Augh. This is going to have to be my second favorite episode this season. I wanted it to be better than Magic Duel, I really did, but it didn't pull it off.

Here's why it's amazing.

I loved Pinkie. Some people think she was annoying, or almost annoying, but I just loved it. Much better than in Too Many Pinkies. It is also hilarious shipping bait to the max, but it was great.

Dash was very fun, and got some very nice expansion of her character. I think it is grand to see that she doesn't think competition is the ONLY thing that matters (given Best Pet Win and Fall Weather, it makes sense), and that she's willing to stand up for what she believes in over what her heart desires (Shadowbolts, anypony?). Seeing Spitfire and Roidrage and Cloud Chaser was awesome.

Lightning Dust is basically S1E3-E12 dash, after the pilot but before Fall Weather. She was also cool. A dick, but cool.

9/10 yes. Why the -1 though? Well, it's just a trend in the show that is bothering me.

So, the Wonderbolts. They are based on the Blue Angels, that much is obvious, especially after the S2 episode Secret of my Excess, when they went full military on Spike. They failed spectacularly to stop him though, which... wait, when have they been successful?

They can't stop a falling unicorn who is parallel with the ground and is at terminal velocity, while diving perpendicular to the ground and using their wings. Three of them get knocked, well, unconscious/dazed in ONE hit each, and can't do crap. In Secret of my Excess, they immediately get stuck in a water tower top in the mountain, failing to do anything. In Hurricane Fluttershy, when Ponyville is literally 5 wing power from sending all the water to Cloudsdale for the clouds that are used for all of Equestria, she doesn't help, when I'm guessing she adds a good 10-20. On a lesser note, Soarin' dropped his pie in the S1 finale.

And what do they do here? They apparently don't understand that SAFETY is the primary issue of flight shows. It isn't just the fact that you're flying, and if you crash you'll, like, die, but there's also the audience to worry about. Crashing INTO the audience will cause more death than necessary as well. So RECKLESSNESS IS NOT A KEY TRAIT IN ANY POSSIBLE SCENARIO. But apparently it is?

I understand that Spitfire didn't know that Lightning Dust was intentionally harming the others. I think it's fine that Dash doesn't want to "win harder" at the cost of hurting everyone else, especially when there isn't even the implication that there are not limited Wonderbolt "spots" on the team. But actively caring about recklessness over teamwork I think is totally stupid. It's this continuing trend of everyone but the mane six is a completely retarded or incompetent sorry only the main characters can do anything good. The only exception to this I can think of off of the top of my head besides Luna/Celestia is Fancy Pants. He's literally the only exception I can think of.

I just think that a team like the Wonderbolts, with such fame and popularity, should goddamn be a little better than everyone else. There's no reason to have them apparently suck at choosing recruits.

Also Spitfire had a terrible voice. Seriously, choosing a new VA just because they want to do a Top Gun joke? That doesn't even make sense; the people most likely to recognize Spitfire are people who have seen the whole show through, which is more likely to be bronies than kids, who probably see the show randomly on Saturdays, and even if they have, they probably don't remember Spitfire very well, being a silly one-scene, minor character. You changed a voice people are FAMILIAR with to make a reference only the people who are FAMILIAR with the older voice would understand? Hello? NO that isn't how you do things.

But yeah 9/10 So good.

Here's my list of episodes this season, top is good, bottom is less good.

Magic Duel
Wonderbolt Academy
Sleepless in Ponyville
The Crystal Empire
One Bad Apple
Too Many Pinkies