Smolder

Smolder is a female dragon and one of the "Young Six" who appears in season eight of the show as a student at Twilight Sparkle's School of Friendship.

Development
Smolder has a similar color scheme to G3.5 Whimsey Weatherbe.

On March 25, 2018, Jim Miller was asked "What relations does Smolder have with Ember?" and answered "Just a member of the dragon community. No familial relationship."

Depiction in the series
In the season eight premiere School Daze - Part 1 and Part 2, Smolder enrolls in Twilight Sparkle's School of Friendship as a student, having been brought to Ponyville by Ember to represent the dragons. Initially, Smolder is bitter about being enrolled at the school against her will, made worse when Twilight's strict adherence to the Equestria Education Assocation's guidelines causes the school courses to be dull and boring. She also only gets along with Gallus at first due to their similar personalities.

When Smolder later cuts class with Gallus, Sandbar, Yona, Ocellus, and Silverstream, the six hang out together and end up becoming good friends. When they return to school for Friends and Family Day, they accidentally ruin the event and cause damage to the school. Chancellor Neighsay of the EEA perceives their fun and games as an attack orchestrated by non-pony creatures, and the offended tribe leaders pull their representative students out of school, including Smolder.

Not wanting to say goodbye to each other after the school is closed, Smolder and her friends go into hiding at the Castle of the Two Sisters. Though the six have fun together at first, they soon come under attack by ferocious puckwudgies, and the Mane Six save them. When Smolder and her friends are asked to come back to school, they are reluctant to continue their boring lessons, but Twilight and the others assure them things will be better and more fun than before. After Twilight defies the authority of Chancellor Neighsay and reopens the School of Friendship, Ember allows Smolder to stay.

In Grannies Gone Wild, Smolder, Yona, and Sandbar reluctantly listen to Rainbow Dash gush about the Wild Blue Yonder rollercoaster in Las Pegasus. In Horse Play, she takes part in Twilight's play about Princess Celestia.

In Non-Compete Clause, Smolder and her fellow students are taken on a teamwork field trip by Applejack and Rainbow Dash. The teachers spend most of the trip arguing amongst themselves, confusing some of the students and annoying the others (such as Smolder). When this behavior leads to Applejack and Rainbow Dash becoming trapped over a ravine, Smolder and her friends work together to rescue them. After returning to the school, Smolder and the other students tell Twilight that Applejack and Rainbow Dash's arguing taught them how not to work together, believing it was all part of the field trip.

In Molt Down, Smolder informs Spike all about the effects of the "molt". She also mentions a brother her family kicked out of their house after he went through the molt.

In Marks for Effort, Smolder appears in Applejack's class playing buckball with her fellow students and later leaving the school with her friends after a test.

In A Matter of Principals, Smolder and her classmates are shown various magical artefacts by Twilight, just before she is summoned by the Cutie Map. When Discord appoints a Dragon Sneeze tree as a substitute teacher, Smolder starts sneezing uncontrollably, spraying fire everywhere. She and her friends are later forced to run laps by Discord, who conjures up a bugbear to chase them. During the "spell-venger hunt", Smolder is paired up with Ocellus, and together they find one of the artefacts. However, both are then chased by a suit of armor that was animated by Discord. She and her friends are present when Starlight Glimmer apologizes to Discord for not including him, and offers him the job of "vice headmare".

In The Hearth's Warming Club, Smolder shows little enthusiasm for the holiday. After a prank ruins the Hearth's Warming tree, the students are all under suspicion for it, and charged with cleaning up the mess while they are questioned one by one. Smolder insists that she is innocent, and when asked about dragon traditions, she tells her friends about the Feast of Fire, where dragons tell each other stories in hopes of winning a big pile of gems. When the guilty party doesn't come forward, Smolder is accused of being the culprit by Sandbar, who believes she is acting too calm over it. When Gallus confesses that he was the culprit, resulting in him having to stay for friendship lessons over the holidays, Smolder (reluctantly, at first) joins their friends in choosing to stay with him.

In Friendship University, when Smolder and her classmates hear about Flim and Flam's Friendship University, she points out that it is a university, not just a school. In The End in Friend, Smolder and her classmates observe Rainbow Dash and Rarity as part of Twilight's lesson on compromising in friendship. In A Rockhoof and a Hard Place, Smolder is among the students who attend Rockhoof's class and become interested in his stories. She later becomes upset when he disrupts a fire-breathing contest between her and Spike.

In What Lies Beneath, Smolder and her friends start to question whether friendship is in their nature due to comments made by Cozy Glow. They later discover a mysterious cavern beneath the school and encounter a manifestation of the Tree of Harmony. To test their friendship, each student is forced to confront their worst fears, with Smolder's being admitting that she likes cute things. She later helps Ocellus overcome her own fears, and the two reunite with the rest of their friends.

In Father Knows Beast, Smolder helps Spike as he is learning to fly, and is later surprised when he gives her a pillow as a thank-you gift. After Sludge crash-lands in Ponyville, she helps bring him to Twilight's castle to recuperate. After finding Spike sleeping outside at Sludge's urging, she realizes that Sludge is manipulating him. She later helps Spike to get Sludge out of the castle, and expresses sympathy after Sludge admits he is not really Spike's father.

In the season eight finale School Raze, Smolder and her friends go on a field trip to Cloudsdale just before a crisis in Equestria causes magic to start disappearing. After Twilight and her friends leave for Tartarus to investigate, Smolder and her friends discover Chancellor Neighsay taking over the school in their absence, and Neighsay captures them under suspicion of stealing Equestria's magic themselves.

After Sandbar and the Cutie Mark Crusaders help them escape and reveal Cozy Glow's true sinister nature, they try to free a magically-trapped Starlight Glimmer, but Cozy catches them and convinces the students to turn on them. Smolder and the others get trapped with Starlight and are nearly sucked into another realm with all of Equestria's magic, but they are saved by the Tree of Harmony, and they succeed in foiling Cozy Glow's plans.

IDW comics
Smolder appears on page 17.

Storybooks
Smolder appears on the cover of the adaptation Meet the New Class.

Commercials
Smolder appears in the promotional music video Saved by My Friends.

My Little Pony (mobile game)
Smolder is a character in Gameloft's mobile game. Her in-game description states, "The School of Friendship's first dragon student, Smolder MAY have been ordered to attend by Ember--but a few friendships later, she feels right at home!"

Appearances
Starting with The Maud Couple, Smolder also appears in the theme song.

Personality
Among the Young Six, Smolder is portrayed as tough and competitive, similar to most dragons. Like Gallus, she is initially resistant to the idea of friendship, having been brought to the school against her will, and she gets particularly confrontational with Yona. After getting to know some of her fellow students, however, she opens up and becomes much friendlier overall. A promotional photo portrays her as somewhat of a class clown. Also like other dragons, Smolder has an appetite for gems. It is revealed in What Lies Beneath that Smolder secretly likes cute things, like dresses, makeup, and tea parties.

Quotes
"The dragons are better than this. Why am I here?"

- School Daze - Part 1

"Ugh. These ponies are the heroes of Equestria?"

- School Daze - Part 1

"No claws, no wings, no fire. What is it exactly you're proud of?"

- To Yona, School Daze - Part 1

"Maybe dragons and griffons are just too tough for friendship."

- School Daze - Part 1

"Yaks are actually good at jokes. How about that?"

- School Daze - Part 1

"That was pretty amazing. Even by dragon standards."

- School Daze - Part 2