History Recap / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E10SpikeAtYourService

* OutOfCharacterMoment: The parts where Spike becomes TheKlutz. In prior episodes, he is portrayed as very proficient at various household tasks, including baking as "Just for Sidekicks" indicates. Further more, in later parts of this very episode, he builds a massive tower of rocks without messing up and counts ''every single blade of grass'' at Sweet Apple Acres in only a few ''hours''.

* SuperOCD: Twilight is so focused on getting her reading done that Spike's announcement that he's leaving her service bounces right off. Later, Applejack instantly gets her attention by moving an ink well ever so slightly out of place.

* TheLostWoods: Everfree Forest, as usual, is a mysterious and fearful location full of dangerous creatures.

* TookALevelInJerkass: Averted. [[WhatCouldHaveBeen The original version had Rarity instead of Applejack]], but the head writer felt the unicorn came off as a {{Jerkass}} so they rewrote it.

* AllBalloonsHaveHelium: Spike [[http://www.derpibooru.org/196623?scope=scped143a6e6b8142556fcc3ad1b7d33912d7e90145f inflates Applejack]] with a pair of bellows because he thinks she needs help breathing.

* IdiotBall: Twilight and Spike spend most of the episode passing this to one another, and toward the end, the ''entire cast'' is holding an Idiot Ball. (See TheKlutz, EpicFail, ForgotAboutHisPowers, PoorCommunicationKills, etc.)

* ThreeDEffectsTwoDCartoon: The timberwolves are rendered in CG. This might have been intentional to emphasize their strangeness, but nevertheless is jarring. They are also rendered in the blander black-line art style that clashes with their surroudings even more than their CG-ness does.

* ConspicuousCG: The timberwolves are rendered in CG. This might have been intentional to emphasize their strangeness, but nevertheless is jarring. They are also rendered in the blander black-line art style that clashes with their surroudings even more than their CG-ness does.

* NonStandardCharacterDesign: The King Timberwolf is Flash-animated, unlike the normal timberwolves in this episode, but is visibly made of multiple individual components joined together, rather than appearing to be a single seamless object. Like the ConspicuousCG, this might have been intentional because of how strange it is and how it was created.

* SmellyFeet: Spike has these, and for some reason, he has always desired to sniff them.

* NoBigDeal: Apple Bloom states she and the other Crusaders are going to get fitted for water skis. Applejack treats this as if it's an everyday occurrence (which it is).

* TheIllegible: [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TxH0HTG_CpQ/UN_aLOIhIpI/AAAAAAAAAJk/GAmKGlDH_CM/s1600/vlcsnap-2012-12-29-18h14m23s5.png Spike's business card]]. It's so bad that the animators mirrored it horizontally (look closely and you might be able to make out the words "Spike Dragon Code").

* SureLetsGoWithThat: After Spike bakes his 'pies,' Applejack suggests they take them to...
-->'''Spike:''' (eagerly) [[PrecociousCrush "Rarity?!"]]

* TemptingFate: "Come on, Spike. Just because this forest is full of... wild dangerous animals doesn't mean you're going to see one." Cue timberwolves...

-->'''Spike:''' (eagerly) [[PrecociousCrush"Rarity?!"

* SuperOCD: Twilight is so focused on getting her reading done that Spike's announcement that he's leaving her service bounces right off. Later, [[GenreSavvy Applejack instantly gets her attention by moving an ink well ever so slightly out of place.]]

Because Applejack saved his life, Spike insists on helping Applejack around Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack's okay with letting him help for the day--though being a farmhand isn't Spike's strong point, which he quickly proves by clumsily causing more trouble than good. Still, Spike sticks around the farm to fulfill his "Dragon Code" in which dragons must prove their nobility by serving their savior to the end of their days. Spike is reminded that he's still Twilight's assistant, but Twilight's so caught up in her studies that she absentmindedly gives Spike her blessing to stay with Applejack, meaning he's free to "help" the Apple family ''forever''!

!!Tropes present in this episode: [[YMMV/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E10SpikeAtYourService YMMV Tropes here]]

* {{Determinator}}: Spike is this when it comes to fulfilling his Dragon Code. Applejack told him to count every blade of grass on Sweet Apple Acres and he counted all ''24,567,837'' of them. fa

** The timberwolves' bad breath the main things that tips Spike off to the Mane Six's act, as well as what indicates the arrival of the real deal.

* CombatPragmatist[=/=]DefensiveFeintTrap: Rather than facing the timberwolves in a direct fight, Applejack uses the terrain to her advantage by hitting them with whatever she can put her hooves on. Chasing after her can be much more dangerous than facing her one-on-one.

* {{Determinator}}: Spike is this when it comes to fulfilling his Dragon Code. Applejack told him to count every blade of grass on Sweet Apple Acres and he counted all ''24,567,837'' of them.
* DisneyDeath: The Timberwolves don't die when they fall to pieces; see ElementalEmbodiment below.

* {{Flanderization}}: We previously saw that Spike likes working and can be sometimes clumsy, but one may argue that these aspects grew out of proportion in this episode.
* FailedASpotCheck: When Spike scratched Applejack's back, it was clear that Applejack enjoyed it. Due to Spike's [[AttentionDeficitOohShiny scattershot approach]] at trying to find ways to help Applejack, they both failed to realize that this could have been a perfectly reasonable - if creepy - way for him to serve her.

* TheLostWoods[=/=]WildWilderness: Everfree Forest, as usual, is a mysterious and fearful location full of dangerous creatures.