@kegi It's specifically the "if that doesn't work" part that I'm getting hung up on. You try to create countermeasures in Ponyville and they don't work, that could lead to death, and untold destruction.

But eventually the desire would wear off. Like weaning an addict off their fix. They'll eventually not want it anymore. Well, not as bad, at least. Enough so that they can ignore the urges.

Fair enough... I suppose their 'plan' should include a contingency to get him out of harms way if it looks like it isn't working. Maybe have the containment next to the Everfree, so if it looks like it's going south they can just send him into the forest. There'd be plenty for him to hoard there, which would calm him down enough they could try and back him out of it slowly.

edited 11th Dec '11 6:30:07 PM by kegisak

@ginger: If things got too out of hand, I'm sure Celestia and/or Luna would step in.

Yeah, I'm sure that they could rig up an emergency hotline and as soon as Spike starts showing signs of hoarding crap they call in the princess. And I'm sure that Twilight would be able to research some spell to either stop the transformation, or to trap Spike or something.

How long would it take for them to step in? How much destruction could Spike wreak before they arrive?

edited 11th Dec '11 6:32:04 PM by gingerninja666

Yes, basically one of them enters, Horn Glows, Everything's resolved.

I dunno, Perhaps it depends on the severity of the issue.

edited 11th Dec '11 6:33:09 PM by MousaThe14

@ginger: It didn't take long for the Wonderbolts to get there. I'm sure the Princesses could beat that time if they wanted to.

edited 11th Dec '11 6:33:27 PM by MurkyMuse

Hopefully a lot. Because that'd be funny.

"He destroyed how much of Equestria? Okay; to the sun with him!"

edited 11th Dec '11 6:33:32 PM by RichReeders

Given that Canterlot is within flying distance, I'd say maybe 2 minutes; 3 if Celestia's in the can when the call comes in. Either way, I'm sure that the cast could contain him for a short time.

Cue a pattern of sunspots in the shape of a baby dragon.

Doesn't this sound like an unnecessary amount of effort and risk? All for the direct benefit of only one person..

They evicted Basil from the country for sleeping.

But Basil's not a main character. :P

Well, my thoughts on the plan is this: Have a good, solid isolation chamber on the outskirts of the Everfree. Twilight is constantly close to Spike, so she would know if he ever started hoarding. He was still rational at the first stage as well, which means he would be willing to cooperate. So basically, it goes like this: Spike begins to hoard -> take him to the isolation chamber until the instinct winds down. -> if it doesn't, push him to the Everfree -> let him hoard enough to calm down -> reason with him, and edge him out of it. If all else fails, he is now far away from anypony he can hurt, so we can call in the Princesses... or leave him there, if there's no other options. If he stays feral he won't be going anywhere. If he returns to sapience, he can come back on his own... but by that time, who knows how long it will have been?

Aw, man... now I have the mental image of the plan going to final stage, and then Spike snaps out of it eventually... hundreds of years later, and possibly even stuck in huge mode. He comes back to Ponyville, and all his friends are gone...

...but maybe he makes some new friends or something, and he becomes Ponyville's guardian.That's how those stories tend to go, right?

Ah, Protagonist-Centered Morality... we meet again.

edited 11th Dec '11 6:38:16 PM by kegisak

Congrats Kegisak, you have depressed me,

Am I wrong though? Let's expend all our time and effort. Potentially risking the lives of everyone we know, purely for Spike's sake. Yet another dragon comes along. Could we say, build an apparatus to redirect his smoke? NO! Let's just tell him to fuck off.

ugh, my mind's weird today. Forgive me if that didn't make sense

They had him find a different spot to nap because he didn't feel like checking his surroundings before starting a century-long cloud of smoke. The fact that dragons haven't been warred against tells us that there are plenty of places they can sleep without endangering countries. But that's not the issue here and I don't think anyone in the thread wants to re-open that discussion.

There's also the fact that this episode was pretty much the worst-case scenario: Nobody knew what was happening, everyone he ran into either didn't know in time or exacerbated the problem, and the only one who could reverse it, Spike, didn't know the issue until his instincts had overridden rational thought.

This set of circumstances can never happen again, now that the town knows the problem and its warning signs, and Spike can make an effort to curb it without needing to hit a gem-based epiphany.

edited 11th Dec '11 6:45:51 PM by Enlong

@Ginger: Basil didn't get in trouble for sleeping, he got in trouble for polluting the entire nation with poisonous fumes.

Anyway, I really don't see much point in fighting about the Spike thing, given we know he's not going anywhere anytime soon. Within the show's uber-optimism, he'll just be able to keep his greed in check on his own and it'll be a non issue. I mean, this is My Little Pony, of course the magic of friendship is going to fix the problems.

Yeah, you're right. I just care too much about people who aren't the mane characters. (the ponyvillians in this case) I try my darndest to ignore Protagonist Centred Morality

edited 11th Dec '11 6:47:31 PM by gingerninja666

Can we come to an agreement already? I've been translating for a solid hour, and at a review session for another hour before that, and we're still filling pages with the same three people repeating the same three points.

So...

The vet pony was kinda cute. Or maybe I just have a thing for accents. I dunno.

This isn't that bad. So long as the topic doesn't become Pinkie Pie, Rarity, or Applejack.

Yes, she was. She had a... well, distinctive voice. I can't quite place it. I also liked Banana Split and June Bug. They had very nice designs and personality.

edited 11th Dec '11 6:50:21 PM by Enlong

@Kyler What accent DID she have? I'm terrible at accents

Junebug was ADORABLE!!

edited 11th Dec '11 6:51:06 PM by gingerninja666

You know what? Just execute Spike and call it a day.

I wanted to smack the pediatrician pony. He made my head hurt.

How so?

edited 11th Dec '11 6:52:44 PM by gingerninja666