Spike · 10:09am Nov 30th, 2012
Might I ask, what is the fanfiction community's obsession with calling Twilight Sparkle Spike's adoptive or surrogate mother?
It's small thing, but it irritates me in every story that insists upon using this description of their relationship. Not once in the show does Twilight hint at even the slightest familiar relationship between them. She only calls him Spike or 'my number one assistant.'
Who the heck would call their kid, adopted, surrogate or otherwise, their assistant? That would be the height of alienation for the poor kid.
Same goes with the idea that Twilight is his 'sister', but to a lesser extent. I have four brothers, and no matter how much they help me, if I called them my assistant, even if I paid them to help me, they'd be hurt by that.
So, you know, /endrant. It just gets on my nerves, because it's more than a little OOC for Spike to be referring to Twilight as either his mother or his sister.
And yes, I know it's just the conclusion some people come to when they try to define Twilight Sparkle and Spike's unique relationship, but really, what's wrong with "oldest friend" or "roommate" or "boss/mentor/teacher"? For all of which there is actually evidence in the show that he might refer to her as such.
She did hatch him (or at least cause him to be hatched) and if all the writer knows is the show then they could assume that Twilight raised him from the day he hatched. It would also be safe to assume (from the show) that Spike was one of her 2 or 3 friends growing up. Their relationship is ... Complicated...
This assumption can lead to that kind of story.
The show almost always understates their relationship IMHO this is because Spike is one of the few male characters in the show and expressing closeness embarrasses him.
Personally it does not bother me as long as it stays as understated as their relationship is on the show. The stories that have Spike calling Twilight mom every other sentence? they get annoying
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Here's the thing though: when Twilight hatched him, she was a filly. Unless she kept him as a 'pet', the mother/son relationship definitely does not make sense. It's unlikely that Twilight was able to raise a baby pony, nevermind a baby dragon, who would be much more complicated to raise.
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Unfortunately that is one of the big problems with the show for Spike fans.
We simply know nothing about Spike's formative years. All we have is a snippet from a Word of Faust that Celestia was directly in charge of Spike for the first couple years after he hatched. That is not exactly a whole lot of information.
At what point was Twilight given sole responsibility of Spike? When he learned to walk? Talk?
From a human standpoint ...
If Twilight had been in charge of Spike from 2 years old until the show starts (where he feels like he is twelve or thirteen) then he could easily feel like Twilight is a mother figure. I do not know Twilights actual age but if she hatched Spike at twelve/thirteen then was given charge of him two or three years later that would put Twilight in the sixteen/seventeen year old range and easily able to take care of a child (or dragon). It gets easier if you can assume that she had help from Celestia or the castle maid staff (or even her rarely seen mother).
While I personally think Twilight treated Spike badly in the first couple of shows their relationship could easily be explained by saying that neither one is very comfortable thinking about their relationship (much less talking about it).
I am not saying that you are wrong.
I am just trying to say that my personal headcannon makes their relationship more complex than an easily described mother/son or brother/sister or friend relationship. In my mind it is a combination of all of them. (that is probably why I prefer it when their relationship is on the understated side. It leaves things up to the reader to interpret one way or the other.
the ship shipping (and clop) I avoid those at all costs
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I've never actually read a Twilight/Spike ship. I guess it would only squick me out as much as Twilight/Celestia though
Though I should also point out that we don't know much about the background of any of the characters. We only know the cutie mark stories of the mane 6. And that Twilight has a B.B.B.F.F and Princess Cadance as her foalsitter.