My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic/Recap/S2/E21 Dragon Quest



"Spike: I'm going on a quest of self-discovery! I'm going to learn what it means to be a dragon! And the only way I'm gonna do that is to join the Dragon Migration!"

"Written by Merriwether Williams"

On the outskirts of Ponyville, the Mane Six are preparing a spot to watch a once-in-a-generation dragon migration (except Fluttershy, who still hasn't gotten over her fear of dragons and refuses to join the others). Spike is on hand (in a pink apron) to serve them tea and muffins, and Rainbow Dash can't help but poke fun at him for not being as intimidating as the full-grown dragons. The other girls chime in with their own thoughts on how Spike isn't big, tough and scary like the other dragons, but their remarks only fill Spike with self-doubt.

That night, Spike is still sad and restless from realizing he doesn't know where he came from. Twilight apologetically tells him she never knew where his egg came from, but offers to do research to help him find out his history. But even after going through the entire library, they've come up with nothing; it seems dragons are too reclusive (and scary) for ponies to have learned much about them. When Rainbow Dash and Rarity show up to invite them to breakfast, Twilight accepts, but Spike announces that he's going to undertake a quest to find out who he is -- by joining the dragon migration. Rarity and Rainbow Dash protest, but Twilight supports Spike's decision and encourages him to tell her everything when he returns. The girls wave Spike off with smiles on their faces, but as soon as he's out of earshot…

"Rarity: We're following him, right? Twilight Sparkle: Of course."

Spike follows the dragon migration, crossing snowy peaks and deep dark forests to find the dragons roosting in the caldera of a volcano. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity (in a hastily-constructed dragon costume) arrive shortly thereafter. The only dragons who deign to notice Spike are a group of adolescents, who immediately set to teasing Spike for not having wings and for being raised by ponies. They challenge him to prove his worth as a dragon through a belching contest, tail wrestling (which Spike wins because his opponent was the costumed ponies), King of the Hoard, and finally a lava cannonball contest. Spike does a belly-flop instead of a cannonball, but the older dragons are sufficiently impressed to declare him an official "rookie dragon". Then they take him along to raid a phoenix nest.

As the rookie, Spike's task is to distract the phoenix parents while the other dragons steal the eggs. Prompted by the other dragons, he provokes the phoenixes into giving chase, leading them away from the nest. But the phoenix chicks, already hatched, fly circles around the adolescent dragons. Their cries attract the phoenix parents, who return and drive the invaders away. Only Spike has any success in the raid; finding a single unhatched egg on the ground.

The phoenix family flies off after scaring away the teen dragons; the teens, in turn, find Spike and his egg, then goad him to prove himself by smashing it. After a moment's hesitation, Spike refuses to bow to peer pressure, and when the gang turn on him, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity arrive to defend their friend. Before a fight can begin, Spike makes a run for it, and the ponies follow; after a brief chase, Twilight teleports them to safety.

Happily back in Ponyville, Spike writes a letter to Princess Celestia, explaining that he's learned that his real family are the ones who love and care for him. He also manages to hatch the abandoned phoenix egg, and welcomes "Peewee" into their family.

YMMV tropes can be found here.

"Rarity: Fighting is not really my thing, I'm more into fashion... BUT I WILL RIP YOU TO PIECES IF YOU TOUCH ONE SCALE ON HIS CUTE LITTLE HEAD!"
 * Adult Fear: Spike taking off to discover his true identity (especially since we know how mean dragons can get).
 * Adults Are Useless: The adult dragons don't even bother monitoring the teen dragons' antics. Then again, very few real world reptiles are involved in their childrens' lives, and how many things could actually hurt a dragon anyway, even a teen one?
 * Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Rarity to Spike several times.
 * Garble also gives Spike a noogie on becoming a dragon newbie, but this is likely far from affectionate.
 * All There in the Script: The name of the red, leading dragon is Garble, as reported by Nayuki, one of the show's layout artist. Outside of Crackle, none of the other dragons were given names.
 * Anticlimax: Fluttershy tackles Rainbow Dash, stomps on her stomach, and makes a run for her back window to get away from joining the others to watch the Great Dragon Migration. She looks ready to smash through it, but instead she gets there, pauses, carefully opens the windows, and then jumps out.
 * Appropriated Appellation: Played With. One of the dragons insults Spike, saying he looks more like a "Peewee."
 * Artistic License: Biology: One of the tubbier dragon teens has a belly button. Despite the fact that dragons are born from eggs and naturally would lack this. It was likely done for Rule of Funny, as there's something abnormal about heftier characters lacking this feature.
 * Asskicking Equals Authority: Garble, the red teenage dragon who seems to be the leader of them, seems to also be the strongest of the group, as shown when he beats all the other ones easily in the King of the Horde game.
 * Baby Talk: Rarity's insistence on referring to Spike as "Spikey-Wikey" and talking about his cuteness and chubby cheeks only makes his distress worse.
 * Badass Beard: Spike acquires one after traveling long and hard to find the dragons' gathering place. It's a fake beard, probably made with fur borrowed from the ram that carried Spike for a while. And it falls off once Spike finally arrives to the dragon's gathering anyway.
 * Berserk Button: Do not hurt Spike, or Rarity will go into full-on hulk mode.

"Garble: No one says no to me."
 * Also, talking bad about Princess Celestia and burning one of her letters is apparently one for Twilight too. For once, Rainbow Dash has to hold someone back from doing something rash.
 * It's also not a good idea say no to Garble:

"Rarity: Who says camouflage has to be drab?"
 * Big "What?": Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash have this reaction when Spike announces he's going to join the dragon migration.
 * Bindle Stick: Used by Spike during his trek.
 * Binocular Shot: Including Pinkie looking through the wrong end when looking at Rainbow Dash, making her appear rather small in the shot.
 * Blinding Bangs: The purple teenage dragon has these.
 * Bling of War: Although not used for combat, the outfit Rarity comes up with to watch the dragon migration could still qualify.


 * Brick Joke: One of the teen dragons calls Spike 'Peewee'... which becomes the name of the last phoenix chick.
 * Bullying a Dragon: Literally and metaphorically.
 * Call Back:
 * Rarity calls out Spike's nickname from "Owl's Well That Ends Well", which she previously used in "Secret of My Excess".
 * Fluttershy's fear of dragons is brought up again. Also, she seems awfully assertive about her fear. Her escape from her house even mimics Iron Will's attempt to break into it in that episode.
 * Spike's bindle stick makes a return.
 * Phoenixes are seen again. And still seem to be mischievous and powerful tricksters, apparently from the moment they hatch..
 * Spike still has that blanket from Applejack in the "Secret of My Excess".
 * Spike's immunity to fire damage was already explained during "Griffon the Brush Off".
 * Among the adult dragons, one can spot the red one from "Dragonshy" and the green one from "Owl's Well That Ends Well"... or at least dragons that look like them.
 * The Cameo:
 * Cranky Doodle Donkey has a brief appearance (though this could be a case of Flash-based Prop Recycling).
 * The dragons from "Dragonshy" and "Owl's Well That Ends Well" also return.
 * Chekhov's Gunman: In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it scene,.
 * Circling Butterflies: At the end of the Cold Open.
 * Comically Missing the Point: Rarity's camo outfit. Purple and magenta aren't really good colors for hiding in greenery.
 * "Who says camouflage has to be drab?" Answer: The very definition of "camouflage".
 * Continuity Nod: Spike owns pictures that show events from his life, including one of him as a newborn with Twilight, one of him and Twilight in their Nightmare Night costumes, and one of him, Twilight, and Rainbow drinking cider as well as a photo where he inserts himself into what appears to be Twilight's birthday.
 * Fluttershy's assertiveness lessons seem to still be in effect.
 * Spike suffers no damage at all after belly-flopping on a pool made of lava, not even after he accidentally gets a mouthful of it. His immunity to fire damage was already mentioned during "Griffon the Brush Off".
 * Contrived Coincidence: Rarity just happens to make a dragon costume identical to a real dragon.
 * Or maybe she's been Shown Her Work, having based the costume on a real dragon variety (that could still fit three ponies and which had eight legs).
 * Convection, Schmonvection: All that lava and fire sitting right next to everyone and no one gets burned. Not even the ponies.
 * Justified for the dragons, who are established as being extremely resistant to heat. As for the ponies…Maybe Twilight cast a spell that protected them from the heat?
 * Cool Pet:
 * A Day in the Limelight: For Spike. Again!
 * Does This Remind You of Anything?: Spike joining the teenage dragons is very much like a child falling in with the wrong crowd.
 * There is also an Animal House/random college fraternity similarity, with Spike having undergone their hazing process. And all in all, the teenage dragons are rather disturbingly similar to real bullies in the way that their emotional and physical abuse is portrayed.
 * The episode can be seen as Spike trying to act more like a boy, with him wearing pink apron and having teas and crumpets. Not to mention all of his friends are girls. The word "pony" is even thrown around by the teen dragons in the same way a boy might use "girly".
 * Dude, Where's My Respect?: Calling Princess Celestia, an alicorn royal with the godlike power to raise the sun, a "namby pamby princess pony"? Either dragons are as powerful as alicorns, or those teen dragons don't really know about her.
 * Justified. The teen dragons seem to have a "don't know; don't care" attitude to anything not directly affecting them. Plus, if ponies consider dragons too dangerous to even approach most of the time, dragons probably have inflated egos in regards to ponies, plus they probably don't know too much about the ponies' political system.
 * Played for laughs in this fan comic.
 * Egg MacGuffin: An egg falls out from a phoenix nest and is separated from its parents. Spike decides to adopt it because it reminded him of his own origin.
 * Evil Albino: One of the teen dragons has white scales and pink eyes.
 * Fantastic Light Source: The father phoenix uses his fire powers to shine a bright aura in the teen dragons' faces.
 * Fantastic Racism: Dragons don't think much of ponies. Heck, they even call Princess Celestia a "namby pamby pony princess".
 * May be justified when you remember that ponies are prey animals and dragons are apex predators.
 * Feather Fingers: Rainbow Dash's wings twitch almost like the fingers on a hand after Fluttershy runs over her.
 * Fish Out of Water: Compared to his usual Only Sane Man role in Ponyville, Spike understandably acts like a kid with the dragons.
 * Foreshadowing: The cold open has Fluttershy firmly saying "No" to something she was being pressured to do. In the episode's climax, Spike did the same thing to the bully dragons.
 * Gang of Bullies: The teenage dragons, at least the three main ones, with Garble as the leader. A rather disturbingly realistic version at that...
 * Gene Hunting: What Spike hopes to do.
 * Good Old Hooficuffs: Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash put up their dukes to fight off the teen dragons, but they soon decide it's a better idea to make a run for it.
 * Groin Attack: Spike pushes Garble off the hoard by headbutting him in the groin area, though it doesn't seem to cause him pain usually associated with this trope and merely make him lose balance.
 * Hey, It's That Voice!: Finn, how did you become a purple dragon?
 * High Dive Hijinks: The cannonball-into-lava contest. Spike manages to finally impress the dragon boys with a fail that ends up as a major belly flop. Even the other dragons wince in sympathy.
 * If You're Such A Dragon, Smash This Egg: The teenage dragons demand that Spike smash the phoenix egg in order to prove that he really belongs with them.
 * Innocently Insensitive: This time it's Rarity, who despite knowing about Spike's crush on her, insists on talking to and about him in Baby Talk, seemingly unaware it's upsetting him this time rather than something he tolerates as a term of endearment. As it is, she's too old for him, and might just find the crush adorable.
 * Jerkass: The whole gang of teen dragons.
 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Although she mocks Spike for being a lame dragon, which was probably one of the reasons he wanted to leave in the first place, Rainbow Dash clearly shows concern for him when he announces that he'll be joining the other dragons on the Great Dragon Migration and follows Twilight and Rarity.
 * Jerk Jock: The teenage dragons, especially Garble.
 * Know When to Fold'Em:
 * The ponies know better than to even try the Lava Cannonball.
 * Taking on a group of teenage dragons that outmass them and have the same numbers (four on four) is dangerous enough that running away is a reasonable option, even for Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash, especially since they were intruding in dragon territory, with the adults not far away. Besides, they'd already gotten Spike back, so there was nothing to gain by fighting even if they won.
 * See, in Dragonshy, Rainbow Dash eagerly tried to fight an adult dragon practically on her own, but the dragon was invading pony territory and putting their homes at risk -- running away would accomplish nothing, so she had to fight, even if it was hopeless. Likewise, the Manticore in the second half of the pilot stood between the Mane Six and Nightmare Moon's castle, so they couldn't afford to give up; which is also the same reason they fought Nightmare Moon and Discord. And in all cases, it was all six ponies against just one opponent.
 * Plus, spending the whole day watching the dragons show off their strength might have had something to do with it.
 * Finally, the one who made the decision to run was Spike, who knew that he wouldn't be able to beat any of the dragons in a fight. Making the decision to run was the only way that he could protect his friends.
 * Lava Is Boiling Kool-Aid: At least partially averted by Spike; when he belly-flops into the lava pool, he makes a solid impact on its surface before slowly sinking in. Played straight by the other dragons, who are presumably heavy enough to displace it like it was water.
 * Lava Pit: Actually used as a swimming pool for dragons.
 * Loud Gulp: Repeatedly, as the bigger dragons keep bullying Spike and encouraging him to try their games, for which he is quite obviously too small.
 * Law of Chromatic Superiority: Obviously, the leader of the dragons must be red.
 * Light'Em Up: The Phoenix parents radiate an intense gold and red light.
 * Mama Mare: When Spike's in trouble, Twilight, Rainbow, and Rarity are at least willing to fight the dragons much bigger than them.
 * The phoenixes too. Birds made of fire that can scorch even a dragon (to put that in context, lava is a swimming pool to dragons) and can summon a blinding light source out of nowhere. No wonder the teenage dragons needed someone to lure the parents away before raiding the nest.
 * Manly Tears: Played with. Spike is upset to tears about not knowing anything about his dragon heritage, and then wipes them away because he has the idea dragons are too tough to cry.
 * Mono-Gender Monsters: Despite the number of dragons that show up, there's not one apparent female, with the possible exception of Crackle. (Then again, do those teenage dragons seem like the sort to attract girls?).
 * Mood Motif: The Strings of Suspense when Spike.
 * Mundane Utility: Spike's tail, which has been shown strong enough to dig up gems from the ground in the past, can't even move the limp "tail" of the ponyies' dragon disguise.
 * Mythology Gag: My Little Pony and Friends had an episode, "Spike's Search", about their baby dragon named Spike trying to get in touch with his own kind. Even the plots are basically the same, Spike leaving the ponies to try living among his own kind, only to discover that dragons are immense jerks and realizing he really belongs among the ponies, which have become his "real" family.
 * Name's the Same: To the Video Game Dragon Quest. There's no battling slime though.
 * Nice Hat: The Mane Cast's camo outfits. Yes, including Rarity's.
 * Nigh Invulnerable: Spike is praised for suffering no damage after belly-flopping into lava from a cliff. The other dragons fly into a tree with enough force to punch through it and make it fall (falling face-first with the whole weight of the tree) twice, and aren't even bruised. Which might explain why Twilight decided to run from them despite being ready to fight Cerberus in the previous episode. This isn't actually new information, as it's been stated before that dragons have very tough scales.
 * No Name Given: The teenage dragons aren't named in the show, though the red one at least has a name in the script (Garble).
 * Non-Standard Character Design: Crackle.
 * The other teen dragons also qualify to various degrees, especially compared to Spike's teen form in "Secret of My Excess".
 * Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Andrea Libman slips from her Pinkie voice into her Fluttershy voice when the former says "Ahoy, maties! Dragons, ho!"
 * Outside Inside Slur: Because Spike has lived with ponies all his life, the teen dragons initially insist that while he's a dragon on the outside, he's actually a pony on the inside.
 * Paper-Thin Disguise: Rarity, Twilight, and Rainbow follow Spike dressed in a laughably slapdash dragon costume. It actually works, mainly because there's a dragon named Crackle who looks exactly like their costume.
 * A Real Dragon Is A Killer: Part of the point of
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: Phoenix chicks!
 * Rite of Passage: Spike has to go through a series of tasks in order to prove he's a "real" dragon, including: a fire-belching contest, defeating another dragon in a round of "tail wrestling", playing "king of the hoard", and jumping into a lava pool.
 * Roll Out the Red Carpet: Literally - Rarity does this along with a bit of confetti flourish to announce her arrival at the trench to watch the dragon migration and show off her new "camo" outfit.
 * Second Place Is for Winners: The other dragons aren't won over by Spike having the largest lava cannonball splash, but instead by the fact he slams into the lava belly-first. The fail is so epic as to both impress them and earn their sympathy.
 * Shout-Out: The episode title, to the Dragon Quest series, of all things!
 * Even funnier, the baby phoenixes are nearly identical to Final Fantasy's Chocobos, especially the FF Tactics and FFIX designs. Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy were rivals before Square Enix merged.
 * The phoenix's flash attack that blinds the dragons is almost identical in appearance to the Phoenix summon from Final Fantasy VII. Take a look.
 * One of the dragon delinquents bears a distinct resemblance to a Gronckle.
 * Spike, during his travel montage, is seen riding a river raft with Cranky Doodle Donkey a la The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
 * Spike, on a quest, traveling across a variety of backgrounds in a montage? Cue the music...
 * Super Window Jump: Subverted by Fluttershy at the start of the episode, where she looks all ready to do this just to get away from Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash, only to stop at the last moment and gently open the window before completing her jump.
 * Take That: The Dragon's opinions on the ponies (frequently calling them "Namby pamby") is a possible dig at the show's dislikers.
 * The moral of the show can easily be interpreted to apply to bronies: just because you're a boy, doesn't mean you have to have stereotypically male interests and behaviors--especially when they're repulsive.
 * Teens Are Monsters: The older dragons take joy in pushing Spike around.
 * Tertiary Sexual Characteristics: That pink ribbon on the crummy dragon costume seems to be an attempt, but the dragons assume that the disguise is male anyway. The phoenixes avert this with realistic sexual dimorphism, assuming you know a bit about raptors.
 * Three Ponies, One Costume: The girls' dragon disguise is basically this. This also counts as a Totem Pole Trench since Twilight was standing on Dash's shoulders in the disguise.
 * Vile Villain Saccharine Show: With the rather brutal (and disturbingly realistic) bullying they inflict on Spike and, the older dragons.
 * We Let You Win: When Spike is unable to prevail in tail-wrestling with the limp tail of Twilight/Rarity/Rainbow's dragon outfit, the girls fake a loss to let Spike receive the benefits of winning the round to his fellow dragons.
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: The letter from Princess Celestia that Spike belched up is never brought up again. Part of that may be due to the fact that Garble tossed it into the nearest lava pit, and it visibly burnt up.
 * Fluttershy never seems to come back from wherever she ran off to…
 * And on that note, where are Pinkie Pie and Applejack in the rescuing-Spike scheme? They weren't scared like Fluttershy was...
 * Rainbow, Twilight, and Rarity likely didn't have time to get them, since Spike would've gotten too far by the time they were ready.
 * Would Hurt a Child: The delinquent dragons have absolutely no qualms hurting poor Spike, even though he's a baby dragon.
 * Wreathed in Flames: The phoenixes charge at Spike in this form.
 * You Are a Credit to Your Race: Rarity, Rainbow, and Pinkie compliment Spike on being not like the other dragons. This sets him off because up until then he hadn't known he was different from other dragons, other than the events of "Secret Of My Excess".
 * You Owe Me: Rainbow Dash tries to collect on Fluttershy for joining her for the Great Butterfly Migration, by having her come to the Great Dragon Migration. It doesn't work.