History Recap / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E16SonicRainboom

* CrisisMakesPerfect [=/=] DieOrFly: Rainbow Dash struggles to pull off the title maneuver while practicing for a flight competition. Come the day of the competition, Rainbow Dash is finally able to pull off the Sonic Rainboom successfully to save Rarity and the Wonderbolts from falling to their deaths.

* {{Facepalm}}: Rainbow Dash does two concerning Fluttershy's cheering, the second accompanied by her [[FaceFault flipping over]].

* NoEndorHolocaust: A construction Pegasus lets his jackhammer get away from him while [[ConstructionCatcalls mackin' on Rarity.]] It bores straight through the cloud he was working on. It probably ruined someone's day when it landed...
** [[WhatMightHaveBeen Though considering this is a cartoon, it's easy to imagine somepony being hit on the head and looking up to the sky in confusion.]]

* ShoutOut: When Pinkie Pie tastes the rainbow, her face goes through color changes and fiery breath, similarly to the more notable effects of the prairie oyster in ''{{Asterix}} and the Laurel Wreath''.

* [[{{Facepalm}} Facehoof]]: Rainbow Dash does two concerning Fluttershy's cheering, the second accompanied by her [[FaceFault flipping over]].

* [[ForgotAboutHisPowers Forgot About Her Powers:]] Twilight can levitate an Ursa Minor for miles and effortlessly stop Rainbow Dash in midflight, but she does nothing to stop Rarity and the Wonderbolts from falling to their deaths (e.g. gradually slowing them down and then hoisting them back up). Celestia presumably has at least the ability to do that much and likely far more, but she too never intervenes.

* ContrivedCoincidence: Just before Rarity starts prodding Twilight to find a spell to get wingless ponies into Cloudsdale, a book just happens to fall on Pinkie Pie's face, opened to a page describing a spell to make temporary wings.

* Aside Comment: Before starting her routine in the competition, Rarity [[ExaggeratedTrope looks directly at the audience]] and says, "They'll be talking about it for years!"

** The music during Rarity's performance is [[SuspiciouslySimilarSong similar to]] the Waltz from Tchaikovsky's ''SwanLake''.

* DieOrFly: Rainbow Dash is finally able to pull off the Sonic Rainboom successfully to save Rarity and the Wonderbolts from falling to their deaths.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Pinkie Pie says she's never seen a Sonic Rainboom. [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E23TheCutieMarkChronicles It turns out, she has. And so have the rest of them.]]

'''Fluttershy:''' *inhales* [--[[FlatJoy Yay]]--].\\
'''Rainbow Dash:''' ...Ugh! *[[FacePalm facehoof]]* You're gonna cheer for me like ''that''? Louder.\\

'''Fluttershy:''' *deeply inhales* [--Yaaay.--]\\
'''Rainbow Dash:''' Ugh... *[[FacePalm facehoof]]* *[[FaceFault falls over]]*\\

!!Tropes (YMMV tropes go [[YMMV/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E16SonicRainboom here.]])

--> '''[[{{LeeroyJenkins}} Let's do this!]]'''

** According to {{Death Battle}}, she was actually going around Mach 10...

Meanwhile, Rarity, her ego having inflated to ridiculous levels, decides to fly up as close to the sun as possible, letting the light shine through her wings and covering all of Cloudsdale in colorful light. Almost immediately though, her wings get incinerated in the heat, leaving Rarity to plummet to the ground. Three of the Wonderbolts dive down to save her, but get knocked out by Rarity's wild flailing through the air. Rainbow Dash spots her friend and her heroes in trouble, and flies to the rescue. As she does so, she goes fast enough to not only catch up to them, but to successfully pull off a Sonic Rainboom in the process, surprising the crowd and causing Fluttershy to cheer louder than ever. Rainbow Dash is so busy snatching the falling ponies out of the air that she doesn't even realize what's happened until she starts soaring back to the arena. Having perfected her winning move ''and'' saved the Wonderbolts and Rarity, Rainbow Dash excitedly declares it the "best day ''ever!''"

Rarity apologizes for stealing the spotlight and being too vain and prideful, and Rainbow Dash forgives her, regretting only not being able to meet the Wonderbolts when they were conscious. At that moment, who should show up but the Wonderbolts themselves, who thank Rainbow Dash for saving them. To make things even better for the already excited young pegasus, Princess Celestia shows up to declare Rainbow Dash the winner of the competition. The Princess then turns to Twilight, asking if she's learned anything about friendship lately, and Twilight decides to let Rarity declare the [[AnAesop Aesop]] of the episode: that one should "keep your hooves on the ground" and be supportive of your friends. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash is approached by her old bullies, who apologize for the way they treated her, and want to hang out. Rainbow Dash turns them down, saying that "I've got plans!" as she flies off with two male members of the Wonderbolts…

* FlatJoy: Fluttershy's cheering. Until the end, that is.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Pinkie Pie says she's never seen a Sonic Rainboom. [[spoiler:[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E23TheCutieMarkChronicles It turns out, she has. And so have the rest of them.]]]]

* SchizoTech: Pinkie's foam "#1 ''finger''". Of course, this ''is'' [[RealityWarper Pinkie]].

** [[WhatMightHaveBenn Though considering this is a cartoon, it's easy to imagine somepony being hit on the head and looking up to the sky in confusion.]]

* HeyItsThatSound: The huge breath Fluttershy takes before her [[FlatJoy Flat Yay]] is Pinkie's big gasp from "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendShipIsMagicS1E1MareInTheMoon Mare In the Moon]]" played backwards.

* HeyItsThatVoice: Kevin from WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy is one of the male Pegasi that makes fun of Rainbow Dash.
** WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons' Nelson Muntz is apparently a pony now as well, although it's unlikely that Nancy Cartwright is the one voicing him.

** The shockwave from the Sonic Rainboom should have levelled trees and houses for miles. A sonic boom is a continuous occurrence, being generated by the supersonic object; it doesn't just happen once the sound barrier is breached.

* NoEndorHolocaust: A construction Pegasus drops his jackhammer while mackin' on Rarity. It falls straight through. It probably ruined someone's day when it landed...

[[caption-width-right:350:[--Yay.--] ]]

Rainbow Dash is busy prepping herself for the Best Young Flyers' Competition in the pegasus city of Cloudsdale, with Fluttershy as her hopeful cheering section (easier said than done, considering she usually can't speak louder than a whisper). However, despite her being able to ace all the other parts of her routine, Rainbow can't ''quite'' manage her difficult finishing move: the Sonic Rainboom, a near-impossible move where a pegasus flies fast enough to create a sonic boom and a rainbow at the same time. Despite Rainbow Dash acting cocky about how she can ace the competition (and win the grand prize: a day hanging out with the Wonderbolts!), Rarity detects that the pegasus is a ''lot'' more nervous than she lets on, and talks Twilight into finding a spell to allow the wingless members of their circle of friends to go up to Cloudsdale and provide more moral support than Fluttershy can give. Twilight finds a rather difficult spell that will allow her to give a pony wings, and Rarity offers to be the test subject.