Dragons

A variety of large lizard-like dragons is featured in the show. One of them, Spike, is one of the main characters in the series. A prominent dragon-like creature whom Rarity helped is referred to as a sea serpent, and there is another dragon-like creature referred to as a hydra. The other dragons resemble classical European dragons, with large bodies, long necks and tails, scales, and bat-like wings.

Spike


Spike is a baby dragon and one of the main characters of the show. He is Twilight Sparkle's assistant. He describes several of his traits in different episodes, among them being fire-proof, having tough scales that allow him to be pin-pricked without feeling pain (although he reacts when his tail is stepped on), and magically sending scrolls and other items by burning them with his fire breath. In Dragon Quest, it is shown that even at his age, lava is harmless to him and he swims in it as readily as ponies do in water.

Spike hatched from an egg, and even though he walks and speaks fairly maturely, he's still called a "baby" dragon. He is much smaller than the other dragons, and even smaller than ordinary ponies; in The Cutie Mark Chronicles, he is briefly transformed by Twilight's magic, making his body grow much larger than normal and his head bursts out of the ceiling of a tall spire.

Gem-eating
Spike's love for eating gems is shown in several episodes. In The Ticket Master, he goes to a café with Twilight and asks if they serve rubies, but settles for hay fries. Rarity takes him along for her gem hunt in A Dog and Pony Show with the promise of letting him have some of the gems she finds. When he comes across buffalo in Over a Barrel, they show him great respect and feed him turquoises. In Owl's Well That Ends Well, he enters a cave full of gems and eats his fill. Pinkie Pie forces a false confession out of him in Party of One by offering him a plate of gems and applying some duress on him. In the episode Just for Sidekicks, Spike offers to watch the Mane 6's pets as long as he gets rewarded with gems for his gem cake. However, he eats all the gems before he can make the cake.

Greed-induced transformation
Spike magically matures through his greediness in Secret of My Excess. He begins eliciting gifts from ponies for his birthday, which results in him growing into a gangly "teenager" by the next day. Twilight takes him to a doctor and then a vet, but both fail to diagnose him because they have no experience with dragons. She then takes him to Zecora who explains that his greed is making him grow up. Throughout the episode he grows larger, and develops more lizard-like qualities, like slit pupils and a long thin-forked tongue. Unlike the majority of other dragons in the show, he does not possess wings.

Other dragons
Outside of Spike, dragons make several appearances in the series and in other My Little Pony media.

Dragonshy
The threat in Dragonshy is created by an adult red dragon who takes a nap in a cave at the top of a mountain, emitting a large cloud of thick, black smoke that threatens to engulf Ponyville. The ponies are given the task of asking him to relocate, which they successfully accomplish thanks to Fluttershy. At first the other ponies try different approaches, from persuasion to violence, but eventually Fluttershy scolds the dragon into submission. Although it never breathes fire, it otherwise resembles a typical European dragon of reddish color. The red dragon has a large hoard of gold, gems, and other valuables which he uses as bedding. He seems to resemble Smaug for J.R.R. Tolkien's novel The Hobbit, being same in color, and in personality (very guarding of his treasure). He also lives in a cave, deep inside a mountain, like Smaug.

Owl's Well That Ends Well
A green dragon is featured in Owl's Well That Ends Well, living in a cave within the Everfree Forest. Spike enters the dragon's cave and eats some of its hoard of gold and gems. Soon after, the dragon finds him, questions his doings, and attacks him. The dragon has extendible claws and tail spikes, wings, and it breathes fire which slightly singes Spike. Twilight Sparkle and Owlowiscious come to Spike's rescue, and the dragon chases them through the forest, but eventually gives up on his pursuit.

Dragon Quest
Both the red and the green dragon designs are reused in the episode Dragon Quest, appearing briefly during the Dragon Migration, as well as two other dragons, one with a white body and green scales, and another with a black body and purple scales. The episode prominently features a number of dragons Spike refers to as "teenage dragons"; they are not as tall as the grown dragons previously seen in the show, but taller than Spike. Unlike the adult dragons seen in the background, they vary wildly in appearance regarding their color schemes, the length and shape of tails, the shape of their mouths, and the presence and shape of horns, fins, and hair. All but one of them have wings, and most walk on two legs.

Two of the dragons introduced in this episode are named. The first is Garble, the red teenage dragon, whose name is not mentioned in the episode but is listed in the episode's script. The other is Crackle, a dragon that looks similar to the costume used by Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash.

The purple dragon is voiced by Matt Hill, and the brown dragon was Richard Ian Cox.

Magical Mystery Cure
During Magical Mystery Cure, the adult red dragon appears in one of Fluttershy's flashbacks.

Other media
The adult red dragon is shown in the Discover the Difference game. It appears in the Dragonshy image.

The adult red dragon is shown in the Ruckus Reader interactive storybook Things That Go Bump in the Night. It appears in Fluttershy's imagination, which reuses a screenshot from Dragonshy. She refers to it as a "mean dragon".

A purple dragon is shown in the 8 bit promo. It appears in Level 2 of ''Adventure Ponies! The Video Game'', knocking apples from a tree. Pinkie Pie calls it a "meanie-pants" and, playing as Applejack, bucks it with an "Applejack smack".

A poster which features an official map of Equestria was released on August 3, 2012. An arrow at the bottom claims "Dragons Be Here", indicating they live across the sea and to the south of Equestria (This is also a reference to old maps saying "Here Be Dragons" about uncharted seas).

WeLoveFine carries T-shirts of My Little Pony dragons. Three shirt designs are of Crackle: the first shows just Crackle, with the caption "BEST DRAGON"; the second is modeled after Crackle's gem-encrusted hide; the third shows Crackle atop a hoard of gems and wearing the Element of Magic tiara, with the word "SWAG" in the background. A formerly available shirt design depicting a host of non-Hasbro characters shows two dragons connected by the same body; Samantha Bragg, the artist of this design, refers to the conjoined dragons as "Juneau and Venus" and gives them a brief description in a post on deviantART.

Galleries

 * Dragon image gallery
 * Spike image gallery
 * Garble image gallery