Newbie Dash grabbed our attention when the synopsis showed us that we would finally see Rainbow Dash get to become a Wonderbolt, a dream that happened at least two seasons later than it should have. The catch was that she was to mess up and get called a terrible name. I admit I originally thought Newbie Dash would be the name.
It's Rainbow Crash again.
I know I can come up with worse stuff than that overused name.
I could call her Animal Abuser for when she proved she would not be a good pet owner in season two or the Mare Do Well Wannabe.
That aside, it seems most people didn't really think much of the episode. I mean, Rainbow joins the Wonderbolts and then what?
Well uh-
I guess we'll find out.
It should be pointed out that this episode is a first impression with a new writer whose name I've already forgotten. I suppose I shouldn't go to overboard and keep in consideration that this is only his first contribution to the show.
Anyway, Scootaloo goes to Rainbow Dash and hypes over how the latter will be performing in the show. Rainbow points out that she's still in the reserves, and that she'll only be performing if a substitute is needed. Optimistically, Scootaloo points out that Dash will still be wearing a Wonderbolts outfit.
I like that optimism. Sometimes small details can make an impact of some kind, be it big or small.
But guess what?
Rainbow Dash is promoted to official Wonderbolt status by a stomp-landing Spitfire.
Right in front of Scootaloo, too. That's a nice coincidence.
So that's quite an opener. Rainbow Dash finally become a Wonderbolt and thus accomplishing her lifelong goal. I liked how it started like that, because now I was interested in seeing what would happen next.
Well, first off, Rainbow Dash gets together with her friends as she's about to pack up and head over to uh...
The Wonderbolts HQ I guess.
Like Scootaloo, it seems that Rainbow Dash is quite enthusiastic about this thing. Her friends provide endearing support.
Twilight especially takes a 180 degree u-turn from her characterization in No Second Prances in this episode and acts like a good friend. Twilight tells Rainbow Dash that although everyone knows how good of a flyer she is, it still may be harder than she thinks. Of course, Rainbow doesn't think much of this and makes some sort of comment about whether or not she should bring sunglasses with her.
In this scene, some people who cared about Starlight may have noticed that everyone except her appears in this episode. Maybe the new writer wasn't really in on the whole Starlight thing, maybe he thought the fans would appreciate it if Starlight was excluded, maybe Starlight and Trixie are on a tour now- heck if I know.
I would have liked it if Starlight was here mainly because I want her to become a full-fledged part of the group as soon as possible.
And one more thing, the scene reveals that the Wonderbolts simply didn't have a position open for Rainbow Dash. She got in because one of the Bolts retired to teach- or something along those lines. And I think that's a decent reason as to why Rainbow Dash couldn't have joined earlier. Then again, I suppose they could have used that as a reason for Rainbow Dash to join two seasons ago....
Rainbow Dash gets to the Wonderbolts' place and we establish that the big rule in the Wonderbolts is to always look both ways before crossing the runway. Nobody is there, of course, but Spitfire points out that Dash needs to know this for when there are other Wonderbolts there.
I think I have a slight feeling Rainbow Dash will forget to do that again. Spitfire puts on a more strict attitude like she did in the academy, showing that she alternates between being more laid back in social situations and being a solid instructor when she's the one in charge. I'm not sure if these are the right words to use, but I like the spice it adds to Spitfire's personality.
With that out of the way, Spitfire tells Rainbow Dash to get changed. Or, I guess since these are ponies, to just put on the clothes.
And the outfit works out pretty well on Rainbow Dash. I think she looks great in the thing. Rainbow Dash also gets a look around the Wonderbolts' place and some more time to just show genuine excitement. The outfit just comes to show how far she's come. The once-face-of-the-ball-pit-convention is now a Wonderbolt!
But before anything can start, Rainbow Dash forgets to look both ways before crossing the runway and wipes out into a trash can. And uh- it seems that there was a pie scrap or two in there, as seen to the right of that twig in Rainbow's hair. Not sure if that was intentional or if it is actually pie, but if that's what it was and it was indeed intentional, then uh...
Nice catching on to the whole meme with Soarin loving pie, animators.
The season's been full of things like that. We get the Twicane and Smarty Pants in The Gift of Maud Pie, Vinyl Scratch and Derpy in the previous episode, and now in this episode- if the pie thing wasn't intentional- then we still got a Lightning Dust cameo on a poster in the Wonderbolts' locker room.
But Rainbow Dash is quickly called out and everyone in the Wonderbolts starts taunting her. This was the point in the episode where I was a bit concerned that the Wonderbolts would start being assholes to Dash. It isn't really as bad as I thought it would be, and it's somewhat mitigated by the ending, but still- it comes across as pretty rude.
So thus, the name Rainbow Crash is put into use. And they put emphasis on how it gets to Dash by showing a flashback of her childhood when the name Rainbow Crash first came to being at all. Even her teacher was holding back her laughter as the kids all chanted "Rainbow Crash." It's not even really that clever of a name, and I'd get more annoyed than offended, personally.
It doesn't help that an out-of-nowhere rule comes up that the worst flyer of the day has to do some cleaning up inside. It feels like an excuse to throw a punch at Rainbow Dash while she's fretting over being called the same name she was ridiculed with in her childhood.
I guess I wouldn't be too surprised if that's how it works in the real life military or something after training, but I doubt too many of the bronies have been military. I know there are a handful of them but at the very least, I know I haven't been in the military.
So it's been a hard day for Rainbow Dash, but that doesn't stop Pinkie from throwing a congratulations party. Pinkie's in a bit of an optimistic mood, I suppose.
However, the truth about how the day went gets out and Rainbow's friends find out that she was called Rainbow Crash all day. Knowing it was rough, we get a decent moment where all of Rainbow Dash's friends give her support and advice.
Well- I don't really think Pinkie said too much helpful but I wouldn't say it's as bad as her portrayal in season four. A comparison between the Wonderbolts and the group of friends is brought up. All of them are a team, but they each stick out in their own way. Rarity advises Rainbow Dash to find a positive way to stand out from the rest so that she won't stick out as Rainbow Crash.
That's some really good advice, actually...
...except that Rainbow Dash takes it the wrong way. Rather than using her loyalty and higher morality than the Wonderbolts that she showed in Wonderbolts Academy or the end of Rainbow Falls, she instead tries to imitate all of her other friends. This is accomplished by her changing her hair and trying to copy each of her friends in a way that they would probably be offended by. Well, I wouldn't use those words, but ultimately, Rainbow Dash makes a fool out of herself.
More likely than anything, this sequence was used for making a joke. I didn't find myself extremely amused by too much of it outside of the faces we get out of it and the small charm there was in seeing how Rainbow Dash portrays her friends. Watching the scene is like an amateur fan fic writer's first attempts at keeping the main cast in character- just give Applejack and accent and have her say endearing stuff, for example.
Spitfire and the rest of the Wonderbolts aren't too phased by Rainbow Dash's behavior and after her Rarity impression in the locker room, the Wonderbolts slide her a couple of easy-to-miss compliments. Spitfire opens Rainbow Dash's locker and we can see a bunch of... stuff... that is supposed to motivate the rookie Wonderbolt.
It doesn't.
The main thing is that there's a jacket with a patch on it that shows a picture of her cutie mark colliding with a sign, which is a visual of the term Rainbow Crash.
Throughout this whole episode, Rainbow Dash just gets shit on with this name. I was expecting there to be a scene where she breaks down. The closest to that is this part where we see her tear up. Basically, it's pretty close. She fears that this means the Wonderbolts will call her Rainbow Crash for the rest of the time in the group- which I presume is a long time into the future.
I should point out that if you look close enough, there are some moments where you can tell the Wonderbolts are just doing what they usually do with newcomers. What I mean is that, in the ending, they reveal that they genuinely respect Rainbow Dash and the likes of calling her by her nickname are just what they do.
I'll get to that later, but I think both parties should have gotten more clarity for Rainbow's sake. On the Wonderbolts' side, they don't quite seem to realize how badly they're hurting Dash.
I guess as far as their behavior in this episode goes, it's not as bad as them immediately blaming Rainbow Dash when somebody tries to frame her or as bad as lying to one of their team members just so they can perform without him.
Oh! Yeah! I forgot-
The Wonderbolts had a big show coming up, and now is the day of that show.
Rainbow "borrows" Scootaloo and instructs her to use her scooter on the ramp to launch up into the sky and kick the thunder cloud.
I don't quite understand what Rainbow Dash was trying to accomplish, but it will apparently make her look more "awesome." Now, if she fails this, she could get in trouble. If she doesn't fail, she may end up leaving an impression, but I imagine Spitfire still wouldn't like the way Rainbow violated the routine.
So of course, Rainbow Dash fails. Once the plan is actually supposed to be in action, she completely avoids the thunder cloud, again raising the question of what it was she was trying to accomplish in the first place.
But she still gets zapped by lightning from the cloud- promptly after going through a tree and being launched by a rather sturdy pennant string. After that she lands in an insanely large glob of cotton candy and Spitfire walks up to her.
From there, Rainbow Dash accepts that she screwed up and admits she's ready for any punishment the Wonderbolts give her.
Unlike Starlight, they don't sing a song. Instead, they tell Rainbow Dash not to be too down and reveal that it's just what they always do with newcomers. Turns out all of them had screwed up on their respective first days. Soarin reveals his nickname is Clipper because he clipped his wing on a flag pole.
I could say that I've never heard them call Soarin that name before- even referring to him by his actual name in Rainbow Falls and basically all of the other Wonderbolts' appearances.
Or I could say that it's a fair enough an excuse to somewhat remedy how mean they've been to Rainbow Dash.
As I said, I think the Wonderbolts just really didn't know they were hurting Rainbow Dash's feelings, and Rainbow Dash didn't know that the Wonderbolts thought it was just friendly teasing.
Oh yeah, and then Spitfire casually dunks a "you're on probation for a month" as a consequence for Rainbow's actions. So Rainbow Dash is left to clean up stuff. But she's alright with it now and she's in a good mood.
After all...
...she's a Wonderbolt now.
And that's the end of another Episode Post. I like making these; as they're the only niche this blog has over all of the other Dailies.
Overall, this episode was a pretty big step for Rainbow Dash, finally crowning her with the Wonderbolt status that she definitely deserves. Although, I like how the episode shows that just because Rainbow is really skilled, it doesn't mean this will be easy. Effectively, it means Rainbow Dash retains a goal to keep getting better. I like how they also did it without nerfing her. That is, not making her look bad for the sake of the plot when under normal circumstances, she would be just fine.
Still, despite the episode being pretty big in terms of how it progresses Rainbow's character, it wasn't really anything special. It definitely has a few flaws here and there and isn't perfect. Definitely not a favorite of mine. Still, it wasn't by any means bad. It was just average is all.
I believe next week is the Christmas episode in May, and I am going to end off on that acting like it's a completely normal sentence.
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