Secret of My Excess

Secret of My Excess is the tenth episode of the second season of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, and the thirty-sixth episode overall. Spike becomes greedy, which magically causes him to grow to a monstrous size.

Summary
Twilight starts off the episode by holding a "re-shelving day", which involves her resorting her books. The sequence is accompanied by sound-alike music after The Sorcerer's Apprentice by Dukas, famously used in the animated film Fantasia. While using magic to spin books around and sort them out, she is distracted by Spike who displays his birthday present to himself, a fire ruby, which he had been previously aging.

Rarity then comes over to find a book about historical fashion. She sees Spike's fire ruby, immediately noticing what type of gemstone it is, and compliments him on possessing such a perfect gemstone. Spike realizes that Rarity really admires the gem, and knowing that she'll put more use to it than him eating it at his "birthday dinner", he gives the gemstone to Rarity, prompting Rarity to give him a kiss on the cheek. Spike vows never to wash his cheek again.

About a week later, Twilight and Spike have just finished decorating for his birthday, when Twilight pulls out a washcloth to wash Spike's kissed cheek, much to his resistance. After Twilight uses her magic to teleport Spike back to her repeatedly, Pinkie randomly appears, and so do the other main characters. They give Spike his presents, which is a new thing to Spike, considering that beforehand, his birthdays were only spent with Twilight, therefore he only received a gift from her, normally a book. Spike then hears from Pinkie that the Cakes have made him a special cake. He goes to get it, and upon exiting he bumps into Cheerilee, who gives him a hat when she hears about his birthday. Spike figures out that he gets presents from anyone he tells it is his birthday to, and soon gains a ball from Lickety Split and almost receives flowers from Junebug. However, Twilight stops him.

The next morning, when she wakes, she finds a larger, ganglier Spike sleeping under a pile of assorted objects and clatter. The new Spike seems worried about his condition at first, but soon is much more concerned with grabbing everything with his longer, stronger arms. Twilight takes him to a pediatrician and then a veterinarian, hoping to find out what's wrong with him. However, neither has any experience with dragons. Finally, she visits Zecora, who explains that Spike's growth is caused by his hoarding. As dragons get older they become prone to greed, and collecting anything they can find helps them to grow. The more items Spike collects, the larger and greedier he'll become, so the only way to stop him from growing is to stop his greed. Just as she finishes her explaination, they see the zebra's hut completely empty, with all of her items taken and Spike gone. Twilight returns to Ponyville to find the dragon trying to make off with Scootaloo's scooter, and lures him back to the library. However, just as she locks him inside, he escapes, making a hole through the back of the library.

At Applejack's farm, Twilight warns the farm pony of Spike's problem. AJ laughs at her over the thought of an innocent dragon like Spike running wild, until they see him taking all the leaves and apples from each tree. They try to stop him with rope, but tie themselves to the tree by accident. Rainbow Dash finds them and laughs at their predicament. Fluttershy's scream is heard in the distance and the three rush to find her hiding in a tree, exclaiming that a dragon stampeded through her chicken pen and stole the coop. The ponies next hear Pinkie Pie scream, and they find her assaulting Spike with cake, inadvertently fuelling his greed as he simply steals the cakes she flings at him. Spike becomes even larger and crashes through Sugarcube Corner, causing Pinkie Pie to freeze in place in dismay. Spike then goes to Carousel Boutique and kidnaps Rarity.

Now at full dragon size, he then rampages throughout Ponyville, when The Wonderbolts come to help Ponyville. They try to stop Spike, but he traps them in the water tower he stole. Spike quickly escapes up a mountain, but part of Rarity's cape then is ripped, which causes her to scold the dragon, unaware that it is Spike. He then notices the fire ruby that she is wearing. Rarity noticed the jewel got his attention and tells him she won't let him steal this from her because the most generous dragon in Ponyville (Spike) gave it to her. He then remembers the day that he gave the ruby to her and returns to his old self, causing them to fall through the air.

Spike says that in case they don't make it, he wants to tell Rarity that he had a crush on her but she stops him and smiles, her eyes welling with tears. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy take the cape from the water and save Spike and Rarity in the nick of time. When safely with the others, Spike sits sadly on the bridge and compares his hand with the footprint that he made when he was large and rampaging. Rarity then comes up and said that he was a real hero for saving himself from what he'd became, and by doing so, saved Ponyville from even more destruction. She then gives Spike another kiss on his cheek. After writing a letter to Princess Celestia, it is revealed that he stuck a frame around the kiss mark that Rarity gave him.

Re-use of Flash assets
Amongst the hoard Spike collects in the library, and in the library during his party, are some noticeable objects from previous episodes, including:
 * An Elements of Harmony orb from Friendship is Magic, part 2
 * Applejack's trophy from Applebuck Season
 * Pinkie Pie's rubber chicken from Dragonshy
 * Twilight Sparkle's manebrush from Bridle Gossip
 * The tuba Pinkie Pie borrowed in Swarm of the Century
 * A painting hanging in the library from Winter Wrap Up
 * Ace's tennis racket from Call of the Cutie
 * Rarity's kitchen sink from Suited for Success
 * Pinkie Pie's foam finger from Sonic Rainboom
 * A bowling ball from the bowling alley in The Cutie Pox
 * A water-tower used as a baby bottle for the Ursa minor in Boast Busters
 * Rainbow Dash's rainbow football from Fall Weather Friends
 * The flowers from The Ticket Master
 * The record player from various episodes

Quotes

 * Twilight Sparkle: No distractions. This is too important. Re-shelving day!


 * Rainbow Dash: Don't you know you get presents on your birthday?
 * Spike: Well actually, this is my first birthday in Ponyville. I usually just get one present... From Twilight... a book.


 * Spike: Applejack, I can't thank you enough for this great blanket, I really needed a new one.
 * Applejack: Come on Spike! You'd already thanked me fifteen times! I'm starting to get a little embarrassed!


 * Spike: SPIKE WANT!


 * Applejack: Now who in Ponyville would steal my apples? For that matter, who would steal my leaves?


 * Applejack: Twilight, get my rope.


 * Twilight Sparkle: Pinkie Pie! Stop giving him cake!
 * Pinkie Pie: I'm not giving him cake, I'm assaulting him with cake!


 * Pinkie Pie: How DARE you take the cake!


 * Spike: [roar]
 * Rarity: How rude.


 * Spike: Rarity... I need to tell you something, just in case we don't make it! I've always sort of had a crush-

Gallery

 * Secret of My Excess image gallery

Trivia

 * The episode title is a play on the phrase "secret of my success."
 * The "giant monster rampaging through a city" theme was popularized by the 1954 film Godzilla.
 * The aerial assault on a giant monster hanging on to a tall structure with a damsel in its grasp parallels the classic 1933 film King Kong.
 * Spike encounters a male Earth pony named Lickety-Split. Lickety-Split was the name of both a G1 Earth pony and a G3 pony, although both were female.
 * The whole concept of Spike growing and growing and demanding more seems reminscent of Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors.