Eyyyy, it's me. Rainbow Dash man here, because Sonic Rainboom is an epic episode and I want to talk about it after rewatching it again. This episode is kind of a big deal, both for me personally and also I think for the fandom in general, since it set up a lot of pretty damn critical stuff for probably thousands of fanfics; the Sonic Rainboom, Rainbow's journey to becoming a Wonderbolt, the Wonderbolts themselves, and the 'yay' meme.

So let's get bloody started, ey?

Right, so we start with some Rainbow talking Fluttershy up to cheer better. I frankly love this, since it says loads about Rainbow being so starved for friends that she picks the pony with shy in her name to do the cheering, that she needs somepony cheering her on to do practice in the first place, and so on. I know it's a gag, but it's great.

'Yay' is also pretty damn funny and cute.

Rainbow then goes and starts off her routine. This is pretty standard.

We've got some slaloming. Nice.

We've got some rainbow trail and breeze-wake stuff. Nice.

Fluttershy things to too! Way to go. There's a cool bit where Rainbow spins some clouds around and it's pretty neat. Fluttershy later says she likes it and I agree with her.

But enough stalling! It's Rainboom time, and at barely one minute into the ep it's about time we see one.

It doesn't happen, obviously. I still scratch my head at the physics here, but... well. It's fine. I'm not bitter, I'm just livid.

Rainbow gets catapulted into Twilight's Library. She makes a mess.

There are a few things I like about the following scene. I like how Rainbow immediately deflects her failure onto the ponies cheering for her. I like how she hides that she's failed the Rainboom hundreds of times, and I like that she is genuinely a bit upset that her other friends can't come to see her fly. It's an aspect of vulnerability we haven't really seen all that much of prior to this episode. I like how the other ponies react too, with Fluttershy wishing she could cheer better and Rarity correctly identifying stage fright.

I also have a rare moment of appreciation for Rarity's violent butt-tactics. Rip Twilight.

Twilight, prompted by Rarity, looks for a spell to get them to Cloudsdale, without enduring pesky little things like dying. I like this worldbuilding, too. Even now, I feel Cloudsdale is a bit mysterious...

There's some other stuff. Pinkie runs around a bit, but long story short, poof, spell happens. Fade to black.

...But it definitely worked.

Meanwhile, we see Rainbow and Fluttershy in Cloudsdale. Already, I like the looks of this. It looks so white and smooth. Not like these losers:

This is interesting to me, because reading through loads of fanfics kinda romanticises Rainbow Dash as this awesome, tough beast of a pony. It's interesting to me that one of the biggest episodes featuring her indicates her being bullied, potentially kicked out of flight school (or did she quit?), and so on. These guys don't think she can do the Rainboom, which is convenient, because clearly neither does Rainbow.

Careful, RD. Your crushing insecurity is showing.

Oh, by the way, Fluttershy was pretty cute here, trying to be assertive without also simultaneously nearly killing everypony. I remember really liking Fluttershy in early days.

But anyway, it's all okay now, because a big cheering crew has just arrived. Behold, Rarity!

Oh and also these guys.

They cast an easier spell that just lets non-pegasi walk on clouds. We'll ignore the weird issue where ponies can't walk on clouds but all the pegasi's stuff doesn't fall through the floor for now. Just... pretend that doesn't exist. Maybe pegasi eat clouds, and make everything out of clouds...

Anyway. The crew decide to go on a tour of Cloudsdale. I like the tour as well. It's got fun worldbuilding. I bloody love the whole 'ponies control the weather' deal, and have written about it loads.

I think I can identify a problem, however.

Rarity, despite being the first (other than Flutters) to hop aboard the 'support Rainbow' train is also the first to go off the rails and get distracted by having giant insect wings sprout from her back. Which is fair enough, I confess. It would be distracting, but it's doing no favours for our favourite insecure bundle of nerves.

As an aside from the plot, apparently rainbows are spicy. I thought Pinkie liked spicy stuff? I wonder if by 'spicy' she meant 'inedible and toxic', but to Pinkie that's just only slightly more intense than what she's used to...

Anyway. It's bad news for Rainbow, because Rarity gets it into her head that she's pretty damn amazing with these wings Twilight made for her. Everypony else says so. This starts to get to Rainbow, unsurprisingly, since this is her episode and Rarity is muscling in on her screen-time.

She decides that maybe she should compete. Looking at how easily the ponies of Cloudsdale are impressed, I'm inclined to agree... but perhaps not in a flying contest.

Naturally, Dash is pretty s h o o k.

We now move onto the actual flying contest.

It actually starts pretty hype! We get Princess Celestia doing a little wave (wow!), we get the Wonderbolts, who do a firework thing (gasp!) and then fly down and sit to watch some teenagers fly about for half an hour (uwah!).

Interestingly, you've got a whole load of Wonderbolts here, but later there only seem to be three. I guess the rest buggered off. I suppose you don't really need more than three judges, so maybe the rest were just there to help on their way home.

There are a few Wonderbolts we'll come to recognise later. There's Spitfire, obviously (she's weird; there's screenshots of her being at least close to Dash's age, which makes her kind of a big deal...) Soarin, who will forever haunt the Rainbow Dash shipping scene forever much to my dismay, and some other pony. Misty Fly, I think her name is.

Contest time! Let's go!

On second thought, neither Rainbow nor Rarity want to go just yet. Rainbow is busy pissing herself and Rarity is busy cleaning up. Great. We do get some mad enthusiasm from number 6, I think it was.

Every time I see someone say Rainbow is overconfident, I go look for this picture to confirm I'm not just crazy. This is a pretty big deal; Rainbow Dash's main thing, her cutie mark, for Pete's sake, and she's petrified she's going to do a bad job and embarrass herself. It's pretty mad, and drives home how big a deal this is for Rainbow.

Rarity is having fun, at least, despite how oblivious she now seems to be to Rainbow's stage fright, which she was previously so keenly aware of, interestingly. Shows how self-centred Rarity could be, especially in early seasons.

As an aside, I am not a fan of lipstick on those pony models. Sue me.

The pair take so long they're the last to go, and somehow also have to go together because they spent so long faffing about. Wow. Well, they do it anyway, and Rarity at least has the decency to put on some pretty soothing music.

Rainbow Dash does not agree. Too bad; I felt the classical worked well. Differences in opinion I suppose...

Contest begins! It goes predictably. We get to reexperience the practice Rainbow did before, but now everything is awful. She fails at everything.

But don't worry, because Rarity channels her inner Icarus and decides that the only way to follow a duff act is to mess up in an even more spectacular manner.

Poof! But don't start clapping yet, the best is yet to come. The Wonderbolts rush down to rescue Rarity, but it turns out that they never trained to rescue 'mad flailing possible martial-artist'.

Ah, ha ha ha! Ah, but this does put a smile on my face. Anyway, the Wonderbolts are unconscious now.

Now you can applaud.

Rainbow Dash somehow notices the obscenely loud screaming and decides that if there was a good time to perform a win, then now would be it.

She flied down and tried to do the Sonic Rainboom. Should'a tried spinning. That's a good trick.

Boom!

We should also give mad props to Rainbow's lifting skills. Four ponies looks heavy.

The episode is wrapping up by now. The ponies are rescued, Rarity realises she was being thoughtless and apologises, pretty well too might I add. Rainbow wishes that she met the Wonderbolts whilst they were awake, and hot diggety damn, they turn up behind her.

One should hope so, she saved their buns. Rainbow also wins the contest too! I guess even if you perform really badly, that gets erased if you literally save lives. Pretty high stakes, pretty good stuff. Hap likes. The bullies even try to apologise and hang out, but Rainbow Dash is like, nah man, I got better plans.

So, I like this episode because it was one of the first to dump massive amounts of depth onto Rainbow Dash, turning an egotistical braggart who was better at crashing than flying into a pony fighting insecurity. It gives context to her actions when she's mean and when she's loud and abrasive. It raises questions about her childhood and mentality, questions about her motivations and stuff.

For that alone, that's a pretty big deal for a single episode, particularly past the halfway mark. M.A. Larson wrote it. I think he did good work. I think the episode is tight, efficient (even the bits with the factory develop Rarity's whole deal whilst doing worldbuilding at the same time), strongly character driven, and moreover, sets up a lot of growth and development for Rainbow Dash.

On a personal level, this episode was pretty much what convinced me to keep watching when I finished S1. I thought to myself, 'do I want to start season 2, or decide that the show isn't for me?', and I remembered this ep, and made my choice.

Good stuff, in my opinion.

7125154

10 years later and I still get goosebumps every time.

[EDIT]: Two more I dug up for the nostalgia trip:

7125211 There's so much stuff that got made from the Rainboom. I missed loads of it, having arrived in 2014, and still it saturated loads of pony videos...

Not surprising, considering how cool it is.

7125154

Every time I see someone say Rainbow is overconfident, I go look for this picture to confirm I'm not just crazy. This is a pretty big deal; Rainbow Dash's main thing, her cutie mark, for Pete's sake, and she's petrified she's going to do a bad job and embarrass herself. It's pretty mad, and drives home how big a deal this is for Rainbow.

Really wish more people would say something like this -- Rainbow might be a little dense at times, but she's... well, awesome. This episode just solidifies that.

7125154
Ah, Sonic Rainboom. One of Season 1's most popular episodes. And certainly a very important one - not only is it arguably Rainbow Dash's first proper focus like the similarly beloved Suited for Success was for Rarity, but it also gave us Cloudsdale and codified the idea of the "realm of the skies" that Equestrian pegasi live and work in. I certainly don't dislike it - I don't dislike any Season 1 episode - but i don't love it the same way so many seem to. Perhaps I'll figure out why as we go through?

it set up a lot of pretty damn critical stuff for probably thousands of fanfics; the Sonic Rainboom, Rainbow's journey to becoming a Wonderbolt, the Wonderbolts themselves, and the 'yay' meme.

If I want to be nitpicky, Dash's dreams were set up plenty in the first three episodes, and any progress made this episode is fairly illusory in retrospect. But it seemed substantial at the time, at least, and the Rainboom will be a big deal. After all, out of all of the Manes Rainbow is the closest to a shounen hero, and what's one of them without a flashy supermove?

Right, so we start with some Rainbow talking Fluttershy up to cheer better. I frankly love this, since it says loads about Rainbow being so starved for friends that she picks the pony with shy in her name to do the cheering, that she needs somepony cheering her on to do practice in the first place, and so on. I know it's a gag, but it's great.

One of the very simple, but enjoyable bits the early seasons did well. (And it's a lack of pegasus friends in particular - I'm guessing Rainbow's lax work ethic doesn't endear her to her colleagues on the weather team.)

Twilight, prompted by Rarity, looks for a spell to get them to Cloudsdale, without enduring pesky little things like dying. I like this worldbuilding, too. Even now, I feel Cloudsdale is a bit mysterious...

Sometimes the show's "make-it-up-as-you-go" worldbuilding works better than others. i still find it a bit hard to believe that if there were magical ways for ground ponies to come to Cloudsdale, even difficult ones, they wouldn't be known to pegasi and magical scholars alike. Especially if if they could be found in books in some random earthpony town's library. (Or maybe the librarian's personal collection, but that circles back to her knowing about them.) Still, it's a minor gripe.

This is interesting to me, because reading through loads of fanfics kinda romanticises Rainbow Dash as this awesome, tough beast of a pony. It's interesting to me that one of the biggest episodes featuring her indicates her being bullied, potentially kicked out of flight school (or did she quit?), and so on.

What pony needs tough skin, if not to ward off the arrows of adversity? Mind you, it didn't work for Fluttershy...

Every time I see someone say Rainbow is overconfident, I go look for this picture to confirm I'm not just crazy. This is a pretty big deal; Rainbow Dash's main thing, her cutie mark, for Pete's sake, and she's petrified she's going to do a bad job and embarrass herself. It's pretty mad, and drives home how big a deal this is for Rainbow.

Perhaps it's better to say that Rainbow compensates so hard for her occasional lack of confidence as to come out the other side. Although this is a fairly extreme circumstance - she knows she can't do the Rainboom and the Wonderbolts are watching.

Rarity is having fun, at least, despite how oblivious she now seems to be to Rainbow's stage fright, which she was previously so keenly aware of, interestingly. Shows how self-centred Rarity could be, especially in early seasons.

I think Rarity is the biggest turn-off for me this episode - I get where they'e coming from with her writing, but it still feels as garishly OOC as that makeover. Perhaps the wing spell is obscure because it has intoxicating side effects?

We should also give mad props to Rainbow's lifting skills. Four ponies looks heavy.

Perhaps more impressive than the Rainboom itself is catching them all safely without crashing or breaking anypony's neck.

Rainbow wishes that she met the Wonderbolts whilst they were awake, and hot diggety damn, they turn up behind her.

Yeah, this part was just quietly forgotten about later, wasn't it? At the Gala they acknowledge her saving them, but don't really seem to know her beyond that.

So, I like this episode because it was one of the first to dump massive amounts of depth onto Rainbow Dash, turning an egotistical braggart who was better at crashing than flying into a pony fighting insecurity. It gives context to her actions when she's mean and when she's loud and abrasive. It raises questions about her childhood and mentality, questions about her motivations and stuff.

It really does make her as a character in some ways. Maybe the reason I like it rather than loving it is that she's not exactly my top Mane? Nah, Rarity's probably got more to do with it - this was arguably the first real derailment of a Mane, and it tarnishes the ep a bit, like a lone dark cloud in a sky of fluffy white ones. But I do like it, and it's 100% required viewing for writing Rainbow Dash IMO.

7125211

10 years later and I still get goosebumps every time.

I'm glad it's not just me.
7125330
That was the scene that really set the hook when I was still deciding about MLP.

7125417

I think Rarity is the biggest turn-off for me this episode - I get where they'e coming from with her writing, but it still feels as garishly OOC as that makeover.

Yeah, that's the one thing I consider a negative on this episode. And considering this was only two episodes after Rarity's big breakout in "Suited for Success" this kind of portrayal didn't do her a lot of favors.

7125154
It was worth to wait for this! Now how long till next Rainbow centric episode?

7125518
Could be worse - imagine if the order was reversed!

7125154
Yay, rewatched the episode!

I did take some notes, but probably not as thoroughly as usual, and I'm just going to mention the more interesting parts rather than everything, since you've already covered things well.

First, I'm going to note that the episode was at one point named "Up, Up, and Dismay!".

I did like Rainbow's routine, and Fluttershy's "Yay" scene was as good as ever.

The dynamic between Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy was interesting in this episode. Initially, I thought Rainbow was being a little mean at points with Fluttershy, but she's very much letting it go, and being as supportive as she can. I remember the line "Were we arguing? I'm sorry...".

Rainbow teaching Fluttershy to cheer is very much for Rainbow, but then she's also trying to get Fluttershy to be more assertive, which is for Fluttershy's own good. Then, when the bullies come by, she doesn't go into full breakdown and reveal all her worries and fears until everyone is gone... except Fluttershy.

Fluttershy is also very cute leaping on a cloud at the end.

It's interesting that Twilight doesn't know a thing about the Best Fliers Competition or what a Sonic Rainboom is. Later, she knows the entire history of the Wonderbolts. I wonder if she read up on them because of this episode?

You could actually see in the scene where Rainbow crashes into the library and is talking to her friends that she wasn't as confident as she was making herself out to be, even before Fluttershy or Rarity said anything.

And Rarity is the one that pushes her friends into finding a way to be there, because she can see that Rainbow Dash needs her friends there to support her. She's perfectly in character... for one of two times this episode. Moreover, the only two times when she was in character were when she didn't have wings.

I actually kinda think the spell had bad side effects. There was an early scene with her and a mirror that reminded me of that scene with Applejack and her reflection in Applebuck Season, where she was exhausted and sleep-deprived. And seriously, Rarity doesn't come to the defense of Rainbow Dash when her bullies are making comments? Also, the spell was specifically mentioned as being for earth ponies and Rarity is a unicorn.

Pinkie was fun in this episode. I liked her hyperactive running around early on, the spellbook falling on her face was convenient, and I liked the horse noises when she tasted the rainbow.

There’s actually a cut bit in the original outline of the episode in the weather factory where they go to where storm clouds are made, see bottled lightning, and a bolt gets loose and goes through a wall, which was how the sun was supposed to shine on Rarity's wings.

I do like Rainbow's arc in this episode, and her bravado masking her being utterly terrified of messing up. The bit about switching numbers totally rings true for me. It kinda reminds me of having to play softball in pe in school, and my slipping further and further back in the line for being up to bat. I hated sports...

I also like how she comes through when her friends lives are on the line, even when they haven't been particularly supportive recently. Rarity's flailing karate isn't the first time we've seen her use martial arts, either. IIRC, she did against the manticore.

All in all, this was a very good defining episode for Rainbow Dash. It was much worse for Rarity, mind you. But Rarity did get Suited for Success, and that's really more the definitive Rarity than here. I'm still going to go with that spell messing with her, too...

I'm looking forward to both the next two episodes, too. Stare Master and Show Stoppers are both classic early CMC.

--Sweetie Belle

7125417 7125518 Regarding Rarity; I can defo see why she might appear to be acting OOC, but considering where she is this early in the show, I feel the situation very much played to her weaknesses, weaknesses which were established and later even get addressed. Rarity in S1 is very appearance obsessed, which should come as no surprise, but moreover has this rather ugly 'fairytale' mentality. We see this with her dreams of meeting a 'Prince Charming' in Canterlot, and it's only in Season 2 and onwards when she starts to shed that.

From Rarity's warped perspective, being given beautiful wings and having attention showered onto her must have felt like Cinderella being given a beautiful dress and turning every head at a ball. This plays to weaknesses she didn't have to deal with in 'Suited'; there, the point was that her dresses be the centre of attention.

She's obviously self-centred, thoughtless, and foolish, but considering how sharp she was before getting those wings and the context of where she is as a character before she has her misconceptions about the world stomped on at the Gala, I'm inclined to believe she's not exactly acting 'OOC'.

She should have known better than to use red lipstick, though.

7125417

If I want to be nitpicky, Dash's dreams were set up plenty in the first three episodes, and any progress made this episode is fairly illusory in retrospect.

Obviously you're right, though I meant in the sense that this is the first time we see Dash do more than just talk about it and actually try to walk the walk. I can't actually recall if we see the Wonderbolts in earlier episodes? Feel free to remind me if my memory is shoddy.

I'm actually rather impressed with how the show slow-played Dash's rise to being a Wonderbolt. When shown alongside Twilight becoming an Alicorn, I feel it was done more organically and methodically.

7125895

I actually kinda think the spell had bad side effects. ... Also, the spell was specifically mentioned as being for earth ponies and Rarity is a unicorn.

I am absolutely adopting this as my headcanon. XD The slightly unhinged "wha-ha-ha!" does seem to support it, too.

7125912
Yep!

Of course, it's also possible she was doing drugs, but I prefer it to be the spell.

--Sweetie Belle

7125913
I don't think you should be gossiping about your sister's habits. She might get a bit upset.

7125906
Not in person, just the Shadowbolts and Dash's fantasies.

And her plot not being tied to a new toy gave plenty of room to stretch it. I wonder when they decided she was going all the way?

As for Rarity... as I said, I saw where they were going, but the execution was off enough I have to go with the "side effects" interpretation.

7125895

It's interesting that Twilight doesn't know a thing about the Best Fliers Competition or what a Sonic Rainboom is. Later, she knows the entire history of the Wonderbolts. I wonder if she read up on them because of this episode?

I suspect simple proximity to Rainbow Dash pushed her to it sooner or later.

Glad to see someone else agreeing with me on the "spell-induced derangement" idea.

7125154
Warn me before you do Lesson Zero. I've only seen that episode once because it totally creeps me out.

7126563
That'd probably be me, at the current rate, I guess in twelve weeks or so?

Did you ever see the creepier ponified "Hold Me" music video based on Lesson Zero?

--Sweetie Belle

7126576
NOOOO...I hadn't seen it, but THANK YOU for adding to my nightmare fuel.

“Sonic Rainboom” is probably one of the more entertaining episodes this season. Not only was this episode entertaining, but it was also pretty funny as well. For starters, there’s the opening. We’re not given any context as to what Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy are talking about throughout this exchange:

Rainbow Dash: Now, what have we learned?

Fluttershy: Loss of control.

Rainbow Dash: Good.

Fluttershy: Screaming and hollering.

Rainbow Dash: Yes, and most importantly?

Fluttershy: Passion.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear they were talking about sex. But, this is a family-oriented show, so of course the writers wouldn’t go that route. Instead, they’re talking about the elements of a good cheer, which Fluttershy constantly fails to live up to. Instead of cheering loud and proud like any normal pony would, she instead chooses to give out a barely audible, “Yay”, and proceeds to do that throughout Rainbow Dash’s training.

What I love about this episode is how heartwarming it is. Rarity doesn’t hesitate to suggest that she and the others go to Cloudsdale to cheer Rainbow Dash on at the Best Young Fliers Competition. Unfortunately, the spell Twilight finds is too complicated to be doable more than once, leaving her and the others to use a cloud walking spell. While the spell Twilight cast on Rarity lasts for at least three days, it’s unknown how long the cloud walking spell lasts.

Fluttershy was great in this episode. While past episodes had portrayed her as being a pansy and a pushover, she really shines in this episode as she stands up to Hoops and Dumbbell. However, her meekness towards them also makes it kind of awkward and they still laughed at her, but it’s still a badass moment for her.

It’s in this episode that we learn a lot about Rainbow Dash. Like Fluttershy, she was probably picked on while at flight camp. She probably earned the nickname “Rainbow Crash” due to the fact that she was crashing all the time. It seems she was also a bit of a class clown as well, as it’s implied that she may have gotten kicked out of flight camp due to not following the rules and regulations. However, as “Testing, Testing 1, 2, 3” taught us, Rainbow Dash isn’t very good at studying. She has a hard time staying focused and can’t be bothered to concentrate on anything for very long. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Rainbow Dash has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. I may do a blog post about any mental disorders Rainbow Dash may have, as well as for the others.

To me, it seems as if Rainbow Dash’s ego is a front, a facade to cover up possible emotional insecurities that she has about herself. I say this because whenever nopony isn’t paying attention to her and are instead paying attention to Rarity, Rainbow Dash begins very emotionally upset. Only Twilight picks up on this. Meanwhile, the others are so busy admiring Rarity’s wings that they couldn’t be bothered to give a second thought to Rainbow Dash. Again, only Twilight is concerned about Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash herself gets a badass moment as she swoops down to save Rarity once her wings have evaporated into thin air. Not only does she succeed in saving Rarity and the Wonderbolts, but she also succeeds in pulling off a Sonic Rainboom, something that many ponies had thought of as “an old mare’s tale.” The Sonic Rainboom is the coolest and one of the most beautiful things featured on this show. Thankfully, this wasn’t the last we saw of the Sonic Rainboom, as it’s a popular stunt in Rainbow Dash’s tricktionary. We’ve seen her pull off the Sonic Rainboom multiple times throughout the series, and I look forward to seeing it more often as the series progresses.