There's a new episode tomorrow, and this'll be the discussion thread for it! This episode is called "Newbie Dash" and is by Dave Rapp. He's done a few episodes for "Without A Trace", which is some sort of crime-fighting show, but has never done any My Little Pony episodes before.

So, I think this episode's summary was something like this:
After Rainbow Dash achieves her dream of becoming a Wonderbolt, she makes a disastrous first impression and gets saddled with a mortifying nickname. When she tells Princess Twilight about it, she fixes it by throwing all the Wonderbolts making fun of her into the castle dungeons, but now Rainbow Dash has to figure out how they are going to do a Wonderbolt show with half the Wonderbolts missing! Of course, Fluttershy, Bulk Biceps, and Scootaloo are all willing to help...

Okay, maybe I made most of that up, but one line of it was real, anyway.

Seems kinda funny that what sounds like an important Rainbow Dash episode is done by a new writer, but hopefully it turns out to be good...

--Sweetie Belle

5219001 Let's see how this turns out! Hopefully, this will be one of these situations that RD can look back on and laugh at. All the greats had their slip-ups before, and this can be a great story to tell the nervous new recruits.

5219001
Yay, another episode where her heroes act like horrible ponies!
It's not that I'm not looking forward to this episode, but I have to mentally prepare myself for the Wonderbolt's undeserved hero-treatment.

5219040
I know what you mean. I mean, what's the episode count of the Wonderbolts acting like jerks?

Wonderbolt Academy, Rainbow Falls, and Rarity Investigates. At least, those are the ones that come to mind. Are there any others?

5219046 Aside from that one fellow, the rest of the wonderbolts of Rarity Investigates weren't bad. Soarin was just following protocall.

5219062
Except the protocol is to accuse a pony without any good evidence and tell them they're guilty unless they can prove their innocence, which is exactly the opposite of modern legal standards.

5219072 Maybe they have a guilty until proven innocence standard.

5219080
There's a reason why we don't do that anymore. Any culture that still uses it (like, say, the Wonderbolts) are something somewhat worse than jerks.

5219040
Honestly, I don't see this as them acting like horrible ponies. It's pretty common on pro-sports team to haze the newbie a bit. I'm really hoping this episode ends up being more about Dash learning not to take any slight to her ego personally and learning how to keep her composure.

Also, the bit about protocol, they didn't say she was guilty until proven innocent. They just said that they'd look more into it and she wouldn't be able to fly at that specific event with them unless she was cleared before then. A bit harsh, but probably the right move considering how close it happened to the event in question.

5219089

It's pretty common on pro-sports team to haze the newbie a bit.

Count me among the people who dislike athletes in general because of that sort of attitude. The top of the pack in a sports team has a free pass to be bullies.

You might sort of have a point about the protocol, but the way Soarin starts his dialogue block with saying she can't fly for the next show and ends it with a severe warning, it seems like it blurs together into one message to me.

5219001 Wait! The Castle of Friendship has a dungeon?! I guess they had to use it at least once...

"she makes a bad first impression"

what the heck she knows most of them already. her first impression was breaking all of the academy's records and getting applauded for refusing to put her own status over the safety of others

also how many times has she almost joined the wonderbolts now? is it for real this time? lol

5219089 Also, many sports teams and military organizations (The Wonderbolts are based on the Blue Angels) have to take accusations of foul play seriously. But they did give Rainbow Dash a chance to prove her innocence.

Three-point landing.

Scootaloo is there for the big moment!

Yup, stereotypical bullying-sports-team-that-for-some-reason-gets-a-free-pass-on-being-jerks routine.

Yep, this is going how I expected. Rainbow got over confident, screwed up, and then took some light teasing too hard. Fleetfoot even tried to make her feel better in the locker room. And Rainbow will make it worse for herself by trying too hard to impress them now.

And Rainbow is holding the idiot ball. She's cradling the idiot ball.

The Equestrian language is officially pictographs.

No, Rainbow Dash, what are you doing? That's not what Twilight meant. Stop. Please.

5219001

My God, this episode is physically painful to watch.

The ending was solid, but the path it took to get there was muddy as hell.

-Lumino

Regular ending theme? Huh.

I'm honestly not sure how to feel about this episode right now. I think I'll ruminate on it for a while.

Nice to see someone finally get a punishment proportional to their screw-up for once. This wasn't nearly as bad as wrecking a weather factory.

5219476

Do you have friends? I don't mean that as rude as it sounds, there is a point to that question. Friends mess with each other. You might say simple little insults no more complicated than a "Your mom" joke, or maybe something that's more of an in joke. Being able to mess with people and not take it personally shows that you actually are close. That's present in many sports teams and other such groups.

Now yes, there is an absolutely line between team hazing and bullying, and the Wonderbolt's toed that line. But they didn't cross it. Even after her crappy first day, Fleetfoot tried to pick her back up, showing that they did care. Honestly, Dash was the biggest problem in this episode, and her performance was absolutely cringe inducing.

-Lumino

5219512

Friends mess with each other. You might say simple little insults no more complicated than a "Your mom" joke, or maybe something that's more of an in joke.

It's her first day. They aren't ‘friends' yet. They absolutely did cross the line into bullying, and it's just our society's attitude of ‘if you're insulted by an insult, that's your own fault’ that makes it seem okay.

Edit: Rule of thumb: When you have to clarify your statement with ‘no offense’ or ‘that's not meant to be as rude as it sounds’, you aren't actually being nice. You're just trying to cover your ass because you know very well what you're saying is cruel.

5219522

Again, messing with a newbie is nothing new. It's on a more subconscious level. How do you think someone will feel if there are four people who mess with each other and engage in general japery, but when you are around they are all professional and serious? That means you are different and not part of the team.

Now yes, bringing her into the fold in such a fast manner can be a bit disorienting at first, but it's the quickest way to say to her "You belong". The alternative is making her feel like she's being ostracized. You may not like it, but there is absolutely a legitimate social reason it is done, and it isn't because "Everybody who plays sports is a jerk."

-Lumino

5219001 An interesting episode to say the least. Rainbow Dash being teased in school actually being a motivator to help others who were victims of bullying. I'm on board with that. Also though I didn't like the Wonderbolts behavior in this episode at first, the ending redeemed them greatly seeing as being teased has actually helped them grow stronger and in a strange way this actually helps new recruits learn humility and teamwork. It doesn't resolve them of everything, but I think this is the best portrayal of the Wonderbolts to date.

5219001 Well, it seems like The Wonderbolts are doomed to be "One Step Forward, Two Steps Backward" characters from now on. Every time we get a good potrayal of them, we have to get an even more awful potrayal of them to erase their good name. Can someone tell me why this show feels the need to make The Wonderbolts a-holes for the sake of the plot?

5219534

Again, messing with a newbie is nothing new.

That would be an excellent rebuttal if I was arguing that their behavior was abnormal. As it is, you appear to be claiming that just because a behavior is typical, it's therefore fine. I strongly object.

The alternative is making her feel like she's being ostracized.

There's quite a large area between ‘being a jerk’ and ‘not welcoming her’. In there somewhere are several ways to ease her into the group without being insensitive.

You may not like it, but there is absolutely a legitimate social reason it is done, and it isn't because "Everybody who plays sports is a jerk."

1. Hypothesis: It isn't a matter of welcoming the newbie into the group so they feel like they belong, it's a matter of dominance behavior, where the rest of the group makes it clear up front that the newbie is at the bottom of the pack.
2. It is quite possible for there to be a socially acceptable reason for people to act like jerks. You again appear to be arguing from the false assumption that typical behavior = good behavior.
3. Cause and effect being what it is, people don't generally do things because they're jerks; they're jerks for what they do.

I'm glad Rainbow finally joined the Wonderbolts but this was easily the worst episode of the season.

5219670 Really? I think of a lot worse than this in both the show and out of it, and for the most part I enjoyed it. Besides I think we should all hold of the 'worst' or 'best' of the season and/or show until its over don't you think? Who knows what's going to happen in the future.

First impressions review of the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic episode Newbie Dash (s06e07)

By Obake

SPOILERS!

Recovering from last week's clunker, this week gives us the episode Newbie Dash. It is a step up, though problematic.

The first half is strong. One of the wonderbolts, Firestreak, retires, leading to the Bolts choosing Dash as the replacement. That's right - Dash is a Wonderbolt now!

But things aren't so peachy. Her overconfidence leads Dash to make the newbie mistake of not looking both ways before crossing the runway, causing her to crash into a garbage can as she dodges landing flyers. The Bolts' mock Rainbow's pratfall, nicknaming her Rainbow Crash. This brings Dash to reminiscence about her trials as a filly at flight camp, where bullies called her the same thing. Rainbow's first day of training is spent mostly cleaning up after her mistakes, and she's left feeling worthless.

It's at about the halfway point that the episode takes a slow dive (no pun intended). Rainbow's methods of winning back her tough reputation among her peers is...impersonating the rest of the Mane 6. This drags on, and doesn't really make sense. Rainbow loves her friends, but she also doesn't think of any of them as fitting her radical persona. Shouldn't Rainbow just up the levels of her brash coolness to try and win confidence back, perhaps using 90's slang?

The ending is also not very fun. Rainbow of course messes up the routine during the actual airshow, due to a convoluted scheme she set up: she has Scootaloo push a raincloud in her way. The plan is for Dash to ram into the cloud and create a lightning bolt, sounds promising enough. For whatever reason, the lightning scares Rainbow, causing her to pinball her way into clouds, a tree, and finally face plant into cotton candy. The Wonderbolts' are understandably upset.

Then it gets to the moral. Rainbow learns that the bolts really do think she is cool after all, and that their ribbing is all part of their organization (they each have embarrassing nicknames). That would be fine- if the Bolts didn't treat her with such disdain beforehand. They explicitly say in dialogue how they admire RD for all of the times she's saved Ponyville, Equestria, and even the world. Yet they treat her as trash (no pun intended, again).

Don't get me wrong, the Wonderbolts' being *&^^%%$ is nothing new. I actually like the fact that despite being rolemodels, they're not an upstanding organization; they lie and backstab, are quick to aggression. Spitfire herself is underhanded and even cheats to win at events. It's not the fact that the Wonderbolts' are bad that I have a problem with. These guys were not just being rude, they seemed to be going out of their way to make RD miserable, including waiting until the end to explain their ribbing is supposedly all in good fun. Way to make RD almost cry for two entire days, &^%^%^. If I was Rainbow, I would hold at least a little resentment.

To be honest, this isn't a bad episode, it just takes some bad turns. Rainbow's attempts at being cool, her mistakes in the air show at the end, and her smiling at being torn down by total jerks give a sour taste, to an otherwise fine, and even emotional, episode.

Extras:
-There are some very weird, uncomfortable lines. Before leaving, Rainbow asks to make sure her wing balm is in her luggage. She says, and I quote, "I don't want to be stiff when I show up at Wonderbolt's Headequarters." It could've easily been "I don't want my wings to be stiff when," which would be so, so much better.
-Firestreak, a Wonderbolt I don't believe that's ever appeared on screen, retires to be a full time teacher. It's nice to see that the Academy is still receiving recognition in the show.
-It feels a little cheap that Rainbow's mistakes in both the present and past were flying into garbage cans. Couldn't they have come up with something different for the flashback of her flight camp days? Even so, this is still an emotional scene.
-The rest of the Mane 6, Spike, and the CMC are there at RD's house to throw her a party after her first day of training. Pinkie of course has the party cannon set up right inside the door, scaring the daylights out of Dash.
-Scootaloo gets a lot of screen time in this episode, which is cool. They reference the RD fanclub (which she is still president of), a nice nod to earlier seasons.
-Dash's first day training is so harsh, and hard to watch, but in a good way. Dash is quietly humiliated by all of her peers, not letting them see the extent of her hurt. Her mission is to maintain her tough persona, and being "the newbie" is humbling.
-Things take a turn downhill as day two of training starts. Rainbow's impersonations of her friends personalities is so completely out of left field, and goes on a lot longer than it needs to. I admit to perhaps smiling at her impersonation of Applejack, at first. But what is RD trying to accomplish?
-Spitfire's at the worst she's ever been. She goes the extra mile in emotionally beating RD down, berating her, yelling directly into her ears with a megaphone, etc. But the real icing on the cake is that she not only keeps calling RD Crash, she actually emblazons a symbol for that nickname on RD's jacket. What a &^%%$! This is part of the reason I wanted to see the Bolts' receive some sort of comeuppance in the end.
-Why exactly is RD scared off by the lighting in the raincloud, when her intention was creating lightning in the first place? I guess it can be justified as Dash not thinking through her plans ahead of time, but it still feels weird.
-The Bolt's eventually reveal that they all have embarrassing nicknames, for various reasons (which was hinted at earlier). Soarin' is nicknamed Clipper for having clipped his wings on a flagpole. Others are nicknamed things like Slowpoke, and Flip Flap. Then there's Spitfire's nickname, which she dares not speak aloud, but whispers into Dash's ear, causing her to recoil. "That's way worse than being called crash!" What in the actual eff?
-RD is left happily cleaning up after the show, by herself. The Wonderbolts really are a horrible organization.

5219808

-RD is left happily cleaning up after the show, by herself. The Wonderbolts really are a horrible organization.

Would you rather her being fired for showboating and directly disobeying orders, putting everyone at risk for the sake of her own ego? People get on and on about Spitfire being rude and yadda yadda yadda. She's the leader of a highly trained performance group. They perform dangerous stunts at high speeds, which requires discipline.

RD screwed up, so she was punished. Frankly, it's loads better than the whole "This is a child's cartoon, so no consequences." they usually do. This episode was realistic, because a scenario like this does happen in real life.

Also, the stenciling of her nickname onto her jacket was, once again, an indication that she was part of the group. She didn't understand it because she wasn't aware that everyone else had it the same way. This is the same scene we are told Soarin's nickname of Clipper, but we're given no context to it. When the context of Soarin's humiliating nickname being put on his jacket is revealed, it changes the meaning of that scene.

Also, you say that are exceptionally hard on her, ignoring the fact that after that first day they did try to support her, except Dash's ego wouldn't allow her to admit she was having difficulties to her team mates. She acted like she was fine, so they assumed it was safe to treat her like they treated each other. Harsh in training, a little mocking teasing, but all in good fun. You can't blame the Wonderbolts for reading the signs Rainbow showed them.

-Lumino

5219791 No I don't think, for me this is the worst episode this season, and I will judge the rest of the season as it is released. While not the worst episode in the show, it would probably be in my top ten if not top five worst episode. And just to be clear, I don't dislike the episode because of how the Wonderbolts acted it was all of the cringey moments and the poor writing.

5219832
This fandom can't be pleased. First they complain because Rainbow wasn't punished and now they complain because she was.

Also, from my work experience, I can totally understand Spitfire here.

If I got a dollar for every time I make such an expression, I wouldn't have to work...

5219808

if the Bolts didn't treat her with such disdain beforehand.

Did you ignore Fleetfoot trying to cheer her up in the locker room? I actually didn't see much disdain at all. Also, have you ever watched cartoons before? Playing things up for comedic effect, like a megaphone to the ear, is fairly common.

5219896
Wow. Nearly forgot about all the complaints people had that Rainbow wasn't punished in Tanks for the Memories. Now that she is suddenly the people doing it are horrible.

5219896 Honestly I don't care, and manage to casually enjoy nearly every episode, some more than others. Can't express how much I love your comment.

5219949

I watch cartoons all the time. When a haystack, a safe, and a piano fell on Twilight's head in Feeling Pinkie Keen (s01e15), it was over the top, funny, and cartoonish. When Spitfire yells through a megaphone into RD's ears, it wasn't funny or all that cartoonish.

Also, I've liked every episode this season besides last week's and part of today's. It's okay for people to have negative opinions about certain episodes (and of course, it's nice to hear people whose opinions about those same episodes are positive.)

I had a really hard time watching this episode, but mostly because Rainbow happens to be my favourite and seeing the thing that she enjoys the most be put at stake, with only herself to blame at the end, was rather tough to sit through.

Interestingly, though, I don't think I had many moments where I felt anything was unjustified. I could even see where Rainbow's behaviour was coming from, considering that her nickname was the same she got whilst being bullied. She was still in the wrong, especially at the end, but with such high stakes and what I imagine are some pretty gnarly memories taking centre stage, I don't find it particularly surprising that she'd want to go back to her comfort zone: being the centre of attention.

As for people getting nitty at the Wonderbolts for calling her Rainbow Crash... Guys. It's a nickname. One that, as it happens, wasn't meant too harshly. Throughout the episode, I always felt the Wonderbolts were getting frustrated at Rainbow Dash, for starters, not observing a safety protocol (look both ways), try and mess with an established routine, and eventually pretty much sabotage the routine, all within two days.

I'd be grumpy too.

There were some details that I was rather fond of, though. The dihedral wing angle comment was one! I actually study aerospace and I appreciated the off-hand comment. One other thing that stuck in my mind was a comment (by Twilight, I think but I can't quite remember for sure) that Rainbow was resilient enough to handle some teasing and being the worst flyer on her first day. I guess I found it interesting simply because it's been established since really early on (season 1 early) that she isn't. She has a long, long history of overreacting and breaking down, so I think it's rather curious that she still actually does have some kind of public image that other characters (and likely herself) seem to believe in.

I think that's probably one of the many reasons Rainbow takes things to heart far too much: she wants to be able to live up to the hype she's made for herself, and gets really, really unhappy when she feels she can't.

My main problem with this episode is Rainbow didn't really have a redeeming element in this episode. As with many, many others, she messes up and learns from it, but unlike in, say, Sonic Rainboom, where she pulls through and succeeds, here she doesn't. She learns, and that's great and all, but it'd have been nice to see her shine at least a little.

I'm all for having Rainbow's most prominent flaws be addressed, but some of her qualities would be appreciated as well. I feel this would have been a really nice episode if there was something positive to take away from it. As it is, I'm not displeased with it, but I do kinda wish I'd have gotten more from the episode where she joins the Wonderbolts than just her being taken down a peg.

I am glad that Rainbow Dash isn't bothered by it and is OK with her nickname, but although It is somewhat humbling that the Wonderbolts all give each other bad nick names based on their bad experiences, Rainbow Dash most definitely has the right to tell them to stop using the nickname that actual school bullies used to hurt her in her childhood without worrying about being punished or kicked off If she was still being hurt by this,

There shouldn't be these stupid rituals for maintaining a group member, just treat each other with respect. Sometimes Treating people how you want to be treated just isn't enough. Especially when it comes to people referring to someone by name or pronoun. It is a really stupid thing for anyone to be persistent about. Just use the name that's convenient for Rainbow without any excess drama, there are tons of better ways to get her to bond with a group and work with the team beyond the newbie stigma.

As we have seen in this episode, it only leads to needless confusion.

5219084
5219534
5219949

5220024
Sure it's okay to have a negative opinion about an episode. I've really disliked some in the past. It's just that you're reactions to some parts of it seem rather hyperbolic. Like with Spitfire. She directly said they all have their nicknames on their jackets and used Soarin's as an example. She gave Dash good advice to the effect of stop worrying about what others think and focus on perfecting the routine. And with the megaphone, Dash's eyes were circling and her face was being blown to the side. It's pretty much the same thing the Looney Tunes would have done. Also, Pinkie did the same thing to her.

And yet you're portraying it as some horribly awful thing and making it seem like Rainbow is being singled out.

5219001

Well, dragging Scootaloo into it seemed kinda low-down. But, eh, what's a little faginy between friends?

I don't like cringe humor--I guess I'm like those people who can't eat cilantro 'cause to them it tastes like soap. But this wasn't too bad. It was like, y'know, lemony-fresh soap.

Okay, honestly, who thought that "Rainbow Dash" and "military discipline" would ever go together? I'm surprised things turned out as well as they did. Though I'd have thought a senior Wonderbolt would've taken her aside and said "Don't worry about it, kid--we ALL went through this." But then you wouldn't have had a story.

Co-ed locker rooms? With back massages? WHAT IS GOING ON IN OUR SCHOOLS TODAYand why couldn't it have been like that when I was in school?

Finally-- seeing Rainbow Dash do about a half-dozen Wyle E. Coyote double-takes? Priceless. Priceless.

5220270

I don't like cringe humor

I might be alone in this, but I never really watched MLP for the humour, cringey or otherwise. I can count the times I've laughed at it on one hand. Without using binary.

Sometimes, when the stars align and the prophecies are fulfilled, when I see something happen onscreen and I've drank just enough, I might smile. A bit.

Not too much, because let's not go crazy here.

5219808

-Scootaloo gets a lot of screen time in this episode, which is cool. They reference the RD fanclub (which she is still president of), a nice nod to earlier seasons.

It was nice that Snips and Snails, part of the RDFC, got some continuity in this week's episode as opposed to last week's Trixie episode where they would have been reduced to lackeys again had they helped Trixie out.

5220061

She directly said they all have their nicknames on their jackets and used Soarin's as an example.

But the crucial fact that the other nicknames were also derived from embarrassing incidents was kept a secret from Rainbow Dash until she had been driven to a stupid suicidal stunt in a last desperate attempt to clear her name, and was about to quit in disgrace when even that failed.

Yes, stupid suicidal stunts are wrong. But I place the blame squarely on those ponies who drove Rainbow Dash to it. Being bullied is NOT the victim's fault, guys!

How the hell can the show hold this up to kids as an okay way to behave?.

5220053
This guy gets it

5219832

Also, the stenciling of her nickname onto her jacket was, once again, an indication that she was part of the group. She didn't understand it because she wasn't aware that everyone else had it the same way. This is the same scene we are told Soarin's nickname of Clipper, but we're given no context to it.

More importantly, this context is being withheld from Rainbow Dash. The only message she could reasonably get from that jacket - given that the "real" meaning was being kept a secret from her at the time - is, "You will NEVER fit in here, ever".

I would just like to pop in to mention something I noticed that I don't think anyone has brought up yet. Rainbow Dash finally gets into the right path with being a Wonderbolt by doing the opposite of what her friends suggest. They were of no help at all, in the end. They say to just stand out in a different way and get a new nickname, and the 'Bolts straight-up tell her to stop showboating. The solution was to shut up, accept her nickname and that they mean no offense by it, and fit in instead. Problem was not solved through her friendships, only made worse. I just found that kinda interesting.

Also, it might've been nice if they'd made it clear that she wasn't being singled out, but she never told them she had a problem with it. In fact, nopony mentions the idea of communicating with them about the issue at all, not even any of her friends. A bit odd, but maybe they just felt it wasn't Rainbow's style, and thus didn't bother. Also a bit odd that the Wonderbolts have never used callsigns before, as far as we have seen. And it's odd to build a runway in the middle of a compound (I don't think airports generally do that, because it creates traffic problems as the episode demonstrates). And it's odd for anybody who's familiar with a road system or flight school to not know to check the lanes before crossing. And it's odd that they don't just fly up above the runway (why would they take off and land in the middle of it and not at either end? Runways aren't really designed for that.).

All in all, an odd episode. I still can't gather how I feel about it.

5221156
Or, you know, Dash could have taken the step of asking what his nickname meant, or telling Spitfire that nickname hit hard because it was something actual bullies used to call her. It wasn't kept secret, Dash never bothered trying to ask about it. You can't expect every piece of information to be handed to you if you never bother trying to talk to others. She also ignored Fleetfoot trying to be nice and Spitfire giving her good advice, and that's entirely on Dash.

5221389 I can see both sides of it. It's not always easy to tell the guys you've just started working with that you used to be bullied and they picked the exact specific nickname used to get picked on.

Dash was still in the wrong, especially when she starts getting desperate at the end, but I don't think she was acting in a complete vacuum.

5219001
Yep, I saw this reaction to the episode from a mile away.

>boo hoo Wonderbolts were dicks to muh waifu
>not worshiping the ground she walks on
>giving her an embarrassing nickname like everyone else has
>not putting up with her annoying shit when she tries stupid cringy plans to get a different nickname
>blaming them for the fact that Dash didn't act like an adult and just ask for context or directly ask for them to stop she jumped straight to the stupid annoying plans that only make things worse
>being dicks

5221391
It's true that she didn't act in a vacuum, but she got a golden opportunity to talk about it when Fleetfoot approached her in the locker room. The conflict could have ended right then and there, and she would have learned everything. She threw away that chance.

5221416 I think there were opportunities on both sides to try and sort things out. As with most drama, it comes down to miscommunication.

I don't think the Wonderbolts should be expected to know that Rainbow was bullied way back when and they picked perhaps the most unfortunate nickname for her, but since they did what would have been otherwise mild teasing would have felt awfully mean-spirited. Combined with everything else going on, I think it's pretty understandable to want to not bring up awkward memories on your first day on the job.

Because she probably spent the whole day thinking she was being singled out (which given the context, is pretty understandable), I don't think communication really felt like an option. Because the Wonderbolts had no idea about the context involved, they just didn't do anything to try and figure out what was wrong. Things like putting Rainbow's new nickname on her jacket, which likely seemed like a good idea, were turned to something more hurtful in Rainbow's head.

If both sides sat down calmly with an understanding that something was off, it'd have been solved very quickly, but the Wonderbolts are busy getting a routine ready in two days and Rainbow is all over the place,

With all that in mind, I think it's very easy to say that you could just have blurted out the truth, but in practice, things often get in the way... especially when you're still unaccustomed to a new environment. I know it took me a week and a half to be comfortable with only a handful of my flatmates, and much longer before I would be chill with some of the others. Rainbow only had two days. That ain't much.

5221425
I agree that things aren't always that clear in practice, and it definitely fits Rainbow's character to hold everything in until the last possible moment. That's actually why I liked this episode. There was no true bad guy or anyone completely at fault (though I do pin more of the responsibility on Dash). It was just someone taking things the wrong way and it spiraling out of control. Normally I'm not a big fan of conflict that can be settled by a five minute conversation, but in this case, it fit.

It just annoys me a bit that everyone's response is, "OMG the Wonderbolts are such bullies! Poor little Dashie!"

5221445 I agree. I think the Wonderbolts have been an easy target for a fair bit of criticism, but not this time, methinks.

If anything, Dash performed rather poorly this episode. I think that was my biggest disappointment here: I rather like RD, and she couldn't even fly in a straight line this episode. Ah well. I'm sure there'll be more opportunities for that later.