Had a couple of thoughts Rainbow Dash’s character. Not counting Season One, I think Pony Life is doing a better job with her character than the rest of FiM did. Let me explain:
In Season One, there are no lessons exclusively for Rainbow Dash; she always learns a lesson that another character is also learning. I really liked how the buildup to Sonic Rainboom was handled. We know that she’s talented, but also lazy, cocky, reckless, and egotistical. She crashes in almost every episode she’s in. So when Sonic Rainboom comes around, we finally get to see her vulnerable side as she confronts the very real possibility of failure. In that episode, Rarity represents what Rainbow Dash could have been: a pony who literally flies too close to the sun, and is destroyed by her own hubris.
In the end, Rainbow Dash puts it all aside, focuses on what needs to be done, pulls off the Sonic Rainboom, and saves Rarity and The Wonderbolts. That should have been the climax, then the denouement should have been her flying with The Wonderbolts in Best Night Ever. That would have been the absolute perfect place to end her character. In fact, I get a bit emotional just thinking about it. Other than arguably Tanks for the Memories, nothing else she does even comes close in terms of emotional satisfaction. There’s Sleepless in Ponyville, but that’s Scootaloo’s story.
I say all of this, because there’s so much of her character that could have been explored. So far, the two lessons she’s learned in Pony Life are better than any of the lessons she learned in FiM. The moral of Best of the Worst is the importance of picking your battles, and not feeding the trolls or lowering yourself to their level. That’s a great lesson for a competitive character to learn! I think The Fluttershy Effect is the first time I’ve ever seen Rainbow Dash really take the time to reflect on her actions. That’s something that was on my list of things I wish they’d done with her.
And then I realized that each of The Mane Six are getting their own arc, and there’s a chance for them to do a proper Wonderbolts arc. And I got really excited.