>>/1456/
> I was referring to him as dragon. Not as a character.
well, at least he has grown more in a shorter period than a certain protagonist who always magically for some reason lives eternally as a 10th year old. 
> this is like a manifestation of Spike growing as a character.
the analogy of Peweee made it clear and it felt like a nice touch to his award later in the episode.
> it would sure be interesting if they play up Smolder's experience as a dragon and Spike's experience as a dragon among ponies
unless they happen to do that in some scene of three minutes, I see Smolder telling that to the student 6 than him. 
> in equestrian traditions and customs that Smolder is unfamiliar with and Smolder being used to offer advice (both good and maybe bad) and them learning from each other
truly a top tier idea that could have replaced Non Compete Clause but oh well. However, I think Smolder by this point has noticed how the dynamic in Ponyville works. 
> until the season is up I wont entirely say that won't happen.
One can only dream.....but we will get a couple of unexpected things for sure. The show disappoints with certain things but then goes up like magically and out of nowhere with some hard hitting impact. 
Let´s wait until the series ends.

For now we have Spyro the Drag.....ehem Spike with them and it seems that the fanbase hasn´t made any drama, even praise for the episode in general. So, there it goes, another one into the counter and a certain redemption on his episodes in terms of writing.