Rant Time: Equestria Girls and the 'Maltreatment' of Spike. · 1:52am Nov 17th, 2014
I’ve had quite a few people from the Pro-Spike camp tell me about how it ‘totally sucks’ that they made Spike a dog in Equestria girls: Spike’s so awesome, he deserves to be a human. They made the Diamond Dogs humans, why not Spike?
I am actually in the camp of ‘Eh, I don't give a fuck about Spike being a dog‘, but that is just me. I like Spike as a character, but honestly don't overly care about the 'maltreatment' he receives in the show. Sure, that might make me a prick, whatever. But I have actually put a little thought into why it might have been a good idea to make him a dog, rather than a human, in the Equestria Girls movie.
First of, as it has been stated multiple times throughout the show, Spike is a baby dragon. Emphasis on the word baby. Stepping through that mirror portal, what would he appear as. Someone the same age as the human world CMC?
A baby?
Phew, that would be awkward.
“Miss Sparkle,” Celestia intoned as Twilight turned to exit the office. “While I am very much willing to allow a ‘student’ to transfer in with no papers from another school, no contact from parents, or the like… I must insist that you do not bring your child to school. If you must, please put him in daycare.”
Not only that, I doubt Hasbro would really want to have their protagonist be stuffing their child into her backpack.
Honestly, from the story standpoint, at this point it makes sense they would not want to turn Spike into a human. The older the human boy he is, the younger Twilight Sparkle would have been when she hatched him. Which I guess doesn’t overly matter in Equestria 616, but then what about…
Ohhhhhhhh. Wow. Yeah, that would be awkward. There’s that whole EqG world Twilight Sparkle too. Yeah, even before she was mentioned/shown in the movie, we could reasonably assume EqG Sparkle existed somewhere.
But then what would be her relationship to Spike, in the EqG world, if in Equestria main she was the one who birthed him?
Yeah, like I said, suuuuuuuuuuuuuper awkward.
*This blog was actually inspired when my friend, Topaz Moon, was talking with me, saying I should write a story: Twilight Sparkle: Preteen Mother. Wow, what kind of terrible person do you think I—oh, wait. Never mind.
So either EqG world Spike would still be a baby (and thus opening a can of worms about his parentage, and how it relates to Twilight Sparkle), or Equestria main Spike comes through as a teenager (between 12 and 14, like the EqG-CMC seem to look like) and the EqG world Spike is… Twilight’s son she gave birth to twelve years earlier making her a pre-teen mother*.
‘Fuck it! Let’s just make him a dog!’ all of a sudden makes much more sense than getting into that possible quagmire.
I am going to say this, with no sarcasm at all: Good job, DHX/Hasbro. Good job.
And once again, for good measure.
“I had my little Spikey-boo when I was nine!”
Actually, add to that: I am also guessing "Twilight Sparkle: Preteen Mother" would be against the site rules.
Well they could have made him the same age as the CMC... thus by also creating a scenario where the CMC ask him out for a date at the prom (they fight over him but in the end, ends up as a group date)... that could have passed I think... And did you see the Diamond Dogs? They're also human:
img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140511015241/mlp/images/b/b6/Rover_ID_EG2.png
But yeah, I guess Meghan McCarthy made Spike a dog cause she admits she doesn't like him too much (so in the end, MLP has to make Spike the punching bag for the jokes etc... like they do with Meg Griffon in Family Guy)
2599792
Nah... only If you had a sex scene... and she hatched him from an egg with magic.
Though I did say it could be 'Twilight Sparkle: Teenage Mother' too.
2599796
Dragons like to collect and horde things... Dogs like to collect and horde things.. therefore dragons turn into dogs.
Diamond Dogs like to mine for shinies... Humans like to mine for shinies... therefore Diamond dogs turn into humans.
Oh, and the whole look its a teenage mom thing in the high school like Anonymoose said.
2599796
Well, I'd say I'd need some kind of citation saying that Meghan doesn't like Spike. But on the whole Meghann's opinion of Spike in EqG and why he was a dog. I just googled Meghann McCarthy and Spike to see if I could find her alleged hate of spike, and instead found this:
Sounds similar to, hmmm, wait, there was something I read recently.
Oh, that's right.
I still think it makes sense, though if you have a link to a quote from Meghan saying she does not like Spike, I'd take that evidence into consideration
2599808
Again... like I said, Spike could be CMC age kid (like they 'show' in the show)... so him being a kid of like 11-12 would be okay with me... but that breeds another question, why are the CMC in the same high school age group as the Mane 6?
2599808
EqG world would be against the rules. I remember reading up something the other day about it. For some reason foalcon is allowed, but lolicon is not. Like specifically, that is in the rules.
I personally don't see the difference (and loathe both), but eh.
Ok.
Seriously.
How do you set your blogs up with divs like that? Inquiring minds need to know.
Ahem, anyways. Spike should be approximately the same age as the CMC, which means that "Why did they make Spike a dog?" is not the question we should be asking.
That question is, naturally, "Why isn't Spike in school?"
2599824
Some schools are junior and senior combined, going from grades 6 to 12.
Are you sure you are not biased about Spike?
He seems to be pretty well off, and has easy chores. As I see it, Spike is not maltreated for being left behind, but instead left behind for his own safety. He is a baby dragon after all.
2599836
Home schooled by Twilight. From how it seems in the show is more advanced than Cheerilee's class.
2599847
And in the end, treated like a pet in both show and movies... an accessory
2599836 [right_insert] is the tag I use.
2599836
And school is not only for education but also for social skills development (in other words, a place to make friends... something I think Twilight by this point would wholeheartedly agree to)
2599901
Oh, but then Twilight would have to do her own organizing! And she's a Princess now; how is she supposed to maintain her busy schedule without her PA?
And don't even bother trying to bring up Equestria's obviously nonexistent laws regarding child labor. This is a magical kingdom of pastel ponies when you can sell your best friend into indentured servitude without their consent, in exchange for a first edition Daring Do. Labor laws seem kind of low on their list of concerns.
2599831 What about Twilight Sparkle, adoptive teenage mother?
2599981
Once again, where does the child come from?
Also, I don't know many countries that allow a school-age teen to adopt. I've looked into adoption before with my wife, it is not simple.
2599985 Wait, are we talking about a fun early-days story about Twilight raising Spike as a baby, or something else? Also, EqG Twilight or Twilight Prime?
I ask because there was a fun fic where Diamond Tiara bought Scootaloo from the orphanage and adopted her, and that got published.
2600003
Topaz and I were talking about EqG world Twilight. If Spike-prime was a baby (or teen) human when visiting the mirror world, what would be the mirror-world alternate Spike's situation. Equestria-prime required Twilight to "birth" Spike as such as a part of her entrance exam.
No such equivalent would exist in EqG world. So what would the alternate be? Twilight gave birth to a child?
That is where the age thing comes in. If Spike-prime is in his teens, then Twilight-EqG would have had a child when she herself was a child (between 6 and 9 years old… creeeeeeepy!). Or if EqG-Spike was a baby, would Spike-Prime come through as a baby.
Either way, teen pregnancy would kind of be an issue there.
Or alternately, Pinkie's line of "Do you have a sister in the city who has a dog named Spike…" would then become "Do you have a sister in the city who has a ______ named Spike…"
Brother? Son? We've not seen much evidence for a sibling relationship between Spike and Twilight (she calls him a friend, and he states that they are all the closest he has to family… so he didn't consider Twilight and family his family prior to.)
"Do you have a sister in the city who has a bondservant name Spike…"
Yeeeeeeeeeeeeesh! Those are some crazy can of worms there.
Dog is just easier, as much as others want him to be human.
I loved Puppy Spike. I remember when the pictures first came out and the tantrums first started, people were complaining that Spike was going to be a "dumb animal," And I immediately thought, "how do you know he's not going to talk?" I knew he would talk, because otherwise he'd lose Spike's deadpan snarkiness, and also so he could be Twilight's confidant. It got neatly around all the problems they'd have had with him age-wise. If he were the CMC's age, he would be in classes with them and not with Twilight. They'd be separated, which would be a bad thing.
As a puppy, Spike keeps the snark, he comes off as much more in control than Twilight, and he gets more lovin' from the ladeez even after they know he's not a dog. Seriously, Spike is forever in someone's arms or on her lap. It's a nice touch that Sunset spends a lot of the movie holding him, because PonyGirl's Best Friend/ Number One Assistant knows she's cool now. He trusts her sooner than everyone else, and Spike tends to be kind of standoffish. Mr. Instant Trust he's not. He doesn't rush right out to make friends when somepony new comes to Ponyville: that's Pinkie's job. He likes to impress the crap out of newcomers with how awesome Twilight is and how HIS big sister-kinda is a Princess and lives in a CASTLE, but that's not the same thing. So if Spike is allowing Sunset to hold him, Sunset is ok.
He's not "Twilight's pet, gasp!" Like a lot of other snarky wise animal companions, he's pretending to be a pet. He's about as much of a dumb animal as Gaspode the Wonder Dog.
Plus he's cute! Puppy Spike, all around, gets a better deal than Dragon Spike. So I don't understand the complaints.
2600081
Yeah, I honestly don't get it either. I liked Puppydog Spike, and you are 100% right about those scenes where he spends time in someone's arms. Sunset Shimmer holding Spike, ultra adorbs:
derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/9/12/720858__safe_animated_spike_screencap_equestria+girls_sunset+shimmer_rainbow+rocks_spoiler-colon-rainbow+rocks_spike+the+dog.gif
I mean, I understand pre-release why it might have been an issue (honestly, what fandom hasn't gotten up in arms about some change to their favorite franchise?) but then the general furor about EqG was particularly vitriolic back in those days.
Then it turned out to be not a bad movie, and I thought surely that'd be the end of it. But it wasn't. And the whole Spike thing has become such a stickler for so many people. I am waiting for EqG 3, where they bring in some griffons in to the school, maybe Gilda has a cameo… and then the argument will start all over again.
2600115 I almost wrote Gilda in as the captain of Griffon Central's soccer team. She still is, but she was offstage. Come to think it, Canterlot High had their asses handed to them by Griffon Central, so I guess she did pretty well.
I keep waiting for the post-Rainbow Rocks wave of popularity for older EG fics ("See? We told you it did not suck!"), but too many people are still writing and drawing stuff with Sonata Dusk in various poses with a taco.
And come to think of it, I don't know why people think the Dazzlings would be ponies if they went back through the mirror, given that they seem to be, y'know, monsters. But that's the way parallel universes work. It's like the Cat in Red Dwarf discovering, to his disappointment, that his opposite number is not a female cat, but a dog.
2600138
Oh man, the number of Sonata fics…
img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20120310030906/mlp/images/d/db/Twilight_facehoofs_S1E21.png
I will admit, I have found one or two that I have liked, but yeah, the Tacos thing has been done to death. I was actually surprised, post RR that the slew of drawings of pony-dazzlings didn't drop to zero. But you're right, they are monsters, sea dragons? I dunno, something…
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/The_Siren.jpg
Let's be honest, this would have been a very different EqG movie.
Actually after Cassie the Kelpie (or whatever her name was from the Mane 6 pets comic) I was expecting them to be stock-standard sea ponies. I really thought that issue was foreshadowing the movie, and what kind of monsters they were.
The sea dragons were still pretty awesome, IMHO.
2600152 Personally, I thought this was Meghan McCarthy's sneaky way around the sea pony/no sea pony controversy. "You want sea ponies? Singing sea ponies? Well, here's your sea ponies. Evil, evil singing sea ponies. Shoo be doo!" Because you have to admit, that's what they look like.
Somebody needs to do a music video of the Dazzlings singing "Call Upon The Sea Ponies."
2600076 You make an extremely persuasive case there, friend. (I always figured Twilight had to be more like 11 or 12 when she passed that test, there's no way Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns has elementary grades, since it's a Hogwarts knock-off) But otherwise air-tight, there is no comfortable way to slot Spike in that also fits with his pre-existing relationship with Twilight.
How about "Do you have a sister in the city where she took in a child runaway and treats him like a slave, because EqG Child Protective Services are as lax as the Education department that does not require ID to register for a high school?"
2600250
And that sounds like the kind of horrible story I might write.
I kinda see spike as twilights samwise gangee.
2600138
Especially given that it's a waste because their dragon/fish/pony (hippocampus?) forms are actually pretty cool looking.
2728637
THANK YOU!
God yes their dragonfish form looked awesome.
Hello? They are in High School! Wouldn't that mean they live with their parents? My idea of how Spike would be human and not give such a bad rep for human Twilight is to look back at cutie mark chronicals and think logicly. Twilight gets spike's egg to hatch. Now one way Hasbro could've handled the human Twi and Spike backstory is make spike an orphan and adopted by Twilight's parents when she was younger. Now to help allow Human Spike hang with Twi at Canterlot High...twilight should be approximately 7 back when she met the newborn or toddler aged spike in both universes. meaning spike is approximately 11 yrs old in both universes right now with both twilights being 18, 17 if we consider her birthday is in the middle of summer. Now does anyone know how old dragons can get? No? spike could be considered a "baby" dragon for 300 more years for all we know. Now who calls their younger siblings the "baby" brother or "baby" sister, even though they aren't babies anymore? I know a lot of people who do this! Now for you kim possible fans...remember jim and tim? Didnt they manage to skip middle school by season 4 and start high school at 11 yrs old? Hell wade even finished college at 5 and he runs kims site! Human spike might be part of an advanced placement program at canterlot high making him the "baby" of the school! "Baby" is probably nothing more than a label on spike.
Also if you think that it still couldnt work that well, i turn your attention to the only fan who has the smarts to consider spike as an ADOPTED BROTHER to twilight. Heck not only does he do that and make the possible relationship between the human twi and spike counterparts work but they made a freaking awesome comic series that has shown believable interactions with the reincarnated spike and reincarnated Mane 6 despite him not being the main focus. However i admit he is a bit insensitive to rainbow's reincarnation as she suffers from dwarfism and is often mistaken as a middle schooler despite being 16, and the fact that rainbows a bit of a...ahem... late bloomer, which due to spike's age caused him to think rainbow was a boy which made him mad at twilight because she told him no boys were allowed to the slumber party. But i digress.