History Recap / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E10RainbowFalls

* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: This episode isn't kind to Fluttershy, who gets squashed by Bulk Biceps a few times.

--> '''Rainbow dash:''' You lied to me about Soarin's wing just so you can get a better flier. You may be a winning team, but you're still not the kind of team ''I'' want to be a part of.

Not long after, Rainbow Dash arrives on the practice field in a wheelchair, covered in bandages and very badly acting out pain, claiming she "tripped and fell". Rainbow is taken to the hospital, where all of her friends encourage her to get better and tell her not to worry, since they'll make sure to give Rainbow a medal if they win the gold in the Games -- they even got Derpy to replace her! Soarin, in the next bed over, compliments Rainbow on what good friends she has, remarking that his teammates never came to visit him even though his wing is feeling better. Realizing the Wonderbolts lied to try and get her on their team, Rainbow Dash leaves the hospital and reveals her deception to both teams. She announces her decision to retake her place on Ponyville's team, convincing the Wonderbolts to accept Soarin back onto their team in time for the qualifying round.

* DudeWheresMyRespect: Soarin, a Wonderbolt, and therefore a well known pegasus with several fans, doesn't receive a single visit after getting injured, not even from his own teammates, who go as far as lying about the extent of his injuries to convince another pegasus to take his place. Though they apparently communicated enough to tell him he was getting a replacement.

* JerkassRealization: When Rainbow Dash calls Spitfire and Fleetfoot out on abandoning Soarin, they admit that they were being jerks and apologize to him.

* LameExcuse: When forced to choose between her friends and the Wonderbolts, Rainbow Dash tries to escape her dilemma altogether by showing up at practice in a wheelchair and wrapped up in bandages from top to bottom, moaning that she "hurt her hoof" because she tripped on a foam hoof and landed on a..."(mumble mumble) pokey stick in the ground."
--> '''Pinkie Pie:''' Ohhhh, if I get my hooves on that pokey-stick-in-the-ground, it'll be in BIG TROUBLE!

* NoNameGiven: In addition to being [[TheVoiceless unvoiced]], Derpy remains unnamed in this episode, referred to only as Rainbow Dash's "replacement" on the Ponyville relay team. Understandable, considering the InternetBackdraft from both her initial voicing and naming and the subsequent OrwellianRetcon in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E14TheLastRoundup her one speaking role]].

** "[[FanNickname Snowflake]]", the hulking muscle pony, gets an official name (Bulk Biceps) and more speaking lines courtesy of [[TheOtherDarrin a new]] [[Creator/MichaelDobson voice actor]].

* NoNameGiven: In addition to being [[TheVoiceless unvoiced]], [[FanNickname Derpy]] remains unnamed in this episode, referred to only as Rainbow Dash's "replacement" on the Ponyville relay team. Understandable, considering the InternetBackdraft from both her initial voicing and naming and the subsequent OrwellianRetcon in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E14TheLastRoundup her one speaking role]].

* LameExcuse: When forced to choose between her friends and the Wonderbolts, Rainbow Dash tries to escape her dilemma altogether by showing up at practice in a wheelchair and wrapped up in bandages from top to bottom, moaning that she "hurt her hoof" because the tripped on a foam hoof and landed on a..."(mumble mumble) pokey stick in the ground."
--> '''Pinkie Pie:''' Ohhhh, if I get my hooves on that *mumble mumble*, it'll be in BIG TROUBLE!

* UnexpectedCharacter: ''Derpy'', of all ponies, being chosen as Dash's replacement. Not only did she receive next to no coverage in previews of the episode, and thought to be almost gone from the show entirely, but she isn't exactly the most reliable of fliers. All of the actually athletic pegasi were tied up in other events, however, and she silently and graciously acknowledges that she's not an adequate replacement for Rainbow Dash.

* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Bulk does this upon learning Rainbow faked her injuries.

''({{beat}})''\\

!!Tropes present in this episode (YMMV tropes can be found [[YMMV/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E10RainbowFalls here]]):
* AbsenteeActor: Spike is the only character from the main cast who doesn't appear in the episode.

** This isn't the first time Rainbow Dash [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E16SonicRainboom saved Soarin' from falling to his doom]].

* EatTheCamera: When Soarin' falls, the camera catches his screaming mouth.

* FreezeFrameBonus: One of the rainbow rings that Soarin' and later Fluttershy flies through is in the colors of the Mane 6. The rainbow that shimmers onto Derpy's flag is also said color scheme.

* NotTheFallThatKillsYou: Aside from a previously injured wing, Soarin' turns out completely fine from Rainbow Dash rescuing him from his fall.

* NotTheFallThatKillsYou

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: Just what the heck ''are'' Rarity, Twilight and Pinkie Pie doing as Rainbow Dash is writing her journal entry?!

* PowerpuffGirlHands: The horseshoe batons used by the relay teams make it clear that "sticky hooves" are canon.

* CharacterDevelopment: Fluttershy is completely willingly to participate in the relay race, even flat-out excited and eager, [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E22HurricaneFluttershy despite the fact that she's got severe stage fright when it comes to flying in front of ponies]], and that a great deal of Equestria will be watching the Games. There's no sign that Rainbow once even asked Fluttershy to join in the relay, especially since Fluttershy is still willing to compete after encouraging Rainbow to join the Cloudsdale team.

* ConflictingLoyalty[=/=]FriendOrIdolDecision: Rainbow Dash is torn between joining the Equestria Games Ponyville team with her less able friends, or the Cloudsdale team with her idols, the Wonderbolts. [[ForegoneConclusion Naturally]], she chooses her friends after a talk with Soarin reveals that they picked her for a better chance of winning.

* ObfuscatingDisability: Rainbow Dash fakes being confined to a wheelchair in total agony so she can get out of having to pick which team to join for the Equestria Games.

* UnexpectedCharacter: ''Derpy'', of all ponies, being chosen as Dash's replacement. Not only did she receive next to no coverage in previews of the episode, and thought to be almost gone from the show entirely, but she isn't exactly the most reliable of fliers; in this last case, again, having her replacing Rainbow Dash can be justified by the same reason Fluttershy and Bulk are Rainbow's teammates, as most of Ponyville's best fliers are already competing on other events, so Derpy was the only replacement they could get on such short notice.

** Rainbow Dash calls out Spitfire and Fleetfoot for lying and trying to get her to replace Soarin. Soarin himself isn't exactly pleased.

* Facepalm: Twilight's reaction to Rainbow Dash's fake injuries.

* [[{{Facepalm}} Facehoof]]: Twilight's reaction to Rainbow Dash's fake injuries.

* UnderdogsNeverLose: Rainbow Dash is teamed up with Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps, two of the most flight-challenged pegasi in Ponyville. Their opponents are the Wonderbolts, who think her teammates have no chance of making the top five in the Equestria Games tryouts. Of course Team Ponyville qualifies in the end. It's not played ''entirely'' straight, as the Wonderbolts take first by a mile, while the Ponyville team just barely qualifies by a ''millisecond''. It's also made pretty clear right from the start that Rainbow Dash is pretty much doing the work of ''three'' ponies; the goal is to simply have her teammates do well enough that she can pick up the slack.