“Old Friends”
(I already sent this one in the fanfic thread.) The idea is that Twilight returns to Canterlot for a visit, realizes the friendship opportunities she had missed and hastily organizes the party to show everyone how much she has changed and learned since she’s lived in Ponyville. She botches the party, alienating most of the Canterlot nobles, but is surprised to find that the ponies from her class (Lemon Hearts, Twinkleshine, Colgate etc.) don’t really care. They already know that she’s been like that and never held a grudge that she always ignored them. She learns a lesson about paying attention to others who may be silently supporting you without you even noticing, and that even if you have your new friends you should not forget about old ones.
“Dragon Quest II”
(Basically the karzahnii comic, only even closer to the standard ep format and moved to the s4 continuity from happening during Dragon Quest.)
In the intro we see Spike visiting Peewee and at the same taking care of Twilight’s laundry - basically hanging around at the phoenix grounds in the forest, talking to himself while TS’ laundry is soaking in the lake while Peewee flies around. After Spike briefly recalls their first meeting and muses if he will meet any dragons he will like, we skip over to the main plot.
Dragons have infested Ponyville! popping up by surprise in all kinds of places. AJ finds and chases away one prowling around on her farm. Rainbow startles one while looking for a spot for a nap, not noticing that the comfy rock is a dragon’s back. One scares Rarity half to death popping up in her gardrobe. (humorous dragon-in-clothing scene) A smaller dragon startles Twilightand after she finds it in a pot. The hugest dragon is in Pinkie’s room and Pinkie’s been hanging things on her horns and such without noticing the elephant in the room. The five eventually run into each other and realize that TS voices the opinion that the draons seem to be searching for something.
Twilight would send a letter to Celestia expect Spike is away, so she has to go herself to fetch her.
Meanwhile FS is surprised herself to find a dragon on her premises, but this one is different from the rest: an intelligent and outspoken baby dragon very much like Spike. “Whimsey” ran away from her dragon tribe because she wanted to live her own life. After the other 4 of her friends come looking for Fluttershy, the hinding Whimsey is discovered and the ponies realize that she is the reason for the dragon infestation. However, Whimsey wins over all of them and they become fast friends. (AJ is impressed by the young dragon’s honesty and sincerity; Rainbow is captivated by the young dragon’s weather-affecting breath and the things they can create together; Whimsey’s curiosity for fashion (evidenced by her bow) but never having had the chance to dry dresses among dragons means that of course Rarity has to lend a hoof, etc.)
Twilight arrives with Celestia. Now Ponyville is overflowing with smoke due to the dragons’ presence. The other 5 have to ‘fess up and admit that they know the solution. But everyone is hesitant about letting Whimsey be forced to be taken back to her tribe which she hates.
At this point the Queen Dragon makes an appearance. (identical with karzahnii’s Empress Dragon/Faust’s female dragon) She’s an exceptional dragoness of purple color who has both the size and also the intelligence and breath-magic of baby dragons. It is learned that Whimsey’s tribe is in fact residing in the Smokey Mountain (the one seen in “Dragonshy”), having moved there during the Great Migration. (It is explained that dragon tribes/families usually live huddled, and the Dragon Migration is both for avoiding overpopulation by moving to new places, and also for mating/mixing/egg-laying). Celestia and the Dragon Queen debate a bit about whether dragons are allowed to make a home on Equestrian ground, but dragon tradition predating pony tradition makes the Queen’s point irrefutable.
TS asks why they haven’t noticed the dragons right after the migration (considering the events of Dragonshy), and a final fact is revealed: Whimsey’s weather control ability can ensure that dragon smoke is dissipated before it affects the dragons’ enviroment. Unless Whimsey returns, Ponyville will be rendered unlivable by the smoke from the mountain (again, as seen in “Dragonshy”).
Believing that everyone will be against her after this new revelation, Whimsey makes plans to sneak away to avoid being forced into returning. But just as she is about to sneak out of Ponyville, she bumps into another figure…
SPIKE has returned from the forest, completely oblivious to everything that has happened at home. She is shocked and enamored, meeting another baby dragon like him for the first time. (Whimsey is less affected - having been used to other dragons her whole life - she is only mildly surprised about what another one is doing here.)
Celestia and Twilight explain to the Queen and Whimsey about Spike. After the ponies and Celestia declare Spike to be family, and Spike them as her family and friends, Whimsey begins to feel sorry that she planned to abandon the ponies who were friendly with her and leave her dragon sisters who cared enough to come looking for her (even if they always pushed her aside at home). She decides to accept her responsibility and return with her sisters. Since they are living near Ponyville now, the mane six invites her to hang out whenever she feels like with them - and especially Spike, who is thrilled about the prospect of learning more about dragon culture and hanging out with another of his kind.
As a final joke, TS introduces herself as Celestia’s student, Spike’s employer and a pony princess, and suggests that Whimsey can turn to her for any kind of advice - which somehow fails to make an impression on Whimsey, who finds Twi’s big words and the fact that Spike’s a stundent’s assistant amusing, and doesn’t seem to like Twi much. Twi is shocked and annoyed, not understanding what her problem is. The other watch with sweatdrops over their heads. It turns out that there is one pony Whimsey get along with - Twilight.
The ep ends with Spike writing the friendship report (and TS excluding herself, still upset that she got rejected). Whimsey becomes a semi recurring character like Zecora.
—
The purpose of all this is to open up new angles to explore dragons (and Spike). Whimsey is introduced as Spike’s opposite in many ways: a (baby) dragon that lives with other dragons (and is fed up with it), while Spike is a dragon who wants to rebuild his connections with his ancestry.0
Some explanations that karzahnii made about how dragons are are excellent:
- Dragons grow when they start hoarding and getting greedy. At the same time, this behavior is natural for dragons. So to stay small for such a long time as in the case Spike and Whimsey is something of a choice that goes against dragon tradition. The smaller dragon will inevitably get bullied, but in exchange they retain more intelligence than their larger, more bestial sisters.
- Whimsey is a character in the story, with her own wants, strenghts and likeable qualities. Definitely more than just an OC or a love interest or a repetition of the G3 character. In many ways, she is actually less naive than Spike. At the same time, she possesses girly qualities that allow her to interact with the mane 6 in ways tha Spike could not.
but I changed a few rule to ones that I found to be more suitable:
- Dragon breath is a bit special and magical, similar to unicorn magic. They are dependent on not just the dragon’s ancestry but also on the individual. Examples of unique are Spike’s ability to send letters by flame and Whimsey’s weather breath.
- Whimsey’s “sisters” did not exist in the karzahnii comic either. I wanted to add a family for Whimsey to drive home the point that she’s Spike’s opposite counterpart. They are a bit more “feral”
Also, though the story only goes only this far, it includes any hooks for one or more sequels:
- Whimsey is clearly the same dragon “tribe/species” as her “sisters” (similar color scheme etc.). Meanwhile, Spike seems to share a scheme with the Queen Dragon. If there was a future episode Whimsey would admit that she has no idea what tribe Spike is. I also wanted to include a bit at the end of this episode where Celestia would share a meaningful glance with the Queen just as they are about to leave as if trying to make her say something about Spike - but then she’d fly away without saying anything. What does that mean? Is the Queen Dragon Spike’s mother? Are “royal” dragon a different sub-species and will Spike eventually become like the Queen? I have no idea, but there is definitely something special about Spike.
- Despite the obvious shipping fuel, there is not meant to be any romantic Spike-Whimsey subtext during this episode. Spike has Rarity, and Whimsey is used to other dragons so just seeing a dragon boy isn’t sufficient to impress her (and she’s far more tomboyish/self-reliant to become like that that easily anyway). This angle would doubtless be explored more if there were more Whimsey episodes though. Should Spike really stick with Rarity (who she can only expect a fleeting romance with - even ignoring the age difference, they are biologically non compatible species, so kids are out of the question) or does he have a better chance of happiness if he tries to find romance with other dragons?
(long post is long)