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

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[[File:744px-S2E21_Spike_is_the_winner-1_3679.png|frame|A SPIKE draws near! Command?]]

 

 

 

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…

 

'''Twilight Sparkle:''' Of course. }}

 

 

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.

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.

 

 

* [[Adult Fear]]: Spike taking off to discover his true identity (especially since we know how mean dragons can get). {{spoiler|And then he initially decides to stay with them forever.}}

* [[Adults Are Useless]]: The adult dragons don't even bother monitoring the teen dragons' antics. [[Shown Their Work|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? {{spoiler|Apparently, pheonixes, whose flames can burn even dragons.}}

** Garble also gives Spike a noogie on becoming a dragon newbie, but this is likely far from affectionate.

* [[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." {{spoiler|Spike gives the baby phoenix that name.}}

* [[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 [[Curb Stomp Battle|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. [[Subverted Trope|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.

** 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:

* [[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.

* [[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]]:

* [[The Cameo]]:

* [[Chekhov's Gunman]]: In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it scene, {{spoiler|the mother and father phoenix can be spotted on Spike's journey}}.

* [[Circling Birdies|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".

* [[Contrived Coincidence]]: Rarity just happens to make a dragon costume identical to a real dragon.

** Or maybe she's been [[Shown Their Work|Shown Her Work]], having based the costume on a real dragon variety (that could still fit three ponies ''and'' which had ''eight legs'').

* [[Cool Pet]]: {{spoiler|Peewee the phoenix. Spike gets a pet that will live as long as he does.}}

* [[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.

** 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 [http://niban-destikim.deviantart.com/art/The-Namby-Pamby-princess-291325254 this fan comic].

* [[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".

* [[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.

* [[Good Old Fisticuffs|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.

* [[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 So Evil Eat This Kitten|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.

* [[Jerkass]]: The whole gang of teen dragons.

* [[Jerk Jock]]: The teenage dragons, ''especially'' Garble.

** 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 [[Magic Knight|Twilight Sparkle]] and [[Action Girl|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.

*** 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 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.

* [[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?).

* [[Nice Hat]]: The Mane Cast's camo outfits. Yes, including Rarity's.

* [[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. {{spoiler|[[Insult Backfire|Spike later takes it as a point of pride]], seeing that the adolescent dragons are complete jerks.}}

* [[A Real Man Is a Killer|A Real Dragon Is A Killer]]: Part of the point of {{spoiler|the nest raid, and it is made very explicit when they urge Spike to smash the egg.}}

* [[Ridiculously Cute Critter]]: Phoenix chicks!

* [[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.

** Even funnier, the baby phoenixes are nearly identical to [[Final Fantasy|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]]. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh6y9iJyJaQ Take a look.]

* [[Teens Are Monsters]]: The older dragons take joy in pushing Spike around. {{spoiler|They'd even SMASH a bunch of phoenix eggs!}}

* [[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, [[Genius Bonus|assuming you know a bit about raptors]].

* [[Vile Villain Saccharine Show]]: With the rather brutal (and disturbingly realistic) bullying they inflict on Spike and {{spoiler|their attempt to smash phoenix eggs}}, the older dragons.

* [[I Let You Win|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.

** 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...

* [[Would Hurt a Child]]: The delinquent dragons have absolutely no qualms hurting poor Spike, even though he's a baby dragon. {{spoiler|They top themselves by trying to ''smash'' Phoenix eggs.}}

* [[Wreathed in Flames]]: The phoenixes charge at Spike in this form.

* [[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. [[Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?|It doesn't work.]]

 

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