Spike at Your Service

Last updated
"Spike at Your Service"
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode
Episode no.Season 3
Episode 9
Directed by
Story by Dave Polsky
Teleplay by Merriwether Williams
Produced by
  • Sarah Wall
  • Devon Cody
  • Stephen Davis (executive)
  • Kirsten Newlands (executive)
  • Chris Bartleman (executive)
Original air dateDecember 29, 2012 (2012-12-29)
Running time22 minutes
Guest appearances
Episode chronology
 Previous
"Apple Family Reunion"
Next 
"Keep Calm and Flutter On"
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (season 3)
List of episodes

"Spike at Your Service" is the ninth episode of the third season of animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic as well as the sixty-first overall.

Contents

Plot

When Applejack saves Spike from a timberwolf attack in the Everfree Forest, he insists on helping her around the farm in order to repay a life debt that is customary to dragons in their "Dragon Code". His efforts only make trouble for her and the other ponies, and they set up a fake timberwolf attack for Spike so that he can save Applejack from, thus making him feel satisfied with his debt. Their ruse draws a pack of real timberwolves, which Applejack easily crushes, but the pieces form into a single giant beast and she gets caught in a rockslide. Spike causes the timberwolf to fall apart by throwing a rock down its throat, and frees Applejack. Afterwards, Applejack convinces Spike to give up his debt.

Background

"Spike at Your Service" was directed by James Wootton, with Jayson Thiessen supervising, and written by Merriwether Williams, based on a story by Dave Polsky. [1] According to Polsky, though Spike is shown to know very little about being a dragon in "Dragon Quest", the Dragon Code "[k]inda felt ... credible he'd taken initiative to learn about his dragon heritage since". [2] In the first treatment, Spike owed Rarity a life debt. Because Rarity was so cruel to Spike, it was changed to Applejack. [3] [ better source needed ] The Timberwolves are dogs made of wood. According to Mary Jane Begin, author of My Little Pony: The Art of Equestria, their threateningness mostly comes from their size, machine-like structure, and sharp geometric shapes. [4] They were modelled and animated by layout supervisor John Cantlie; [5] instead of the planned Flash animation, the wolves were animated using Autodesk Maya. [6]

Broadcast and reception

The episode aired on December 29, 2012, on The Hub. [7] It was viewed by 432,000 people and garnered double-digit year-to-year delivery gains in all demographics except kids aged 2–11 and 6–11, which gained one-digit gains. [8] Daniel Alvarez of Unleash the Fanboy gave "Spike at Your Service" three and a half out of five stars, calling it "[n]ot great and perhaps the weakest episode of the season, but enjoyable nonetheless". [9]

Home media

The episode has been released as part of the Friendship Is Magic season three collections, in Region 1 by Shout! Factory and Region 4 by Madman Entertainment. [10] [11]

Related Research Articles

<i>My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic</i> Animated television series

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic is an animated television series based on Hasbro's My Little Pony franchise. The series follows a studious pony named Twilight Sparkle, her dragon assistant Spike and her friends, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash (Ball) and Pinkie Pie (Libman). They go on adventures and help others around Equestria, solving problems with their friendships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Ingram (composer)</span> Canadian composer

Daniel Luke Ingram is a Canadian composer and lyricist, primarily for animated series soundtracks. He has written more than 200 songs for television, in genres ranging from pop and classic rock to large-scale Broadway-style musical theater. His music has been heard in 180 countries. He is mostly known for his work as the songwriter of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and the films based on the series. He has written over 80 songs for My Little Pony since 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Equestria Daily</span> Fandom news site for the My Little Pony franchise

Equestria Daily is a fan site dedicated to news and fan work coverage of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, and other generations, such as G5. The site is run with a blog-style interface by a dedicated team of several editors, and has been officially recognized by the show's production team as well as The Hub, the American children's television network on which the show airs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Return of Harmony</span> 1st and 2nd episodes of the 2nd season of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

"The Return of Harmony" is the collective name for the first and second episodes of the second season of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, as well as the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth episodes of the series overall. Both episodes were directed by Jayson Thiessen and written by M.A. Larson. Part one of the episode aired in the United States on September 17, 2011 on the Hub, while part two aired the following week, on September 24. The first received a Nielsen household rating of 0.2, and was viewed by over 339,000 viewers, making it the highest-rated episode ever broadcast by the Hub at that point.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Crystal Empire</span> 1st and 2nd episodes of the 3rd season of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

"The Crystal Empire" is the collective name for the first and second episodes of the third season of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic as well as the fifty-third and fifty-fourth episodes of the series overall. Both parts of the episode were first broadcast on The Hub on November 10, 2012. It was written by Meghan McCarthy, and directed by series director James Wootton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magical Mystery Cure</span> 13th episode of the 3rd season of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

"Magical Mystery Cure" is the thirteenth and final episode of the third season of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and the sixty-fifth episode of the series overall. Directed by James Wootton, it was written by M.A. Larson.

<i>My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic</i> (season 5) Season of television series

The fifth season of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, developed by Lauren Faust, originally aired on the Discovery Family channel in the United States. The series is based on Hasbro's My Little Pony line of toys and animated works and is often referred by collectors to be the fourth generation, or "G4", of the My Little Pony franchise. Season 5 of the series premiered on April 4, 2015 on Discovery Family, an American pay television channel partly owned by Hasbro, and concluded on November 28.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Best Night Ever</span> 26th episode of the 1st season of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

"The Best Night Ever" is the first season finale of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. The episode follows Twilight Sparkle and her friends, who try to enjoy the Grand Galloping Gala separately. Each of them finds their expectations disappointed and inadvertently cause chaos through all their attempts to satisfy their wants. The episode aired on May 6, 2011, and was positively received.

"Three's a Crowd" is the eleventh episode of the fourth season of animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic as well as the seventy-sixth overall. With Britt McKillip and John de Lancie guest starring as Princess Cadance and Discord, the episode follows Twilight Sparkle and the former, who visits from the Crystal Empire, trying to have a relaxing day. When they are interrupted by a sick Discord, they must venture to the edge of Equestria to prevent him from disrupting their visit. Co-directed by Jim Miller, with Jayson Thiessen as executive producer, and written by Meghan McCarthy, the episode aired on January 25, 2014, receiving over 400,000 viewers during its original broadcast. The episode received mixed to positive reviews from critics, who praised Discord.

<i>My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Friendship Games</i> 2015 animated film

My Little Pony: Equestria Girls – Friendship Games, known simply as Friendship Games, is a 2015 animated musical sports fantasy film which is a part of Hasbro's My Little Pony: Equestria Girls toy line and media franchise, itself a spin-off of the 2010 relaunch of the main My Little Pony franchise. The film was animated using Adobe Flash, directed by Ishi Rudell and written by Josh Haber, and was produced by DHX Media's 2D animation studio in Vancouver, Canada for Hasbro Studios in the United States, as a sequel to 2014's Rainbow Rocks film. Unlike the previous two films, Friendship Games had no theatrical run in the United States and Canada, but the film was first shown on Discovery Family, a joint venture between Discovery Communications and Hasbro, on September 26, with a home media release on October 13 that year by Shout! Factory; it also had a limited theatrical run in the United Kingdom and Australia beginning in late October 2015.

"The Cutie Map", also known as "Cutie Markless", is the collective name for the first and second episodes of the fifth season of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic as well as the ninety-second and ninety-third episodes of the series overall. The two episodes focus on Twilight Sparkle and her friends as they visit a village controlled by Starlight Glimmer, a unicorn who strives to achieve "equality" amongst all ponies by removing their cutie marks. Both episodes were written by Scott Sonneborn and M.A. Larson from a story by Meghan McCarthy with Jayson Thiessen and Jim Miller as director and co-director, respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jayson Thiessen</span> Canadian animation director

Jayson Thiessen is a Canadian animator and voice actor, best known as the first supervising director of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. He also directed its spin-off films Equestria Girls (2013) and Rainbow Rocks (2014), as well as the 2017 feature film adaptation based directly on the television series.

"The Cutie Re-Mark" is the collective name for the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth episodes of the fifth season of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic as well as the one hundred and sixteenth and one hundred and seventeenth episodes of the series overall. Written by Josh Haber and directed by Denny Lu, the two episodes center around Starlight Glimmer, who tries to take revenge from the Mane 6 by going back in time and preventing them from ever meeting each other. Released on November 28, 2015, the plot of the episode received mixed reviews from critics.

<i>My Little Pony: The Movie</i> (2017 film) 2017 animated feature film directed by Jayson Thiessen

My Little Pony: The Movie is a 2017 animated musical fantasy film based on the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, which itself is part of the fourth incarnation of Hasbro's My Little Pony toyline and franchise. The film was directed by Jayson Thiessen, written by Meghan McCarthy, Michael Vogel, Joe Ballarini, and Rita Hsiao, and produced by Stephen Davis, Brian Goldner, Marcia Gwendolyn Jones, and Haven Alexander. The film stars the show's regular voice cast of Tara Strong, Ashleigh Ball, Andrea Libman, Tabitha St. Germain, Cathy Weseluck, Nicole Oliver, and Britt McKillip reprising their roles and the guest voices of Emily Blunt, Kristin Chenoweth, Liev Schreiber, Michael Peña, Sia, Taye Diggs, Uzo Aduba and Zoe Saldaña as new characters. The film follows the alicorn Twilight Sparkle, her five pony friends – collectively known as the "Mane 6" – and her dragon friend/assistant Spike on a quest to save their home of Equestria from an evil conqueror while gaining new friends along the way and testing their friendship and their patience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Equestria</span> Fictional principality of talking ponies

Equestria is the fictional setting of the fourth and fifth generations of the My Little Pony toy line and media franchise, including the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic and My Little Pony: Pony Life. Created by Lauren Faust, the setting incorporates many elements of fantasy, including inspirations from European and Greek mythology.

The eighth season of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, developed by Lauren Faust, originally aired on the Discovery Family channel in the United States. The series is based on Hasbro's My Little Pony line of toys and animated works and is often referred by collectors to be the fourth generation, or "G4", of the My Little Pony franchise. Season 8 of the series premiered on March 24, 2018, on Discovery Family, an American pay television channel partly owned by Hasbro, and concluded on October 13.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Twilight Sparkle</span> Fictional character from My Little Pony

Princess Twilight Sparkle, commonly known as Twilight Sparkle, is a fictional character who appears in the fourth incarnation of Hasbro's My Little Pony toyline and media franchise, beginning with My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (2010–2019), and later in the franchise's fifth incarnation as well. She is voiced by Tara Strong while her singing voice is provided by Rebecca Shoichet.

"Games Ponies Play" is the twelfth episode of the third season of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic as well as the 64th overall. Directed by James Wootton and written by Dave Polsky, "Games Ponies Play" premiered on The Hub on February 9, 2013. Occurring during the events of the previous episode, "Just for Sidekicks", the episode featured Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Applejack trying to convince an inspector to host the Equestria Games at the Crystal Empire.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle" is the collective name for the first and second episodes of the fourth season of animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic as well as the sixty-sixth and sixty-seventh overall. The episodes follow the newly crowned Princess Twilight Sparkle, who travels back to her hometown of Ponyville from Canterlot after Princesses Celestia and Luna disappear, and the Everfree Forest invades Ponyville. As Twilight and her friends try to find the cause of the havoc, they discover the Tree of Harmony, where they give up the Elements of Harmony to save Equestria.

Friendship Is Magic (<i>My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic</i>) 2010 television episodes

"Friendship Is Magic" is the collective name for the series premiere of the animated television series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. The episodes follow Twilight Sparkle, a studious, antisocial unicorn, who reluctantly travels to the town of Ponyville at the insistence of her mentor, Princess Celestia. There, she meets five ponies—Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie—with whom she becomes close friends. Together, the six defeat Nightmare Moon, a villain who has returned after a thousand years of imprisonment in the moon, with magical artifacts known as the "Elements of Harmony". Many of the creatures that appear in these episodes have designs that convey humor or silliness. Aired in two parts, on October 10 and October 22, 2010, the episodes received positive reviews from critics.

References

  1. "Spike at Your Service". My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Season 3. Episode 9. December 29, 2012. The Hub.
  2. Polsky, Dave [@DavePolsky] (December 31, 2012). "@Brian_Lay Can see your point, Brian. Kinda felt it credible he'd taken initiative to learn about his dragon heritage since, but good point" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  3. CouchCrusader (February 22, 2013). "Panel Writeup: The Writer's Room". Equestria Daily . Retrieved November 27, 2021.
  4. Begin, Mary Jane (October 13, 2015). My Little Pony: The Art of Equestria. Abrams Books. p. 117. ISBN   978-1-419-71577-8.
  5. Thiessen, Jayson [@goldenrusset] (December 31, 2012). "@StandbyPlease thanks. One of our layout supervisors, John Cantlie, modelled and animated them himself. saved doing it in flash" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  6. Thiessen, Jayson [@goldenrusset] (December 31, 2012). "@YupTDO @standbyplease he just went ahead and did it on his own. We planned to do it in flash but he thought they would look better in Maya" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  7. Busis, Hillary (December 28, 2012). "'My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic': Exclusive clip and art". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved November 27, 2021.
  8. "The Hub Wraps 2012 with Fifth Consecutive Quarter of Year-Over-Year Audience Growth Across Key Demos" (Press release). Hasbro. January 3, 2013. Retrieved November 28, 2021.
  9. Alvarez, Daniel (December 29, 2012). "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic 'Spike at Your Service' Review". Unleash The Fanboy. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
  10. "My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: Season Three". Shout! Factory. Archived from the original on May 26, 2021. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  11. "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Season 3 Collection". Madman Entertainment. Archived from the original on April 7, 2016. Retrieved June 2, 2021.