# Spike at Your Service

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9th episode of the 3rd season of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

"Spike at Your Service" My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode Episode no. Season 3 Episode 9 Directed by James Wootton Jayson Thiessen (supervising) Story by Dave Polsky Teleplay by Merriwether Williams Original air date December 29, 2012 (2012-12-29) Running time 22 minutes Episode chronology ← Previous "Apple Family Reunion" Next → "Keep Calm and Flutter On" My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic (season 3) List of episodes

"**Spike at Your Service**" is the ninth episode of [the third season](/source/My_Little_Pony%3A_Friendship_Is_Magic_season_3) of [animated](/source/Animated_series) television series *[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic](/source/My_Little_Pony%3A_Friendship_Is_Magic)* as well as the sixty-first overall. It aired on December 29, 2012. In this episode, Applejack saves Spike from a herd of timberwolves, and he insists on repaying her so that he can live up to the Noble Dragon Code. However, when he offers to help her with the chores on the farm, she is not comfortable with his attitude.

## Plot

External videos Spike at Your Service (full episode) — Official upload of the episode onto YouTube

My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Equestria Toyline Cutie mark Elements of Harmony Pony Spin-offs My Little Pony: Equestria Girls (2013–2020)(List of animations) My Little Pony: Pony Life (2020–2021)(List of episodes) Characters Mane Six Twilight Sparkle Rainbow Dash Pinkie Pie Applejack Fluttershy Rarity Supporting Spike Princess Celestia Princess Luna Princess Cadance Shining Armor Discord Starlight Glimmer Trixie Zecora Antagonists Queen Chrysalis Lord Tirek Cozy Glow Minor Derpy Hooves Background Six Cheese Sandwich Quibble Pants The Wonderbolts Aunt Holiday and Auntie Lofty Equestria Girls Sunset Shimmer Seasons & episodes Season 1 (2010–2011) "Friendship Is Magic" "The Ticket Master" "Applebuck Season" "Griffon the Brush Off" "Boast Busters" "Dragonshy" "Look Before You Sleep" "Bridle Gossip" "Swarm of the Century" "Winter Wrap Up" "Call of the Cutie" "Fall Weather Friends" "Suited for Success" "Feeling Pinkie Keen" "Sonic Rainboom" "Stare Master" "The Show Stoppers" "A Dog and Pony Show" "Green Isn't Your Color" "Over a Barrel" "A Bird in the Hoof" "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" "Owl's Well That Ends Well" "Party of One" "The Best Night Ever" Season 2 (2011–2012) "The Return of Harmony" "Lesson Zero" "Luna Eclipsed" "Sisterhooves Social" "The Cutie Pox" "May the Best Pet Win!" "The Mysterious Mare Do Well" "Sweet and Elite" "Secret of My Excess" "Hearth's Warming Eve" "Family Appreciation Day" "Baby Cakes" "The Last Roundup" "The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000" "Read It and Weep" "Hearts and Hooves Day" "A Friend in Deed" "Putting Your Hoof Down" "It's About Time" "Dragon Quest" "Hurricane Fluttershy" "Ponyville Confidential" "MMMystery on the Friendship Express" "A Canterlot Wedding" Season 3 (2012–2013) "The Crystal Empire" "Too Many Pinkie Pies" "One Bad Apple" "Magic Duel" "Sleepless in Ponyville" "Wonderbolts Academy" "Apple Family Reunion" "Spike at Your Service" "Keep Calm and Flutter On" "Just for Sidekicks" "Games Ponies Play" "Magical Mystery Cure" Season 4 (2013–2014) "Princess Twilight Sparkle" "Castle Mane-ia" "Daring Don't" "Flight to the Finish" "Power Ponies" "Bats!" "Rarity Takes Manehattan" "Pinkie Apple Pie" "Rainbow Falls" "Three's a Crowd" "Pinkie Pride" "Simple Ways" "Filli Vanilli" "Twilight Time" "It Ain't Easy Being Breezies" "Somepony to Watch Over Me" "Maud Pie" "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils" "Leap of Faith" "Testing Testing 1, 2, 3" "Trade Ya!" "Inspiration Manifestation" "Equestria Games" "Twilight's Kingdom" Season 5 (2015) "The Cutie Map" "Castle Sweet Castle" "Tanks for the Memories" "Slice of Life" "Amending Fences" "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?" "Made in Manehattan" "Crusaders of the Lost Mark" "The Hooffields and McColts" "The Cutie Re-Mark" Season 6 (2016) "A Hearth's Warming Tail" "The Times They Are a Changeling" Season 7 (2017) "The Perfect Pear" Season 8 (2018) "Grannies Gone Wild" Season 9 (2019) "The Last Crusade" Series finale Media Films & specials My Little Pony: The Movie (2017) My Little Pony: Best Gift Ever (2018) My Little Pony: Rainbow Roadtrip (2019) Music Theme song "This Day Aria" Movie Soundtrack "Rainbow" "Off to See the World" Games My Little Pony: Twilight Sparkle, Teacher for a Day Gameloft video game Collectible card game Other media Home video releases IDW comics Issues My Little Pony/Transformers Brony fandom Fan works (list) 15.ai Voiceverse NFT plagiarism scandal A Brony Tale Bronies (documentary) Derpibooru Equestria Daily Fimfiction Fallout: Equestria Friendship Is Witchcraft Legends of Equestria Love & Ponystep Ponysona PONY.MOV Them's Fightin' Herds Fandom people 15 hotdiggedydemon Jenny Nicholson Odyssey Eurobeat Sethisto The Living Tombstone Vylet Pony Fan culture Analysis Brony music Bronyspeak Charity Criticism Fan art Clop Ponysona Fan fiction Military bronies /mlp/ Online communities My Little Pony conventions BABSCon BronyCAN BronyCon Czequestria Everfree Northwest GalaCon Ponyville Ciderfest RuBronyCon TrotCon UK PonyCon Vanhoover Pony Expo v t e

This article's plot summary needs to be improved. Please help do so. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. (November 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

When Applejack saves Spike from a timberwolf attack in the Everfree Forest, he insists on helping her around the farm in order to repay a life debt that is customary to dragons in their "Dragon Code". His efforts only make trouble for her and the other ponies, and they set up a fake timberwolf attack for Spike so that he can save Applejack from, thus making him feel satisfied with his debt. Their ruse draws a pack of real timberwolves, which Applejack easily crushes, but the pieces form into a single giant beast and she gets caught in a rockslide. Spike causes the timberwolf to fall apart by throwing a rock down its throat, and frees Applejack. Afterwards, Applejack convinces Spike to give up his debt.

## Background

"Spike at Your Service" was directed by [James Wootton](/source/James_Wootton_(animator)), with [Jayson Thiessen](/source/Jayson_Thiessen) supervising, and written by [Merriwether Williams](/source/Merriwether_Williams), based on a story by [Dave Polsky](/source/Dave_Polsky).[1] According to Polsky, though Spike is shown to know very little about being a dragon in "Dragon Quest", the Dragon Code "[k]inda felt ... credible he'd taken initiative to learn about his dragon heritage since".[2] In the first treatment, Spike owed Rarity a life debt. Because Rarity was so cruel to Spike, it was changed to Applejack.[3][*[better source needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability#Questionable_sources)*] The Timberwolves are dogs made of wood. According to Mary Jane Begin, author of *My Little Pony: The Art of Equestria*, their threateningness mostly comes from their size, machine-like structure, and sharp geometric shapes.[4] They were modelled and animated by layout supervisor John Cantlie;[5] instead of the planned [Flash animation](/source/Flash_animation), the wolves were animated using [Autodesk Maya](/source/Autodesk_Maya).[6]

## Broadcast and reception

The episode aired on December 29, 2012, on [The Hub](/source/Discovery_Family).[7] It was viewed by 432,000 people and garnered double-digit year-to-year delivery gains in all demographics except kids aged 2–11 and 6–11, which gained one-digit gains.[8] Daniel Alvarez of *Unleash the Fanboy* gave "Spike at Your Service" three and a half out of five stars, calling it "[n]ot great and perhaps the weakest episode of the season, but enjoyable nonetheless".[9]

## Home media

The episode has been released as part of the *Friendship Is Magic* season three collections, in Region 1 by [Shout! Factory](/source/Shout!_Factory) and Region 4 by [Madman Entertainment](/source/Madman_Entertainment).[10][11]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** "Spike at Your Service". [*My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic*](/source/My_Little_Pony%3A_Friendship_Is_Magic). Season 3. Episode 9. December 29, 2012. [The Hub](/source/Discovery_Family).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [Polsky, Dave \[@DavePolsky\]](/source/Dave_Polsky) (December 31, 2012). ["@Brian_Lay Can see your point, Brian. Kinda felt it credible he'd taken initiative to learn about his dragon heritage since, but good point"](https://twitter.com/DavePolsky/status/285792116976795648) ([Tweet](/source/Tweet_(social_media))) – via [Twitter](/source/Twitter).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Crusader_3-0)** CouchCrusader (February 22, 2013). ["Panel Writeup: The Writer's Room"](https://www.equestriadaily.com/2013/02/unicon-2013-panel-writers-room.html). [Equestria Daily](/source/Equestria_Daily). Retrieved November 27, 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Begin, Mary Jane (October 13, 2015). *My Little Pony: The Art of Equestria*. [Abrams Books](/source/Abrams_Books). p. 117. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-419-71577-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-419-71577-8).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Thiessen, Jayson \[@goldenrusset\]](/source/Jayson_Thiessen) (December 31, 2012). ["@StandbyPlease thanks. One of our layout supervisors, John Cantlie, modelled and animated them himself. saved doing it in flash"](https://twitter.com/goldenrusset/status/285788329885192192) ([Tweet](/source/Tweet_(social_media))) – via [Twitter](/source/Twitter).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [Thiessen, Jayson \[@goldenrusset\]](/source/Jayson_Thiessen) (December 31, 2012). ["@YupTDO @standbyplease he just went ahead and did it on his own. We planned to do it in flash but he thought they would look better in Maya"](https://twitter.com/goldenrusset/status/285820651233755139) ([Tweet](/source/Tweet_(social_media))) – via [Twitter](/source/Twitter).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Busis_7-0)** Busis, Hillary (December 28, 2012). ["'My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic': Exclusive clip and art"](https://ew.com/article/2012/12/28/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-exclusive-clip-applejack/). *[Entertainment Weekly](/source/Entertainment_Weekly)*. Retrieved November 27, 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Viewership_8-0)** ["The Hub Wraps 2012 with Fifth Consecutive Quarter of Year-Over-Year Audience Growth Across Key Demos"](https://newsroom.hasbro.com/news-releases/news-release-details/hub-wraps-2012-fifth-consecutive-quarter-year-over-year-audience) (Press release). [Hasbro](/source/Hasbro). January 3, 2013. Retrieved November 28, 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Alvarez_9-0)** Alvarez, Daniel (December 29, 2012). ["My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic 'Spike at Your Service' Review"](http://www.unleashthefanboy.com/news/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-spike-at-your-service-review/38808). *Unleash The Fanboy*. Retrieved November 27, 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic: Season Three"](https://www.shoutfactory.com/product/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-season-three?product_id=3202). [Shout! Factory](/source/Shout!_Factory). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210526023931/https://www.shoutfactory.com/product/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-season-three?product_id=3202) from the original on May 26, 2021. Retrieved May 26, 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Season 3 Collection"](https://web.archive.org/web/20160407024739/http://www.madman.com.au/catalogue/view/34671/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-season-3-collection). [Madman Entertainment](/source/Madman_Entertainment). Archived from [the original](http://www.madman.com.au/catalogue/view/34671/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-season-3-collection) on April 7, 2016. Retrieved June 2, 2021.

## External links

- ["Spike at Your Service"](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2481120/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier))

v t e My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes Seasons 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Season 3 "The Crystal Empire" "Too Many Pinkie Pies" "One Bad Apple" "Magic Duel" "Sleepless in Ponyville" "Wonderbolts Academy" "Apple Family Reunion" "Spike at Your Service" "Keep Calm and Flutter On" "Just for Sidekicks" "Games Ponies Play" "Magical Mystery Cure"

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Spike at Your Service](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spike_at_Your_Service) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spike_at_Your_Service?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.