff? It's not like she has any actual duties to perform, other than a few ceremonial things. All those ponies (guards, admins, etc.) would have to be paid for, and there is no indication that Twilight's income is being increased by the promotion.

 

Twilight was already behaving like a Governor, or Commissioner depending on the exact system, before she was alicoronated. She was able to use her status as Celestia's protégée to override local government at any time, and take over any task that normally the Mayor or others should have been doing. All the alicoronation did was solidify the power that everyone was assuming she already had. I doubt anyone is really thinking that she *deserves* more staff than the eight (possibly nine) members she's already got. Those being Spike, Owlicious, the rest of the Mane 6, and some particularly nasty-minded pencil-pushers in Canterlot are probably counting Discord.

Interesting point. In a way, she has a staff already whether bronies think so or not.

[hawkflame 3,308]

I don't see the need for any kind of change, to be honest.  I imagine that Twilight will be granted the ability to run things as she sees fit, and seeing as this is a new position that was created for her (she's not "replacing" an existing princess) she's not held down to any existing obligations.  She'll probably keep things the same as much as possible.

[A Talking Dragon 257]

 

I'm a little puzzled as to why Twilight will suddenly get a staff? It's not like she has any actual duties to perform, other than a few ceremonial things

 

^ We don't know to what extend Twilight's new roles are as Equestria was in crisis mode when the season began. The royal guards said it themselves: they serve "royalty." When Cadence became ruler of the Crystal empire, we saw her staff help her manage royal affairs in Games Ponies Play.

 

Twilight becoming ruler/princess and having no vassals or guards makes no sense. As much as fans may not want things to change, you don't leave your king or queen unprotected on a chess board, or in real life.

 

 

I doubt anyone is really thinking that she *deserves* more staff than the eight (possibly nine) members she's already got. Those being Spike, Owlicious, the rest of the Mane 6.

 

^ The thing is that the mane 6 aren't her "staff". They have lives of their own to lead and can't be nearby to serve Twilight 24/7. Spike or Owlicious can't protect her if someone is actively trying to harm her either. You saw the season opening. When Twilight was left alone she was nearly killed.

[TailsIsNotAlone 3,694]

Another thing you can make the argument for is that she needs Spike even more now than she did back then.

There should be an episode with that as the lesson. A GOOD Spike episode. I've always wanted to see their relationship explored with a little more depth.

 

Now that Twilight apparently lives in Canterlot and not Ponyville, she needs at least one friend she can always go to. For whatever reason, Spike, and not the other five ponies, are allowed and able to do that. For that reason, I agree that she needs him now more than ever. But I want to hear her say it. If the show doesn't address it, bronies will keep wondering about it and it'll be seen as another instance of them neglecting Spike's character development for other things. I don't want that to happen. 

Edited November 26, 2013 by TailsIsNotAlone

[skylights 127]

As a princess, Twilight will probably be able to make choices for herself concerning who stays with her and such. She clearly doesn't want anyone serving her any more than necessary to maintain appearances, and while she's accepted her role as a princess, she still wants to hold on to a normal life as much as possible. So I think it's perfectly reasonable for her to want to keep Spike around to do all the same things he's always done as her best-friend-slash-best-assistant.

 

Spike, on the other hand, has literally spent his entire life with Twilight. He doesn't really have anywhere else to go except possibly with Rarity or one of the other mane 6, and in his own eyes he'd see himself as abandoning Twilight if he left on his own just because her status has changed.

[Scootalove 10,684]

Spike should stay with Twilight because, he is able to keep her stable and try to keep her confident even when she starts to doubt herself. Spike is like a friend who is able to keep Twilight in check, to help her.

[Winona the Dog 1,981]

If it weren't for Spike I'm pretty sure Twilight would be locked up in an asylum by now so yes I think Spike should remain with Twilight for a while.

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,283]

Spike reminds me of a secretary, albeit a really good and loyal secretary in this case. Spike is her number 1 assistant after all! Why should he leave even if she received some kind of staff? (Which I doubt honestly) The only reason I see is to explore his own thing and do some other things on his own. Keep in mind he is still a baby dragon apparently, I guess dragons age slow. Not only that, but he isn't like other dragons as the show has established. Maybe that kind of environment is what is best for him for a good while. At this point, I see no real reason for him to leave her side.

[Zygen 6,065]

Well, while its true that spike is refered to as Twilights assistant many times, and that may have been his original intention.

 

However, i think hes grown to be more like Twilights little brother, or maybe even a son to Twilight, they couldn't just take Spike away from Twilight.

 

And I actually don't know if Twilight is going to be getting a bunch of guards to guard her really quite yet. It doesn't exactly appear like shes the one whos mainly in charge, plus she doesn't seem to want guards, and frankly she seems capable of defending herself most of the time on her own. plus when she can't there's her friends there, and they do way better then any group of guards could.

 

So i think Spike's staying with Twilight, they're inseparable. And Twilight doesn't need any royal guards anyways.

[Fhaolan 4,468]

^ We don't know to what extend Twilight's new roles are as Equestria was in crisis mode when the season began. The royal guards said it themselves: they serve "royalty." When Cadence became ruler of the Crystal empire, we saw her staff help her manage royal affairs in Games Ponies Play.

 

Twilight becoming ruler/princess and having no vassals or guards makes no sense. As much as fans may not want things to change, you don't leave your king or queen unprotected on a chess board, or in real life.

 

 

^ The thing is that the mane 6 aren't her "staff". They have lives of their own to lead and can't be nearby to serve Twilight 24/7. Spike or Owlicious can't protect her if someone is actively trying to harm her either. You saw the season opening. When Twilight was left alone she was nearly killed.

 

Right, because Cadance went on to be the princess for the Crystal Empire. She gained that staff and whatnot *then*. She was a princess long before that, and didn't seem to have any staff or guard presence then. She had to hold down a babysitting job at the time. She didn't have a staff do to it for her. She didn't have guards surrounding her at all times.

 

In fact, Celestia and Luna themselves wander around Equestria without guards a great deal of the time in the episodes. Possibly because the guards aren't capable of keeping up with them. The only guards we've seen with Luna are the two batponies that showed up in one brief scene in one episode, and have never been seen since. Celestia has been kidnapped three times so far, with the guards being incapable of dealing with it in each instance.

 

In any case Twilight has not become a ruler. She's a princess, as simply being an alicorn seems to make you a princess by default. So far, it doesn't seem to confer any actual responsibilities, duties, or perks for that matter. Except that if all the other Princess are not available, the guards default to Twilight. Interesting that none of Celestia's own staff stepped up to advise the new princess during the crisis. Just the guards turned to her, and they were just looking for orders. It's almost like there *isn't* any staff or government beyond the princesses themselves.