Here's a thought.

What if they don't really know what sex Spike is, and they all simply treat him like a boy because Twilight started calling him that when she was a filly? What if baby dragons are androgynous until they reach puberty? Think about how curvy and soft-looking Spike was compared to those teenage dragons. Sure 'he' could just have baby fat, but what if he was really a she?

What would Spike respond upon experiencing changes that males don't go through? How might 'he' respond discovering that her entire gender identity was imposed upon her because a silly little filly who didn't know better started calling her a him?

I was trying to remember if they ever directly called Spike a boy and not just use the male pronouns because Twilight used them. Ended up thinking about this. Sadly, this is now my head-canon.

2535213
Mind = blown.

That actually makes a lot of sense to.

2535213 Love the idea

2535213

I have no idea to react to this....

all I know is that it'd be one hell of an interesting fic.......

Couldn't Celestia or Twi's parents just take a look under his tail? I mean, they ought to clean diapers, unless Dragons magically are pottytrained when hatched.

2535213
Very interesting idea, that's for sure. I'd love to see this kind of thing done in a story sometime.

2535213

Hmm, it's an interesting thought, but think back to Ticket Master. When Spike starts to gag when they get all sappy at the end, Applejack says, "Well, ain't that just like a boy?"

Also, I find it very hard to believe that in the (estimated) 8-10 years between him hatching and the S1 premiere, Celestia never once had him examined by a Doctor. Even if they don't know a lot about dragons, he is a reptile, so...

Okay, this is gonna get a bit gross, sorry, but... well, he would have a cloaca, and a very simple examination would reveal his sex.

Again, a nifty idea, but not feasible.

Well, if Spike has the anatomy of a reptile, then he wouldn't really see his parts even if he looked down at it. He may just be female without really being aware of it .

I love and agree with this, now it's my headcanon as well.

2535342 Well, the thing is that reptiles, which I'm operating under the assumption that dragons count as, have a cloaca, which is the convergence of the urinary and digestive tract in males and females, while also being the opening to the reproductive tract in females. Unless somepony were actively probing it looking for a reproductive tract, or trying to express his hemipenis [which would kinda be perverse, if you think about it in a child molestation sense], it wouldn't be exactly obvious.

2535380 For all we know, she did, but thought it would be funny to let them all figure it out.

2535391 Yeah, exactly. He just assumes it's true because others told him he was a him.

2535213
*Slowly removes shades*
Mother of god...
...
That means Spike's a lesbian...

That is a great interpretation. I'd love to read a fic like that.

2535213 I fully support this Headcanon! Also, for all of the dragon anatomical charts that i've analyzed, i've never seen sexual organs listed! (And i'd LOVE this as a fic.)

2535213
*Slow clap*
Oh my Luna,

2535342

The original idea here is that Spike was androgynous (without primary sexual characteristics) when hatched and didn't really develop a gender until he/she hit puberty. Being surrounded by fillies would likely have the effect of giving Spike a subconscious female template but a conscious male template because he was treated as a boy during the time covered in the series so far. No one would be able to tell the difference because there would be no way of telling if Spike was male or female until his primary sexual characteristics grew in. Instant gender-bender, just add hormones; unless, of course, magic turns Spike into a gender-shifter like Futaba Shimeru from the manga Futaba-kun Change!. Fun times and wacky hijinks ensue!

2535834 I'm pretty sure the thing about Futaba-kun Change was that it was a bloodline thing, and that all the folks from the island their family originated from experienced it.

2535213 That...I'm going to make a one-shot out of that if you haven't already. Have you?

2535213 I love this idea!

2536155 I've got a thought in my head, but I haven't gotten anything written yet. Literally had to start preparing a meal after getting the idea to even write about it.

2536604 So....do I have perms to write about it?

2536620 Of course you do. I'm not an idea hoarder. The more people who write about this, the better.

2536909 YUS! I shall get started posthaste! *brews coffee and darts over to the writing desk*

2535850

Then maybe I should use Ranma 1/2 as a better example, as it has a magical reason for the gender-bending. Have Twilight Sparkle suffer a critical spell failure while Spike was near the epicenter to trigger the condition.

2535213

This needs realization. *Flies Away*

2535213
I thought of something similar, that some species of dragon remain genderless until puberty and then display distinct sexual characteristics. The difference being that I mildly imagined them being like some species of reptiles and amphibians, with the ability to change genders (idea generated from the fact that in the course of a day, Spike aged from baby to adult due to greed. If that can happen, then I don't think it's far off to imagine a shift in gender as possible.)

2554023
He did not turn into an adult due to greed. It's just that the greed tapped into an instinct buried inside him that caused him to undergo those changes to suit his needs.

2554023 2555641 My working theory is that greed growth operates and shapes the dragon based on his or her desires. If a female hatchling saw herself as male, greed growth would probably make her grow as a male would in order to please her and reinforce the idea that it is 'right'.

2536959 Done.

(For posterity, the resulting fic Seven Fates made: http://www.fimfiction.net/story/159335/from-the-mouths-of-fillies )

2576669 Yeah, mine's never getting published.

2579110 Why not?

2579131 I started it, then I wrote a paragraph or so, but then real life happened and it's probably going to be doomed to sitting in my Stories thingy forever. I called it "Twilight's Little Girl".

2579137 Ah.

2579144 I'll go ahead and read yours though.