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Context Recap / MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E7WonderboltsAcademy

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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wonderbolts_academy_7684.jpg]]
2->[[caption-width-right:350:Looks like someponies feel the need... [[Film/TopGun THE NEED FOR SPEED.]]]]
3
4->'''Spitfire:''' Well, lookie what we got here. Bet y'all think you're Wonderbolt material, don'tcha?\
5'''All cadets:''' Yes, ma'am!\
6'''Spitfire:''' Think you got what it takes to be an elite flyer?\
7'''All cadets:''' Yes, ma'am!\
8'''Spitfire:''' Well, then, let me be the first to tell you: ''You don't!'' If you had what it took to be an elite flyer, you'd already ''be'' a Wonderbolt!
9
10->Written by Merriwether Williams
11
12Rainbow Dash finally gets to live her dream of training for the Wonderbolts when she receives an acceptance letter for a week of boot camp at the Wonderbolt Academy. There she becomes fast friends with Lightning Dust, a hyper-competitive pegasus cadet in her class who manages to keep up with her as they leave the other cadets in the dust while flying laps. For their first exercise, the cadets are strapped to the Dizzitron, a device that dizzies them up to test their flight recovery. Rainbow Dash sets an Academy record by recovering in 6 seconds, while Lightning Dust clocks in a close second at 6.5 seconds, but not before requesting the Dizzitron to be set at max speed.
13
14Judging from the test results, Wonderbolt captain and instructor Spitfire pairs the cadets into teams of a leader and a wingpony the next day. Rainbow Dash is confident her record flight has earned her the rank of leader, but is devastated to find she's been made Lightning Dust's wingpony. She complains to Spitfire about it, but the captain shrugs her off, saying that she thinks Lightning Dust is better leader material because she pushes herself more.
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16Despite this disappointment, Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust become an unstoppable team as they continue to blow the rest of their classmates away during exercises. However, Lightning Dust proves to be the more reckless of the pair: she disregards Rainbow Dash when she clips Dash's wing during the flag hunt, and she carelessly blasts their classmates off-track while zooming ahead on the obstacle course. Rainbow Dash asks Lightning Dust to take it easy from now on, but Lightning Dust is dead set on proving herself as the best flyer in Equestria and refuses to go soft on anyone.
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18Things take a disastrous turn when Lightning Dust coerces Rainbow Dash into helping her make a tornado to speed up a cloud-busting exercise, only for the tornado to spin out of control. To make matters worse, the rest of the Mane Six happen to be taking a Twinkling Balloon ride nearby to deliver their friend a care package (at Pinkie Pie's insistence), and are sucked into the tornado. With the help of the other cadets, Rainbow Dash saves her friends from certain doom. Rainbow Dash then blows up at an indifferent Lightning Dust for constantly endangering everyone's safety with her carelessness. Lightning Dust smugly retorts that Spitfire still made her team leader, so Rainbow Dash decides to give Spitfire a piece of her mind after she tells that the dangerous tornado nearly took out her friends:
19
20->'''Rainbow Dash:''' No disrespect, ma'am, but there's a big difference between pushing yourself as hard as you can and just being reckless. And if being reckless is what gets rewarded around here, if that's what it means to be a Wonderbolt, then I don't want any part of it.
21
22With that, Rainbow Dash plunks her badge down on the desk and dejectedly returns to her friends, certain her dream of being a Wonderbolt is over... when Spitfire catches up and admits that Rainbow Dash made a valid point about pushing oneself. As such, she forces Lightning Dust into the open and unceremoniously tears off the lead pony badge. Once Lightning Dust has left, crushed and devastated, Spitfire gives it to the more deserving, ecstatic Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash proudly flies off with her class to finish their training (all while Pinkie complains that Rainbow Dash never opened her care package).
23
24----
25!!Tropes:
26
27* TenMinuteRetirement: Not even ''two'' minutes, since it happens right before the episode's end, but Rainbow Dash quits the Academy—and her dream of becoming a Wonderbolt—when she feels Lightning Dust's reckless behavior is tolerated too much. When Spitfire rectifies this by punishing Lightning Dust and letting Rainbow Dash stay, Rainbow Dash is more than happy to come back.
28* TwoDVisualsThreeDEffects: The Dizzitron was DHX's first use of CGI (atop the Flash animation) within the show, according to [[http://www.allspark.com/forums/index.php?s=1da55af26641c7371279e914f6f5afd3&showtopic=91229&st=20&p=2215230&#entry2215230 artist Nayuki]], though far from as obvious as its used later in "Spike At Your Service".
29* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: In the initial examinations, Lightning Dust proves to be as good as Rainbow Dash at everything they're tested on (keeping pace with, but not beating, Rainbow Dash when it comes to speed, although Dash did not perform her signature supersonic move). While Rainbow Dash sets a record time on the disorientation test, Lightning Dust loses by only half a second with the machine on the maximum setting. This leads to Lightning Dust being made TheLeader of her pairing with Rainbow Dash. Initially, the conflict in their team dynamic is Rainbow Dash learning to try and accept somepony else as her leader. However, it quickly becomes clear that Lightning Dust isn't so much better but [[TheUnfettered less restrained.]]
30* AnAesop: There's a difference between pushing one's limits and being reckless at the expense of others.
31* ArrogantKungFuGuy: Lightning Dust takes pleasure in making other ponies eat her clouds and dismisses the harm she does as a result.
32* ArtisticLicenseMilitary: The writers have taken quite a few liberties with how the military works. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMRhPl2b-aU Best explained here]].
33* AsideGlance: When Pinkie Pie is explaining how she feels that [[InsaneTrollLogic after three days, Rainbow Dash has forgot about them]], Applejack glares at the camera, which non-verbally says "Can you believe this?"
34* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: What happens to Rainbow Dash after she demonstrates the strength of character to resign her commission when she has a moral objection to the Wonderbolts' {{skewed priorities}}. At this, Spitfire not only convinces her to stay on, but promotes her to team leader, and she is saluted as such by her teammates.
35* BaitAndSwitchTimeSkip: Two consecutive shots from the darkened interior of a mailbox show Pinkie Pie excitedly opening the mailbox, wilting when she sees it empty, and closing it. Cut to exterior, and we see Pinkie is just standing there, repeatedly checking the mailbox as if a letter will appear by magic.
36* BearHug: Pinkie Pie to Rainbow Dash when she gets accepted into the academy. Rainbow Dash's eyes bulge when Pinkie puts in an extra squeeze.
37* BigNo: Rainbow Dash when she sees her friends plummeting to their doom.
38* BigYes: Did you think an episode with Bulk Biceps in it would go by without him at least once saying his CatchPhrase? "'''''YEAH!!!'''''"
39* BlingOfWar: In this episode, Spitfire wears a dark blue uniform jacket with several rank insignia and decorations over a white shirt and black tie. This is distinct from the light blue shirt and black tie that Soarin' wore to [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E26ACanterlotWeddingPart2 Princess Cadance's wedding]].
40* BootCampEpisode: With the eponymous Wonderbolt Academy as said boot camp.
41* BreakTheHaughty:
42** Rainbow Dash spends the first half of the episode bluntly overconfident of her abilities, until she is placed as wingpony to Lightning Dust. When she complains to Spitfire, she is very quickly put in her place, and spends the remainder of the episode humbled and earnest as a contrast to the increasingly reckless and arrogant Lightning Dust.
43** The smug Lightning Dust is quite visibly heartbroken after Spitfire strips her of her team leader badge and has her escorted off the premises.
44* BridalCarry: When the Wonderbolts were saving the Mane Six from the tornado, Rarity is saved like this by Thunderlane. Later, Pinkie Pie is held like this by Rainbow Dash when the latter came to see if the former is alright from the tornado.
45* BrokenPedestal: Spitfire and the Wonderbolts overall for Rainbow Dash, on account of their approval of Lightning Dust's recklessness. [[RebuiltPedestal It doesn't last long]], as Spitfire chases after her to give the response that Rainbow Dash didn't stick around for.
46* TheCameo: Some of the pegasi from "Hurricane Fluttershy" make an appearance, including Cloudchaser, Thunderlane and Bulk Biceps.
47* CharacterDevelopment: Rainbow Dash is shown to be a lot more caring, cautious, and responsible than in earlier episodes. Even after an initial objection, she seems to swallow her pride to accept the wingpony position and perform to the best of her abilities in a team where she's not the leader, and she doesn't hesitate to ditch the Wonderbolts if their work comes at the cost of other ponies' safety and well-being. Since Lightning Dust behaves much like Dash did at the beginning of the show (with added [[TheSociopath sociopathy]] and lack of Dash's defining [[UndyingLoyalty loyalty]]), the difference shows pretty well.
48* ChekhovsSkill: Rainbow Dash is shown in the ColdOpen to have the ability to shape and pack clouds quickly. Guess what skill comes in handy to save her falling friends?
49* CentrifugalFarce: The Dizzitron is very similar to a centrifugal spin-recovery trainer, but turned on edge; instead of just spinning the ponies, it launches them in the air to see how long it takes them to recover from dizziness.
50* ContinuityNod:
51** Pinkie Pie has [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E25PartyOfOne shown]] [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS3E3TooManyPinkiePies before]] that her faith in her friendships is easily shaken. Here she is worried that Rainbow Dash will forget all about her after not seeing her for a week.
52** Several Pegasi from [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E22HurricaneFluttershy "Hurricane Fluttershy"]] make a return (Thunderlane, Bulk Biceps, Cloudchaser, and others).
53** The obstacle course runway looks like it's the same one from summer flight camp in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E23TheCutieMarkChronicles "The Cutie Mark Chronicles"]].
54** Tornadoes have been used to clear clouds (and snow, and parasprites...) in a hurry before--Rainbow Dash made a small one on her own in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E10SwarmOfTheCentury "Swarm of the Century"]], but it took an entire team to make a full-sized one in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E11WinterWrapUp "Winter Wrap Up"]]. Furthermore, in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E22HurricaneFluttershy "Hurricane Fluttershy"]], a giant tornado was created by every pegasus in Ponyville was a major focus of the episode.
55** Two to [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E16SonicRainboom "Sonic Rainboom"]]: This isn't the first time Rainbow Dash has had to save a friend -- or friends, in this case -- from falling to their doom on her own, and there's also Rainbow Dash's repeating "[[{{Squee}} Omigosh!]]" line when Spitfire names her team leader.
56** Rainbow's decision at the end of the episode is a nod to her demonstration of the Element of Loyalty in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E2ElementsOfHarmony the pilot]], where she turned down her lifelong dream out of loyalty to her friends. This time, though, it wasn't a trick.
57** The way Rainbow Dash squeals in delight when she's made team leader at the end of the episode references the Season 1 episode "The Best Night Ever", where she squealed in delight over getting to hang out with the Wonderbolts.
58* CoolShades: Spitfire and her staff don aviator sunglasses for most of the episode. Try not to question what the ear hooks are for.
59* CurbStompBattle: Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash dominate the cloud-clearing exercise. Before the tornado destroys the scoreboard, they have a recorded score of 70; the next highest score is 10.
60* DeathGlare: Everypony gives Lightning Dust this for her LackOfEmpathy at the tornado disaster.
61* DiagonalCut: Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust do this to multiple clouds during the final exercise of the episode.
62* DickDastardlyStopsToCheat: As Dash points out, they are already way ahead in the cloud-busting exercise, but Lightning Dust wants to "literally blow away the competition". Not technically cheating since Spitfire is willing to allow it, until she learns that it almost endangered someone when Rainbow Dash tells her that the tornado stunt endangered her friends.
63* DisproportionateRetribution: Lightning Dust and Rainbow did everything together while Spitfire has nothing but praise for Lightning. As soon as an unfortunate accident happened for which Lightning is only partially to blame she gets publicly humiliated and kicked out without even a warning or a chance to redeem herself instead of simply being demoted to Rainbows wingpony like in the original ending. After all it was her first offence and Rainbow got away with several offences that were at least just as bad.
64* DramaticallyMissingThePoint: When Rainbow Dash calls out Lightning Dust on how she nearly endangered her friends, she retorts that her friends survived.
65* DrillSergeantNasty: Spitfire likes to scare the new recruits with this; see page quote.
66* EarnYourHappyEnding: After spending the entire episode forced to play second banana to a reckless mare who (albeit unintentionally) nearly killed her friends, and being yelled at, injured, unfairly lectured, and yelled at some more, Rainbow Dash is finally one step closer to her life long dream of being a Wonderbolt and her chances of getting in for real have gone from highly possible to inevitable.
67* FacePalm: Twilight Sparkle's reaction to Pinkie Pie's InsaneTrollLogic about Rainbow Dash forgetting her friends over the course of three days.
68* FeatherFingers: While Rainbow Dash is walking through the academy, one pony in the background can be seen doing push-ups with her wings while another is bench-pressing using her wings. How this can work can only be explained as falling under this trope.
69* FriendOrIdolDecision: Rainbow Dash has to choose between following her dream and enabling Lightning Dust's reckless actions, or sticking by her friends and resigning. Being the Element of Loyalty, she chooses to resign, knowing that becoming a Wonderbolt isn't worth the recklessness like what Lightning Dust displayed. What happens next would have done credit to ''Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory''.
70* FunnyBackgroundEvent: All of the other cadets race to help catch Rainbow's friends on the rebound from the cloud. Bulk Biceps gets the task of rescuing the already crushed care package, and he looks pleased as punch at doing it.
71* TheGadfly: Rainbow Dash pretends she didn't get into the Wonderbolt Academy just to see the looks on her friends' faces.
72* GaleForceSound: The sheer force of the sound from Pinkie Pie's oversized megaphone ''moves mountains''.
73* TheGlassesComeOff: Spitfire removes her CoolShades and makes a point of folding them after Rainbow Dash questions being named a wingpony.
74* {{Hammerspace}}: Where did Pinkie Pie get that megaphone?
75* HandshakeSubstitute:
76** Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust clap wings when they introduce themselves.
77** Later {{defied|Trope}} when Lightning Dust wants to give Rainbow Dash a hoof bump following the Mane Six's rescue from the tornado, but is rejected and gets a TheReasonYouSuckSpeech instead.
78* {{Homage}}: To ''Film/TopGun'', but with a different direction: it's not Rainbow Dash playing Maverick, but Lightning Dust, showing how being a reckless flyer isn't always a good thing. Rainbow Dash more plays Goose's role here, being a loyal but hesitant second and trying repeatedly, without success, to rein in her headstrong flight lead. (Element of Loyalty, after all). She also channels Iceman's "You're dangerous" line in her TheReasonYouSuckSpeech. Likewise, Spitfire's role effectively combines Viper and Charlie into one character, even though one of her subordinates is clearly meant to look like a [[ShoutOut pony version of Viper]]. At the end, Spitfire and the other instructors side with Rainbow Dash, much as [[RealLife real life]] military flying instructors would normally favor a by-the-book regard for safety and teamwork over casual recklessness, even in an unusually skilled student. (For that matter, even ''in'' ''Film/TopGun'', it was [[StrawmanHasAPoint Iceman who won the trophy for top student...]])
79* InkSuitActor: [[https://twitter.com/AndreaLibman/status/280080893308194816 It is suggested]] that the pink Pegasus is a ponified Creator/AndreaLibman. [[https://twitter.com/AndreaLibman/status/280104971117133824 She doesn't think it was intentional]].
80* InnocentBystander: The rest of the Mane Six show up at the worst possible time to deliver their care package to Rainbow Dash as their Twinkling Balloon is caught in an out-of-control tornado, prompting Rainbow Dash to rescue them.
81* InsaneTrollLogic: Twice by Pinkie, who specifically details the most contrived worst-case scenarios if events don't unfold exactly to her original intent, such as how her not receiving Rainbow Dash's letter will inevitably ruin Rainbow's life:
82-->'''Pinkie Pie:''' If I'm not here when Rainbow Dash's letter arrives, I won't be able to read it right away. And if I don't read it right away, I won't be able to write her back right away. And if I don't write her back right away, she might think I didn't get her letter, and then she might worry it got lost, and if she's worried about her letter she'll be distracted, and if she's distracted then she won't do well at the Academy, ''and if she doesn't do well at the Academy then she'll get kicked out, and if she gets kicked out THEY'LL NEVER LET HER BE A WONDERBOLT, AND IF SHE DOESN'T GET TO BE A WONDERBOLT,'' '''''ALL HER DREAMS WILL BE CRUSHED!''''' And it'll be all...my...''fault''!
83** Applejack suggests sending a carepackage and Pinkie is all for it...until she considers the possibility that somepony else will get it instead of Rainbow Dash and that ''pony'' will somehow recover the friendship memories that Rainbow Dash lost over three days and become their friend instead of Rainbow Dash.
84* InsigniaRipOffRitual: Both variants are played back-to-back. Rainbow Dash turns in her wingpony insignia when confronting Spitfire in her office because they had rewarded Lightning Dust for her dangerously reckless behavior up to that point. Spitfire responds in kind by bringing Lightning Dust over and ripping her team leader insignia off her suit, with Lightning walking off in disgrace.
85* InsufferableGenius: Make no mistake, Lightning Dust is good enough to rival Rainbow Dash but her LackOfEmpathy and [[ItsAllAboutMe need to be number one]] makes her a {{Jerkass}} to everyone else in the class.
86* LackOfEmpathy: Lightning Dust doesn't care at all that she nearly killed Rainbow Dash's friends, which is the last straw for Rainbow. It also costs her her leadership position when Spitfire realizes it. Considering the Wonderbolts do rescue work in several episodes, this makes a lot of sense.
87* LaserGuidedKarma: Lightning Dust's attempts at pushing herself, which earn her rank as team leader, eventually cost her that rank when she does it at the cost of those around her. {{Justified|Trope}} in that the academy practices the sort of strict discipline you'd expect from a boot camp. Actually it is more {{Disproportionate|Retribution}} because she technically did not break any rules, she could impossibly know about the balloon and her behaviour was encouraged all the time until this moment.
88** The karma is even more laser guided when the pony who punishes her for her behavior is the pony she was trying to impress.
89* TheLeader: Lightning Dust is a Headstrong type because she likes to push herself. Rainbow Dash is deemed a Levelheaded type at the end of the episode.
90* MadnessMakeover: Pinkie Pie starts to undergo one while waiting impatiently at the mailbox for three days.
91* MeanCharacterNiceActor: As cadre, it is Spitfire's job to act as DrillSergeantNasty to the recruits. There are many moments, even during training scenarios, where she lets the facade slip.[[note]]One of the more obvious examples is when she becomes flustered by Lighting Dust's request to set the Dizzitron to maximum speed.[[/note]]
92* MessyHair: Pinkie's mane becomes increasingly disheveled after sitting at the mailbox for several days and waiting for Rainbow Dash's letter.
93* MildlyMilitary: The Wonderbolts and the "Royal Equestrian Air Force" in general seem much ''more'' military than might be expected in this episode, between Spitfire's DrillSergeantNasty persona, Rainbow Dash and the other cadets [[InsistentTerminology consistently addressing her as]] "Ma'am", and the BlingOfWar worn by her and the other instructors... and yet there ''seems'' to be an amazing lack of supervision at times in those training exercises.
94* MusicalisInterruptus: During the obstacle course, the music starts picking up as Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust are picking up speed, right until they get stuck behind a slower team, where the music stops. The music picks up again as they pass them.
95* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Rainbow Dash's expression briefly expresses this after she drops out of the Academy.
96* NameTron: The machine that the recruits ride is called the Dizzitron.
97* NeverMyFault: Lightning Dust doesn't express any responsibility for people hurt by her recklessness, brushing it off as the others' own failing or as an overreaction on their part.
98* NeverSayDie: Rainbow Dash says her friends could have been "smashed to pieces", "taken out", and "demolished" by the tornado.
99** However, the Polish version of the episode averts this, as Rainbow clearly says that the tornado could have ''killed'' her friends. As if that wasn't enough, during her rant towards Spitfire, she describes Lightning's Dust attitude as "striving towards the goal over ''dead bodies''" (a Polish idiomatic expression which is an equivalent of "riding roughshed over somebody").
100* NoKillLikeOverkill: Lightning Dust, despite already having a massive lead at the cloud-clearing exercise, attempts to best the others even more by causing a tornado to eliminate the remaining clouds. This is {{lampshade|Hanging}}d by Spitfire, who considers it excessive (but still approves until she learns it nearly killed someone).
101* NotTheFallThatKillsYou: Rainbow Dash catches her falling friends by condensing a cloud so it will support their weight. It shoots them back up like a spring.
102* OffscreenInertia: Early on, we see Pinkie Pie checking the mailbox every few seconds. We cut back to her later with a slight MadnessMakeover, having continued this process for ''three days straight''. Her friends are, naturally, concerned.
103* OmniscientMoralityLicense: Played with. Spitfire is ''supposed'' to shout at cadets and create problems (so they can learn), but she's also supposed to monitor those problems so she can see if the cadets are learning, and to step in the moment things get out of control. She's never admits that it was wrong but Dash protests her perceived willingness to condone reckless behavior.
104* OnceASeason: Rarity has to be saved from falling to her death.
105* OneDimensionalThinking: During the obstacle course, Lightning Dust bitterly complains at being "stuck" behind two other cadets, and ultimately blows right through them when a chance comes to "pass" them. Possibly justified in that the course is a test of precision: trying to overtake might bring them in contact with surrounding clouds, penalising them.
106* PawprintStamping: Spitfire autographs a stack of photos by stamping them with her hoofprint.
107* ThePlan: To prevent Rainbow Dash from forgetting them (or somepony else remembering them) Pinkie plans to create a care package, go to Cloudsdale, and deliver the package in person. Twilight notes that the care package is a good idea but the rest is InsaneTrollLogic.
108* PowerIncontinence: Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash create a tornado to get rid of the remaining clouds but Lightning can't resist the turbulence, causing her to be thrown out, followed by Rainbow Dash a few moments later.
109* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Rainbow Dash chews out Lightning Dust for her recklessness after the tornado incident nearly kills her friends.
110* RecklessSidekick: {{Inverted|Trope}}; Lightning Dust is a reckless leader and Rainbow Dash is her more sensible wingpony.
111* RecycledInSpace: ''Film/TopGun'' [-WITH PEGASI-]!
112* RedOniBlueOni: Lightning Dust is the red (reckless) to Rainbow Dash's blue (cautious).
113* RememberedICouldFly: [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E7Dragonshy Not surprisingly]], Fluttershy's wings lock up in fear when Dust and Dash's tornado destroys the Twinkling Balloon. She's rather sheepish when she remembers she has them after the rescue.
114* ResetButton: {{Subverted|Trope}}. Many viewers expected Rainbow Dash to leave the Academy by the end of this episode, thus maintaining the status quo. For a second, she ''is'' going to leave, but instead the episode ends with Rainbow staying in the Academy. While things may not change drastically, this will still probably have some impact considering this show's tendency towards continuity.
115* {{Retcon}}: The Enterplay trading card depicts Spitfire's cutie mark as being identical to her Wonderbolt insignia, while here it's a [[DesignStudentsOrgasm surprisingly complex]] [[https://derpibooru.org/183403 flame]] shaped like a phoenix.
116* RevisedEnding: According to [[WordOfGod Meghan McCarthy]], [[https://twitter.com/MMeghanMcCarthy/status/279273190071599104 the ending was altered from the original script]]. [[https://twitter.com/MMeghanMcCarthy/status/284070859172352001/photo/1 Two]] [[https://twitter.com/MMeghanMcCarthy/status/284071139733561344/photo/1 snippets]] show Lightning Dust switching her rank with Rainbow Dash and admitting her mistake, and Rainbow Dash unambiguously getting first in her class and a recommendation for the Wonderbolts.
117* RiddleForTheAges: What was in that care package?
118* RunningGag:
119** It seems Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust can't take two steps without one of them breaking an Academy record.
120** Pinkie Pie spends much of the episode utterly convinced that something will go wrong in the worst possible way, like Rainbow Dash won't get into the Academy, or she'll get kicked out, or will forget her friends ever existed.
121** For the Wonderbolts as a whole: it seems that anytime they're important for the episode's plot, there will be some characters falling to their doom (Sonic Rainboom, Secret of my Excess), tornado creation (Hurricane Fluttershy) or both. Also, Rarity had always been among the characters needing to be rescued from the fall.
122* SameCharacterButDifferent: [[DrillSergeantNasty The Spitfire in this episode]] is a far cry from the laid-back and friendly pegasus she was [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E16SonicRainboom in]] [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E26TheBestNightEver previous]] [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E22HurricaneFluttershy episodes]]. [[JustifiedTrope Then again]], she ''is'' on duty in this episode, and they ''are'' at a boot camp.
123* SanitySlippage: Pinkie Pie slips on account of separation anxiety following Rainbow Dash's departure for the Academy. Sleep depravation from her vigil at the mail box made it worse.
124* SecondPlaceIsForLosers:
125** Rainbow Dash considers ending up the wingpony to Lightning Dust as an insult.
126** This is Lightning Dust's philosophy; she's always pushing herself to be first in everything (even first place by a wide margin isn't good enough for her), and if others get hurt, [[NeverMyFault it's their own fault]]. [[InsigniaRipOffRitual This costs her dearly in the end]].
127* ShadowArchetype: Lightning Dust to Rainbow Dash. All the talent, skill, attitude and ego but with none of the loyalty and empathy.
128* ShoutOut:
129** [[{{Homage}} As mentioned above]], [[WholePlotReference the entire episode bears a certain resemblance]] to ''Film/TopGun''.
130** The mustached instructor pegasus accompanying Spitfire very closely resembles a pony version of Viper from ''Film/TopGun''.
131** Lightning Dust's mane resembles [[TheEighties Iceman's haircut]].
132** Spitfire's DrillSergeantNasty speech at the beginning of the episode is evocative of Gunnery Sergeant Hartman's from ''Film/FullMetalJacket''.
133** One of the Wonderbolts instructors has a passing resemblance to another well know movie pilot mentor, Col. Charles 'Chappy' Sinclair from ''Film/IronEagle''
134** [[Literature/TheWonderfulWizardOfOz "IT'S A TWISTER!"]]
135** It may or may not be intentional, but one of Spitfire's uniform badges closely resembles the rank insignia from the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Future Imperfect," while the three red pips underneath it are very reminiscent of the stars worn by [[Literature/HonorHarrington Royal Manticoran Navy]] officers to denote their previous hyperspace-capable starship commands.
136** The Dizzitron may be a ShoutOut to a [[http://youtu.be/7tO_Sw3P5Bs?t=1m21s very similar training centrifuge]] used by the Blue Angels to combat disorientation and train for spin recovery.[[note]]Watch the rest of that video if you want a good look at one of the Real Life inspirations of the Wonderbolts![[/note]]
137** As explained in the WackySoundEffect example, they used a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuka StuKa]] divebomber whistle for an impending botched landing.
138* SloganYellingMegaphoneGuy: Pinkie Pie has one that's bigger than her.
139* TheSocialDarwinist: Lightning Dust is Type 4; do my best and disregard the rest.
140* SpectacularSpinning:
141** The Dizzitron is a training device designed to help pegasi master this trope by, you guessed it, spinning them.
142** {{Subverted|Trope}} when Lightning Dust deliberately creates a tornado to bust clouds but instead endangers Rainbow Dash's friends.
143* StatusQuoIsGod: [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-zagged]]. On the one hand, Rainbow Dash prepares to quit the Academy together with her defining dream of becoming a Wonderbolt (thus returning to Ponyvile) only for Spitfire to keep her from leaving and make her team leader for her class at the last minute. Her prospects of joining the Wonderbolts have increased significantly thanks to her leadership skills, to the point where, in the DeletedScene, RD tells her friends the Wonderbolts outright have their eye on her.
144* StealthPun: When recording the tally marks for every pair's clouds cleared, the tally under each pony is their personal score. [[http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20121218122814/mlp/images/e/e1/S3E7_Record_Pony.PNG Rainbow Dash's tally count has six tally marks per bunch instead of five.]] [[TwentyPercentMoreAwesome What phrase is Rainbow Dash most known for again?]]
145* SuperSpeed: Applies to Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust during training, but the prize-winner here is ''Pinkie Pie''. Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity watch her from a distance repeatedly checking her mailbox. In the blink of an eye, Pinkie Pie rushed right behind them, ''while they were still watching her at the mailbox without even blinking''.
146* SweetAndSourGrapes: Rainbow Dash abandons her dream of joining a Wonderbolt because she finds their abetting of Lightning Dust's recklessness morally abhorrent. However, Spitfire stops Dash from leaving just in time to tell her that the Wonderbolts need recruits of such fine character, and not only convinces Dash to withdraw her resignation, but promotes her to team leader.
147* TemptingFate: Rainbow replies to a taunt from Spitfire with "I'd never quit, ma'am!"
148* TicketLineCampout: Pinkie effectively does a mailbox campout, holding out for a letter from Rainbow Dash for three days straight.
149* TooDumbToLive: Twilight and her friends entering a restricted military area in a balloon during training.
150* ToonPhysics:
151** Pinkie Pie's doing weird stuff again, including suddenly popping out of the mailbox when she'd been standing next to it a moment before.
152** In the MLP universe, clouds can support the weight of any pony, not just pegasi, if they can be made dense enough. Of course, the cloud in question was specifically put together by Rainbow Dash in a hurry and on purpose, so it may simply be pegasus magic in action. The process also completely destroys the cloud in question. Alternatively, Twilight could have performed the cloud-walking spell on everypony from Sonic Rainboom once more in anticipation of the visit.
153* TrainingFromHell: It feels this way to everypony not named Rainbow Dash or Lightning Dust. They breeze through it while the rest struggle.
154* VocalEvolution: Spitfire's voice sounds ''much'' higher; so much higher, it was believed by some that she had changed voice actors.
155* WackySoundEffect: One of the background pegasi comes careening into the runway accompanied by the sound of a jet aircraft racing towards the ground.
156* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
157** We never did learn what was in Pinkie's care package... Or whatever new spells Twilight was working on...
158** What exactly happened to Lightning Dust is left ambiguous. She lost her Leader insignia but it is unclear if she was kicked out of the academy or just demoted. What happened to the other recruits such as Bulk Biceps is also unknown.[[note]]Lightning's fate is finally confirmed [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS8E20TheWashouts five seasons later]]: she was kicked out of the Academy, and went on to create a separate team of Wonderbolt rejects.[[/note]]
159* WhatTheHellHero:
160** Lightning Dust isn't necessarily a hero, but Rainbow Dash still respected her for the majority of the episode so this trope still counts when Dash reads Lightning Dust the Riot Act for not caring about the collateral damage from her tornado, even when that collateral included other cadets and Dash's friends.
161** A minor example, but after dropping out of the Academy, Rainbow Dash is stopped by Spitfire, who proceeds to call her out on storming out of her office and not giving her a chance to [[Heartwarming/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic commend RD for her worth as a leader]].
162* WholePlotReference: To ''Film/TopGun''
163* WithAllDueRespect: Slight variation. Rainbow Dash says “no disrespect, ma’am” when asking why she’s the wingpony.
164* YellowLightningBlueLightning: Lightning Dust's color scheme, having light bluish-green fur with a yellow mane. The motion trail she leaves behind reflects this, even having a yellow, zigzagging distortion reminiscent of a lightning bolt.

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