Given that yesterday he was musing on the Equestria caste system, it's perfectly in character for Full of Stars to see things through Jade Coloured Glasses.

We can only hope continued exposure to brightly coloured, relentlessly optimistic talking horses will rose-tint his lenses. But we'll still love and tolerate him if it doesn't.

edited 8th Nov '11 10:54:37 PM by CountDorku

Twilight: (shaking Spike in his basket/bed) "Spike! Wake up, wake up, it's Winter Wrap Up day!"
Spike: (groggily) "...mommy?"
Twilight: "Winter Wrap Up!"
Spike: "You're not mommy..." (goes back to sleep)

If @Ginger Ninja is still looking for first episode recommendations, I'd recommend "Swarm of the Century." No pre-knowledge of the characters is needed, everyone gets a good bit of air time, no girly-girly fru-fru stuff to scare off the testosterone-insecure, just pure slapstick comedy with a Blazing Saddles Shout Out for the really smart viewer.

"Bridle Gossip" is also another good one; the aesop is a little obvious, but it's all about getting there with Flutterguy that's the fun.

—R.J.

... Did Spike ever meet his parents?

Does Spike play the "Your not my real mother" card every time Twilight tries to wake him up early.

I suspect Spike has already had the "you were adopted" speech and is still a little bitter over it.

Even though it isn't actually all that grim, its kind of amusing to imagine that it is so, we just are treated to the good parts and the bad parts are hidden just out of sight. For instance, here's why I think Spike is a slave: the ponies have had him since he was an egg - which implies that they took him in before he was old enough to be able to make the decision whether or not he wanted to live with the ponies. Obviously I am choosing the darkest explanation here - maybe Spike is paid, maybe he was an orphan, maybe dragons can't hatch unless a unicorn casts a spell on their eggs - but hey, I like the world a bit more when its a little dark, so its my prerogative to pick up on these things and run with it .

Other stuff:

• Twilight Sparkle is actually spying on the town of Ponyville for the Queen, and the Queen is using the information conveyed through the letters for some clandestine purpose.
• The ponies have been shown to be aggressive colonizers with little regard for the needs of the natives. What is happening in Applepolooza is likely happening all over Equestria, with tragic consequences for any natives who are driven out of their lands.
• The ponies make it a point to drive out any and all potential competitors from their realm. Dragon shows up, the ponies are dispatched to drive it out. Cockatrice on the loose? Not after Fluttershy hits it with The Stare. So what happens to that poor cockatrice when it cannot defend itself from bigger, nastier predators with its stone magic because Fluttershy took away its ability to do so with her Hypno Ray? And what about the countless other monsters that are basically told to get lost? Can they find proper food in their new habitats?

edited 8th Nov '11 11:30:10 PM by MyGodItsFullofStars

Spike is a child. Generally you don't give children a choice of whose custody they're under unless there's a case of abuse or divorce. Spike's living situation is no more immoral than making kid do chores.

Spike is perfectly happy with being Twilight's assisstant (he's even shown to obsess over it if you look at owl's well)

ugh, I'll never understand why you people want the world to be dark

edited 8th Nov '11 11:48:52 PM by gingerninja666

Fluttershy didn't take away the cockatrices ability, she just told it to un-stone Twilight. Plenty of big, dangerous creatures live in the everfree - including a fully grown dragon. They only tried to uproot that other dragon because his presence would have force ponyville at least to relocate

Two things: being an assistant is probably the only life Spike has ever known (so what else could he do?), and many slaves find themselves devoted to their masters and wishing only to impress them - but that doesn't mean it isn't slavery! I mean, the poor guy sleeps in a basket at the foot of Twilight's bed - like a dog!

You're just pointlessly depressing. Twilight and the others have never treated Spike as anything other than a good friend, and the second it became apparent that Spike was being the slightest bit overworked, Twilight brought in someone else to take over so Spike could rest.

edited 9th Nov '11 12:00:47 AM by gingerninja666

But we don't really know how the assistant thing started. He couldn't have always been Twi's assistant, since he started so young, so maybe as he grew up and she was spending so much time studying, he came up with that idea so he could be around her more.

Flashbacks! We need more flashbacks!

By those standards, an adopted child (which is pretty much what Spike is) is a slave.

Ah well. At least it's implied darkness rather than, say, That One Fanfic.

edited 9th Nov '11 12:08:49 AM by CountDorku

I don't even see how it's darkness at all. If Twilight's a slave driver, then she's the nicest slave driver I've ever seen. She both loves and cares for Spike as a mother figure.

Season 3 confirmed (Sorry if this has been posted before)

Other Season 3 rumors and so on.

Should I feel worried about some of this info?

edited 9th Nov '11 12:29:02 AM by edvedd

Possibly. There are a number of reasons why they might have only ordered 13 episodes so far.

-Since some of the staff has changed, they want to keep the work load down so the quality stays high.

-They want to get to 65 episodes so they can go into syndication.

-They've only done a half order so far but are still considering ordering the back half.

-They're freeing up time to work on the movie (yeah, overly optimistic, I know)

Since these are still rumors I'm going to avoid panicking for now.

Yeah, we've got a whole season ahead of us anyway. No point worrying now.

Yay.

Awesome.

Edit: Here's a fun question. Has anyone ever done Trixie/Rarity?

edited 9th Nov '11 1:16:25 AM by CountDorku

I'm woried about s3.

Only 13 Episodes

Rob Renzetti left show.

There may be many reasons for the initial 13 episode order, so let's see.

edited 9th Nov '11 1:17:45 AM by edvedd

Raritrix? There's a fanfic for that on Eq Daily.

Ah, so there is. Interesting to know.

Every pair you can think of, someone has already made a fic of it.

Every. Single. One.

Note how I didn't say anything about quality, spread or notability.

edited 9th Nov '11 1:23:45 AM by KuroFox