“Now slap my ass and call me a little, worthless bitch!!!”

RAMMING SPEED

Spike: “Yes! Hit me again harder!”

@Daneasaur  

 
Yeah, that pretty much sums it up.

@Zaknel  
Then you haven’t had a good and severe sunburn that rages pain upon you, and ten had someone slap it to intensify that pain.

@TexasUberAlles  
I have had both, and I do not understand…

Anyone who has ever had A. a sunburn, and B. a big sister immediately understands.

@Daneasaur  
Or, it could just mean that she was commenting on how he was small, y’know, because he’s younger? There’s nothing implying he’s below average in size for his age.

@Background Pony #D413  
I already explained why.
 
 
@Philweasel  
Indeed. Spike only picked up lying due to living with Ponies whereas the dragons are very pointedly up front with what they have to say.
 
 
@Starswirl  
Runt generally means stunted in growth and/or the weakest member of a litter. Spike could be both.
 
On another note, Ember’s ties to her father, Torch, seem to be somewhat special. He wouldn’t let her compete in the gauntlet because he felt it was too dangerous for her, telling her “only a big strong dragon can beat the gauntlet, because (he thinks) it takes a big strong dragon to lead).
 
In a society where toughness and getting away from home is an ongoing theme, Torch comes across as downright loving towards his daughter.

@Daneasaur  
Or, now that he has wings, there isn’t anything Smolder can do that he couldn’t do too. Ember could’ve also called Spike a runt because he’s, well, young.

@Daneasaur  
Personally I consider dragon honesty one of their better qualities. We’ve seen first hand that ponies can be deceitful, manipulative little shits, where as dragons lay everything on the table. It’s harsh and combative, but not done out of any sort of malice. They’re just a rowdy sort who take pride in forthright behavior and emotional toughness.

@Daneasaur  
So?

@QueenCold  
Unfortunately, folks like to pretend those moments don’t happen when it suits them.

Do the people who are saying that Ember just being there for some reason would be overly contrived not remember the episode Ember was introduced in? Literally this happened:
 

 
I’m not saying that was good writing, but there is precedent here.

@Background Pony Number 17  
Right, trash talking by stating obvious facts.
 
So we can, indeed, consider what Ember had to say was truthful.

@Daneasaur  
Or in other words, like a dragon.

@Background Pony Number 17  
Except that it was made evident that Dragons don’t do sarcasm, she was being literal. Harshly literal, but literal.

@Daneasaur
 
Ember called Spike a runt because she’s a dragon and that’s how dragons talk to one another. It wasn’t personal, just your normal dragon trash-talking.

@Background Pony #49F6  
You’re starting to see what was wrong with Equestria games in that focusing on action roles for spike to “win” with requires basically any other member of the cast being disabled beforehand.
 
Even against the Rok, “Somehow” only Spike’s fire breath was the only thing that did anything to it, yet attacks from an Alicorn, who HAS practiced with Combat magic, is hardly able to do anything to it. Which only brings up more questions since Roks apparently like to prey on dragons.
 
We can have the assumption that they are only vulnerable before the molt fully takes over and thus, during their “stink” phase, they can be picked off, but that Post-molt makes them combat capable and able to fight the Rok away. It would mean that Spike’s fire breath post molt alone outperforms Twilight’s combat magic, which is somewhat horrifying to think about.

@Daneasaur  
What situations require a dragon specifically, let alone bring up the question of choosing a “better” dragon? Smolder is not close to the main 6 so if such a specific situation happens, they’ll still use Spike first. If its an immediate situation, they’ll HAVE to use Spike and if they have time to pick dragons, they’d probably go ask Ember for the best instead. Though most situations can probably be handled with unicorn magic, the convient plot tools, or whatever else before dragon ability comes on the table.
 
I’m just not seeing how Smolder’s ability discredits Spike when she’s limited to her own group and Spike doesn’t have to be limited to unique dragon abilities only he is allowed to do to contribute. If they really want to give him unique skills for beating enemies, they could just give him a new thing to learn and love.

@Background Pony #49F6  
Ember has the bonus in not living in ponyville. Thus, even if Spike and Ember ended up with the same abilities (flight, strength, durability, fire breath), it’s illogical to need Ember to show up if Spike is on hand to deal with a situation. Ember is also Spike’s friend, attained through Spike’s actions, not buffoonery or someone else shelving their accomplishments onto Spike (like cadance, shining armor and twilight giving all the credit to spike for saving the crystal empire).
 
Smolder lives in ponyville, and now we know that Ember’s statement of Spike being a runt means he is weaker and more stunted than his peers in a natural manner. Smolder therefore can do any of the feats that would be asked of Spike and would be able to accomplish them with less issue due to a larger body size and experience in being a dragon.
 
THAT is why I’m not fond of Smolder as them merely existing discredits Spike’s ability to contribute to something that isn’t buffoonery or housework.

@Daneasaur  
So why do you like Ember, but hate Smolder? Because it seems more like you just wanted Spike to be unique from other dragons.

@Daneasaur  

 
Pretty much, yeah.

It appears that context is being ignored she was keeping him a pat on the back she even apologized afterwards

@Zaknel  
That’s what you get for watching the “lipstick fetish” tag for too long.