@Flufux
Well, then, it’s no wonder Opaline beat her. Come to think of it, Opaline’s existence pretty much rendered these three baddies’ punishment as null and void.

@Smart Heart
News flash for you, buddy. People (or ponies in this instance) aren’t rational, they don’t think in pure logic, they make mistakes, they only do what seems right to do at the time. If it wasn’t like that, story and tension wouldn’t exist and the world wouldn’t have half the problems that it has.

So yeah, I don’t really see where you’re getting at. Twilight did what she thought was right in the heat of the moment, and it was perfectly in character for her to do so. I don’t think I need to say anything else on the subject really.

@Flufux
If I’ve seen this situation a million times before. Plus, are you saying Twilight wouldn’t sacrifice and/or risk her own life for her friends?

@Smart Heart
Yeah that totally sounds like something Twilight would do (I say with the utmost sarcasm)…

Also, do you think she had an hour to come up with a plan and think the whole thing through? No, she was in an intense fight scene, her plan just failed, and the enemy grabbed who is basically her brother and best friend in what amounted to pointing a gun at his face and essentially said “stand down or he dies!”

Would you have come up with some clever reverse psychology plan in that situation?

@Flufux
And here I thought chaos had no limits. Still, here’s another option: play to Chrysalis’ inner psycho. Tell her not to waste her time with Spike, but instead, go for Twilight. Present her a dagger, tell her to drop the bell and Spike, then tell her to stab Twilight’s heart, look at Twilight dead in the eye, and see what’s happening in her soul as Chrissy twists it. Slowly. With a VENGEANCE.

@Beau Skunky
Yeah, well, Spike had been a cause of errors in the show.

Two notable examples is Gauntlet of Fire and Equestria Games. Spike got a chance to shine in Gauntlet of Fire just by preventing a couple of teenage dragons from stealing the ponies’ beds because they only thought it wasn’t fair they had to sleep on rocks. Garble, however, wanted revenge on the ponies without explaining why or how. Neither Twilight nor Rarity could handle those teenage dragons even though they’ve already dealt with other foes, such as changelings in the Canterlot Wedding episode. Torch, the dragon lord, and his daughter, Ember, appeared there without being mentioned before, and he was just there so the dragons would have a reason to compete in a race to become the new dragon lord. If Ember hadn’t appeared, then there’d be no one who could take Spike’s place as the dragon lord so he could stay with Twilight.

The same happened in Equestria Games, where Spike unabashedly stole every credit for himself by only running a short distance until he fell and almost shattered the Crystal Heart despite all the hard work the others did. Twilight told Spike to deliver the heart and risked herself failing Celestia’s test by doing so for the sake of the Crystal Empire, then Cadance caught them both and restored the heart herself. During the games, nobody came up with a contingency plan for the threat of a “giant” ice block. The magic-disabling spell they used to prevent cheating also seemed to have applied to the officials and the princesses of Equestria since they probably wouldn’t take the risk they’d become profoundly stupid and cheat themselves. I mean, do they really think keeping everyone from cheating is more important than their lives? Everyone could’ve taken care of that ice block situation, too, if only the conflict wasn’t arbitrary restricted and the episode didn’t give Spike the spotlight.

That’s the crux of the problem with Spike episodes. Every character must get dragged down for random, non-sensical reasons. It must’ve been a real challenge for the writers to put together, giving Spike a chance to shine while making sure not to throw all the other characters under the bus in the process.

Why should we care then if anything happens at all in the show in that case then?

And honestly, it’s not like I constantly defend Spike. Heck, ironically I remember someone accusing me of hating him before, just because I criticized him, or his rabid-“JusticeForSpike” defenders once.

@Smart Heart
If that was an option, don’t you think Applejack would ask him sometime if he could bring her parents back?

With the exception of Sombra, who, as previously mentioned, is a powerful shadow pony who has survived being blasted into smithereens by Luna and Celestia in his first appearance, Discord has never brought anyone back from the dead. So the burden of proof is on you that he can.

Besides, Discord has been shown to have some limit to what he can do.

@Flufux
Was that ever proven? He’s the God of Chaos. He can do anything and everything.

@Smart Heart
Yeah, in a stressful situation like that, I’d doubt Twilight would think that far. If your closest friend and family member was threatened before your eyes like that, would you think “oh, they’re just bluffing. Besides, we can bring him back later,”?

Plus, King Sombra is a borderline undead shadow pony who survived getting blasted into shadow once before, I’d say Discord being able to resurrect someone like him doesn’t automatically mean he can resurrect everyone else.

@Flufux
Discord could always bring him back. Just ask Sombra. Besides, at that point, everything was at rock bottom. Why not chance it?

@Smart Heart
Do you really think Twilight would gamble with Spike’s life?

@Flufux
And Twilight actually fell for her bluff?

@Smart Heart
Killing Spike would have benefitted them, but using him for a chance to kill all of them at once is a bigger prize.

@Flufux
No point in holding him hostage then.

@Smart Heart
If it proved their point that friendship is useless, then yes. Plus, killing Spike would have broken Twilight’s spirit, which is something they would enjoy. Not to mention did they try to kill him along with the others a few seconds later.

@Flufux
Would they really kill someone useless and inconsequential to their plans?

@Smart Heart
What makes you think they’re bluffing…other than this being a kid’s show I mean?

@Background Pony #2B9B
A bold bluff of you to make. But, eh, go ahead.

Chrysalis:Give us your magic or your friend dies!

There’s a second and better way to stop Spike-Abuse: Have him REMOVED from My Little Pony. I don’t see what the purpose is for including him, either.

Not My Spikey Wikey

This may sound dark and cold, but if Tirek, Cozy Glow, and Chrysalis held Spike hostage to exchange for the Crystal Heart, Grogar’s bell, or anything similiar, which would you pick? Sad moment for Spike, but sacrifices must be made.

@Background Pony #12F4  
Yes, My Little Pony would’ve been entirely better off WITHOUT Spike.

@Beau Skunky  
No offense here, either, but why would you care about defending Spike that much since he’s just a cartoon character in a family/kids’ show? I know, it’d been gory and all, but still.