My Thoughts on Spike in Season 2

I'm going to just come out and say it. Season 2 took Spike's character in the right direction in my opinion. In Season 1, I always felt that Spike was very unappreciated for everything he's done. He works hard for everypony that needs help and Twilight to me really took him for granted. Not to mention in "Owls Well to End's Well", not only did the Owl seem like the focus of the episode, but Twilight didn't consider Spike's feelings at all. Long story short, I didn't enjoy that episode that much. It was supposed to be a Spike episode, but didn't feel like one.
          There were two episode focused on him this season and I thought both of them did well with Spike's character. In "Secret of Excess", we saw Spike's greed get the best of him as well as revealing his crush to Rarity. As for as the greed is concerned, I actually found it rather refreshing. Think about it this way, not is it typical for dragons to be greedy, but it's also for little kids to be greedy. In a way, it's like Spike's greed was doubled! Though like the episode title, I found the whole him becoming a hug dragon pretty excessive.
        I want to talk about my thoughts on Sparity for a second. I honestly didn't know how to feel about it before this episode. I did find Spike's crush on Rarity cute at first, but in the back of my mind I have a feeling Rarity knew about the crush the whole time. I really hope that's not the case because it would look as if that she took his crush on her to her advantage with certain chores. I mean, it could be fair if Rarity had like a hunch that he liked her and was just playing along with it. Eh, I'm probably thinking too hard about it. Like most of us, I found Spike giving Rarity the fire ruby a very generous sentiment. I can imagine Sparity fans squeed in joy when Rarity first kisses Spike's cheek and her calling him her "Spikey-Wikey". Even though I find couples calling each other baby names/animal names irritating, that wasn't the case here for me. As for the scene where they were falling and Rarity cutting Spike off before he revealed his crush, I found that part puzzling and strong at the same time. To me, her cutting him off basically proves that she's known about his crush. The only question is how long as she known. But hey. I'm just nitpicking at the point.
         Now for Dragon Quest. If you have read my previous journals, you know what of the things I wanted to see is Spike question where he came from and who he is. Though his origins remain unknown, I do like how Spike wanted to do what was necessary to find out where he belonged. Though Spike's experience was a bit underwhelming to me, I didn't think it was that bad. Though seeing a hatchling like Spike trying to fit in with some teenagers, it's just something we've all seen in after school specials. We know how it works. The little kids meet the big kids, the big kids make fun of him and challenge him to do things he has no business in doing, and by some unintentional instance, he wins over their respect. That and they eventually try to make him do something that's wrong and he has an internal struggle on whether to do it or not. Speaking of which, I'd like to talk about that as well. It's the part after Spike and the dragons attacked the Phoenix family and leave an egg behind. The teenage dragons tell Spike to smash the egg and it looks like Spike's about to do it. Before I go any further, here's something else to  think about. Spike not only has to fight peer pressure and dragons much bigger than him to not crush the egg, but like in "Secret of Excess", he had to fight his inner dragon! Don't quote me on this, but I think that dragons are also known for crushing eggs. Well either way, I think that part along developed his character a bit. As for Spike not knowing where he came from, him saying at the end that the ponies were his family, that's good enough for me as far as the show's concerned. Anything deeper should probably be saved for fanfics. Though I was disappointed that he had to prove himself in front of some while teenage dragons. I thought it would have been better for him to have been lead by a dragon elder. He could have taught him the important aspects of being a dragon and Spike could end up teaching him about what it's like to be a dragon in a Pony world.
          There were also one small instance in Season 2 that makes me ask the question: "Where and who would Twilight Sparkle be without Spike?" Seriously. Would she have the life she does now if she never hatched Spike's egg? I highly doubt it. But I digress. In "Lesson Zero", we see Spike trying to keep Twilight down while she was losing her mind about not being able to find a friendship lesson. We see the side of Spike that can be supportive when he's not being a dick. I'll admit it. Even though Spike's my favorite character, there have been times where I was wanting Spike to shut up for saying the wrong things at the wrong time.  But to be fair, nobody's perfect. And he's a kid. He's probably learning things along the way as much as Twilight is. But in "Lesson Zero", we see that Spike just wanted to do his best to help Twilight calm down and tell her everything will be fine. He even summoned for Pr. Celestia to help calm Twilight down. So in a way, Spike was sort of the hero in "Lesson Zero"! Just goes to show how undervalued Spike is sometimes.
           What do I hope to see from Spike in season 3? Well I heard rumors that in the first two episode of Season 3, there's a secret 7th element of harmony. I'm praying that Spike is this last element. Since Spike's a baby dragon, this is probably unlikely, but it's fun to dream. I also hope to see him be more interactive with the other ponies. I'd like to personally see how Spike has truly affect the mane six since they've met him. Because as it is right now, they could take Spike out of the show and I think only Twilight and Rarity would truly notice and be affected. Not that I WANT that to happen, but that's just how much work I think needs to be done with him.