Little bit of head canon RE: Spike · 3:34pm May 29th, 2016
Just for chuckles, wanted to throw up a little head canon idea I've been forming about Spike for a while.
So, it's been documented that reptiles in the real world can be influenced by their environment prior to hatching. An alligator's gender, for example, can be decided by the temperature of its nest.
The dragons of Equestria are somewhat the same. The environment in which their egg is raised influences what kind of dragon they are. Most of the ones hatched in Equestria are born in volcanoes or kept warm by their parent's fire, ergo they themselves are the usual fire-breathing variety of dragon most folks think of. A dragon egg hatched in a cold area like the frozen north, however, might lead to a dragon that's adapted to cold and breathes ice and blizzards.
So what about Spike? Well, he's a unique case because his egg was exposed to a huge amount of magic before hatching. Dragons birthed by magic are born in much the way that the one who provided it pictures them to be. Young Twilight Sparkle expected a baby dragon like what she'd read in story books, and so got a little fire-breather. But all the magic poured into Spike meant that he inherited some of that power for himself, showcased by his teleportation flames and by his greed growth. Most dragons can't control it and need one of their parents to belt them back into line before it goes to far, but Spike managed to master his greed and bring himself back to normal.
And isn't it interesting that his "Guardians of Harmony" toy allows you to replace a little FiM Spike figurine with his giant armored dragon form? Maybe a sign that teleporting fire isn't Spike's only magic trick once he learns to master his abilities...
Thing is, Spike isn't unique. There was another, undocumented case of a group of spell casters trying to hatch a dragon egg by working together to provide the magic. The result? A creature with incredibly powerful magic, and a mishmash of all sorts of physical traits reflecting the casters that worked on the project...
Oh wow. That's pretty clever, actually.
*looks vainly for Upvote Blog Post button*
I have to admit, that IS a pretty clever piece of fan theory. Rather well thought out. :-D