Best Thoughts on Rainbow Dash [Quotes from fanfiction]

Below are some of, in my opinion, the best articulated descriptions of Rainbow Dash from various fan stories I've read. I sometimes borrow from them because they are just so awesomely on target.

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“Dear Princess Celestia,

when you have strong friends, it’s hard to see them at a weak moment. But it’s exactly the ones who hold us up, the ones who show us how to be strong, who need our help the most. When they fall, they fall harder under the weight they’ve been carrying for us.

I learned today that even the strongest hearts can be stricken by doubt, even those that carry their friends to greater heights. And I learned that when this happens, it is our duty as a friend to carry them as they have carried us. I know my friends will always be there to catch me if I should fall, and I’m honoured that I can return the favour.

Your Faithful Student
Twilight Sparkle
“A Dash of Gold,” Chapter Two

A lot of ponies would be surprised to hear what a good boss Rainbow Dash is. She’s lazy, impatient, hot-tempered, stubborn, and thinks everything is a competition — not exactly the traits one looks for in a leader. However, she makes up for all that by having buckets of charisma.

Now, she’s not some kind of charming sweet-talker like most ponies think of when they say that a pony has charisma. Honestly, when it comes to most of her social skills she’s not that great. What the boss has going for her is this kind of personal magnetism that makes you believe in her, believe she can do all the crazy things she says she’s gonna do. Then she goes and sets some kind of impossible goal and pretty much everypony thinks she’s crazy, but you stick by her because deep down you know that she just might be able to pull it off. Then she goes and does it, and you know why you’ve been following her all this time.

Because to a pony like Rainbow Dash, ‘impossible’ isn’t so impossible after all.

Pretty much everypony on the weather team was in awe of her. It was hard not to be. More than that, we were all fiercely loyal to her. Maybe that’s why she got the Element of Loyalty; she’s not just personally loyal, she inspires that kind of loyalty in others.
“The Life and Times of a Winning Pony,” Chapter 6

It was completely insane. Common sense said that there was no way Rainbow’s plan should work—the numbers just didn’t add up. I saw Twilight shooting a look my way, and I could take a guess at what she was thinking. I could shut Rainbow down if I really wanted to—it’d be messy, but I’d be within my rights to challenge her on this. She was making a completely irrational decision that put ponies at risk of injury, or worse, chasing a plan that simply couldn’t work. The smart thing to do, the responsible thing to do would be to put a stop to this.

Except ... I believed in Rainbow Dash.

Faith can be a crazy thing like that. Rainbow wasn’t some goddess or even some kind of honored ancestor, she was just a normal pony with (if I’m being honest) some pretty big character flaws. She was suggesting a crazy plan that math and common sense said she just couldn’t do, but since when has Rainbow let something like that stop her?

Our friendship had gone through all kinds of hell, not just over the past few days, but for a pretty big chunk of our lives. I’d spent a couple years hating her guts after Flight Camp, and there had been plenty of times when things had gotten rocky on us. Despite all that ... I believed in her.

I believed that she just might be able to pull this off after all.

We all took back to the air with a little extra something pushing us. So we couldn’t pull it off when everyone gave a hundred percent? Well then—I know it sounds horribly cheesy to say it, but we would just have to give more than a hundred percent. Rainbow ... kinda has that effect on ponies.
“The Life and Times of a Winning Pony,” Chapter 13

I’m fluent enough in Rainbow Dash-ese to know that meant ‘yes.’ I gave her a bit of time to build up her courage and get comfortable—getting Dash to talk about anything that was bugging her was an exercise in patience. She wasn’t timid like Eepy or prone to letting things bottle up like Blossom could be, but she could be stubbornly independent-minded. It could be a lot of work to get Rainbow to admit that there’s something bothering her that she can’t handle on her own.

The key was to let her set her own pace working up to a confession. Badgering her would just make her set her hooves and start getting defensive. Instead, I let her approach the issue on her own terms. “So,” Dash began, “I was thinking...”

...You have to feed Dash’s ego a little when she’s being all nervous and lacking in confidence, or else she’ll just completely crash on you. Not too much, though, or she’ll start getting a big head. It’s a delicate balancing act, but I’ve got plenty of experience dealing with her.

...After a minute or so Rainbow let out a sigh, and pulled back a bit. Not completely out of the hug, but she put a little bit of distance between us to let me know she was okay now. “I just—I have this really bad habit of screwing things up with my friends. And this...” Rainbow’s eyes dropped down to intently study my sofa. “If I screw things up with Pinkie Pie, I don’t know what I’ll do.”

I put a hoof under her chin, and brought her her eyes back up to meet mine. “Rainbow, the past is the past. You won't mess this up. Besides, even when you do screw up, you always fix things. You fixed things with me, after all. Compared to that, you and Pinkie will be fine.”
“The Life and Times of a Winning Pony,” Chapter 14

“Ah, young one, such empty courage,” the ape mused. “There is much strength in you, more than I have ever seen in any creature before. Why hide it behind false bravado?”
“The Days Just Don’t Get Any Shorter,” Chapter 1

Please, Ms. Dash was my mother," I insisted, trying my hardest to soften my voice. A lot of ponies say my voice is... unique for a mare. What they mean by that is it's grating. I was pretty self-conscious about it when I was a kid and even sometimes... Ugh! This isn't about me! Getting back to Mac... "Rainbow is fine."
“The Sky is Falling,” Chapter 4

Twilight's eyes grew even softer, if that were possible. "Dash. Just because you're the Element of Loyalty doesn't mean you can't expect it from the rest of your friends."
“When Fears Are Shed”

“Relax Derpy, Dashie’s not mad at you either.” Pinkie reassured the grey pegasus. “Dashie’s just … well, she’s not good at saying things sometimes, and she ends up not saying what she really means.” Pinkie let her gaze drift over to Rainbow for a long moment, before turning it back to Derpy. “She’s not mad at you, she’s worried you might get hurt. Dashie can’t just come out say it though because she’s not good at saying stuff like that, so she gets all twisty and mixed up. Dashie is a silly pony.”
“My Little Denarians,” Chapter 12

I guess that meant Rainbow was crazy, but it had been a kind of crazy we’d needed. Well, that’s not entirely right: Rainbow was plenty scared, it’s just she buried all that fear under a thick layer of bravado and seemingly endless self-confidence.

That had been enough for the ponies, though. Fear is one of those emotions that’s easily influenced by the people around you. If you look around and see that everyone else is scared, you’ll start getting scared too. It’s pure instinct; your animal brain is going to start screaming that anything bad enough to scare everyone else is something that you should be scared of too. That’s why a huge chunk of combat training is about controlling fear – if one person starts panicking, it makes everyone else around them more likely to start panicking too. Just look at how any large group of people can transform into a terrified mob in the space of a couple seconds.

But bravery can work exactly the same way. If one person stands up against the bad guys and says they’re not so tough, then it gets easier for everyone else to find their courage. That’s what Rainbow Dash had done for us. More than any of us, she’d believed that we were going to win this, that we would all get out of this in one piece and get a happy ending. She believed it so hard that the rest of us had started to believe it too.
“My Little Denarians,” Chapter 16

Comments

[Dusty the Royal Janitor]

There was one bit in "The Powers of Harmony" that was pretty damn good too. Don't remember exactly which chapter it was, though.

[Showmare Trixie]

I like how many of those are from Chengar's stuff.

[Featherprop]

Interesting... you've given me some stories to go and look at when I get a chance. I love character development, especially development that's carefully branched slightly off of canon- I love seeing how small changes can make for a new and most intersting persona.

[Dracon_Pyrothayan]

I have read each and every one of these fics. You have good taste!

[Blue Print]

I must admit that I have never had all that much respect for Dash, but these do seem to encapsulate her best qualities.

I am so going to get lynched for this opinion.

[Chengar Qordath]

705384
I noticed that as well. It's rather flattering.

[Uzume Tennouboshi]

705394 Actually, the only reason I'm disappointed in you is because you're only just now starting to feel respect for Rainbow Dash. I mean, she IS the only pony ever to be able to perform a Sonic Rainboom.

It's good to see that you're finally giving her some props.

4.bp.blogspot.com/-7Fav00BNHFA/Tz4n4dWVsRI/AAAAAAAAfWQ/KE2bG1nq11o/s1600/3.png

[UseFistNotMouth]

Needs less CQ and more cowbell.

[djthomp]

That first quote from Winning Pony is one of my favorites.

I really need to read the Dresden Files books one of these days.

[D48]

I do like those quotes, and will probably try to go dig back into My Little Denarians. I started reading it right after reading Ghost Story, Cold Days, and Side Jobs one after the other so Dresden just felt wrong due to differences that were so small I could not even remotely pin them down.

[mrmayortheiv]

A lot of great quotes, Rainbow Dash is awesome!

[Akavi]

Winning Pony everywhere

But yeah, some excellent explanations of Dashie and why she is best pony.

[q97randomguy]

705379
It's extremely similar to the one from “The Life and Times of a Winning Pony,” Chapter 6. And they both just fit so well.

[edgelesspigeon]

I'd like to add:

“Couldn’t have put it better myself. That pretty much comes down to the difference between her and Rainbow Dash.” Cloud Kicker added. “Yeah, they both have egos and are very competitive but what makes them so similar is what also sets them apart.” She sat up, looking Twilight in the eye. "As much as she loves competitions and winning and being the best, it’s not the most important thing to her: loyalty is. She stood up for Eepy—Flutershy—back at flight camp even though she was a pretty weak flyer. If RD was like Trixie she would’ve have been caught dead hanging around her. Not Rainbow though. She did it for Ditzy too, even though she was older than all of us, but even the foals made fun of her eyes. Rainbow likes being tough and strong…not just for its own sake, but because she likes being able to stand up for weaker ponies—she likes how it makes her feel and also because it’s just the right thing to do. She might get annoyed at Fluttershy’s meekness or Ditzy’s scatterbrained nature…or what I do with my personal life...but don’t let that fool you. She’d sooner nosedive into Ghastly Gorge than let anypony down. Which is actually part of the problem here since she considers Trixie a friend. She's trying to avoid having to choose between friends. She feels loyalty to all of us and it's driving her crazy that we can't all smile and get along.”
Twilight sat still, thinking. Cloud Kicker went on. “As annoying as her competitiveness and ego might get at times, Rainbow Dash is one of the great friends a pony could have. She always says what’s on her mind, usually even when she should think on it a bit more; she’s always got your back and she won’t hesitate to throw herself into danger for a friend’s sake.”

(May the Best Friends Win Chapter 10)

And:

“Oh, sorry.” Fluttershy marshaled her thoughts. “Rainbow Dash…um, well she makes you believe: in her and in yourself. She can stand up and announce that she’s going to do something dangerous, impossible and even a little, um, crazy and you believe that she can really do it. She’s not one of those ponies who brags about doing great things that they’ve never done—she goes out and does it.” Fluttershy closed her eyes. “Even when you think she’s being irresponsible and impossible, you want her to succeed, against the odds. And then she does it and it makes you believe that you can do the impossible too.”
She opened her eyes, shifting about slightly. “But it’s not what she represents that I became friends with. I became friends with her. I know she puts up a bold front, but she is one of the most steadfast and brave friends ever. Rainbow Dash would never let a pony down when they really needed her. She’s held me up for so long and never deserted me. I heard somepony say that when strong ponies fall—the kind who’ve held you up for so long—they fall harder under the weight they’ve been carrying for us. That’s why I’m here for her.”

(Rainbooms and Royalty Chapter 21)

And how about:

Big Macintosh scrunched up his face, frustrated and annoyed. “Ifn you really wanna know. Fine. Here’s it is: I’ll admit that Rainbow Dash gets a big head sometimes, but she more than makes up for it by having an even bigger heart. And as for only caring about herself, you’re couldn’t be any wronger about Rainbow Dash if you tried. Whenever there’s trouble she’s allus the first pony to face it…which sometimes bites her in the rump, but she’ll never leave a friend hanging when they really need her and will risk anything for the ponies she cares about. What’s more, she can admit to being wrong now and again and apologize.”

(A Camping We Will Go Chapter 16)

[AllPowersCombined]

So many quotes come from fics about Dash's insecurity (I'm thinking mostly about "When Fears are Shed").
I think there is enough evidence to prove that this is true and many aspects of her behaviour can be explained by this.

I'd love see an episode when this is the case. Something like that had been done in "Sonic Rainboom" but that was only... groundwork.

I think that this "revision" episode would be a great opportunity to tie all the loose ends and to come back to older stories (and YOU know what I'm talking about) also to present Rainbow Dash in different light because she still is the most misunderstood character (both by the fandom and by the other characters).

How many times should we see of Rainbow being affraid to be abandoned and her need to be loved before we get to see a full episode built around it.
But probably not soon because that is the core of her characters and all the problems she's had.
But when this happens I imagine there's going to be a lot of apologizing from both sides.

[TheWanderingPikachuPony]

706799
Flattery will get you nowhere, my friend. Or maybe it will, noticing where all of these came from (even though haven't read A Camping We Will Go)! Depends on how Trinary feels.

As for this blog, haven't read most of these, only one I recognize/remember for certain is The Sky is Falling, dat TwiDash first-person POV with sometimes shifting perspectives. But yeah, Dash can be awesome sometimes, even if in the show, she can be a bit full of herself. But I think Season 3's episode with her did paint her in a better light, even if she had one such moment of weakness near the end.

[Alchemystudent]

707548

Well for the fear of abandonment, give me time...thats the next chapter of my fic. But these quotes...just show off why I love Dashie so much and why she is best pony. Heck, some people actually forget this part and just see the outside. Heck, I love the part of wonderbolts academy where her team salutes her, it was freakin awesome

[chief maximus]

Wow, thanks for the mention of Sky! I like the way you portray Dash as well! Also, you may have already mentioned this in a previous blog or something, but is A camping we will go on hiatus or what? The way you did your Mac and Dash was just wonderful, in my opinion.