# Testing Testing 1, 2, 3 > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Testing_Testing_1%2C_2%2C_3 > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Testing_Testing_1%2C_2%2C_3.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testing_Testing_1%2C_2%2C_3 > Source revision: 1333975977 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 21st episode of the 4th season of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic "Testing Testing 1, 2, 3" My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode Pinkie Pie (center) sings a rap song about the history of the Wonderbolts. Episode no. Season 4 Episode 21 Written by Amy Keating Rogers Original air date April 5, 2014 (2014-04-05) Running time 22 minutes Episode chronology ← Previous "Leap of Faith" Next → "Trade Ya!" My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic season 4 List of episodes "**Testing Testing 1, 2, 3**" is the twenty-first episode of the [fourth season](/source/My_Little_Pony%3A_Friendship_Is_Magic_season_4) of the [animated television series](/source/Animated_series) *[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic](/source/My_Little_Pony%3A_Friendship_Is_Magic)*. The episode was written by [Amy Keating Rogers](/source/Amy_Keating_Rogers). It originally aired on [The Hub](/source/Discovery_Family#As_Hub_Network_(2010–2014)) on April 5, 2014. In this episode, [Rainbow Dash](/source/Rainbow_Dash) struggles to study for her [Wonderbolts](/source/Wonderbolts) entrance exam using traditional academic methods with [Twilight Sparkle](/source/Twilight_Sparkle).[1] ## Plot My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Equestria Toyline Cutie mark Elements of Harmony Pony Spin-offs My Little Pony: Equestria Girls (2013–2020)(List of animations) My Little Pony: Pony Life (2020–2021)(List of episodes) Characters Mane Six Twilight Sparkle Rainbow Dash Pinkie Pie Applejack Fluttershy Rarity Supporting Spike Princess Celestia Princess Luna Princess Cadance Shining Armor Discord Starlight Glimmer Trixie Zecora Antagonists Queen Chrysalis Lord Tirek Cozy Glow Minor Derpy Hooves Background Six Cheese Sandwich Quibble Pants The Wonderbolts Aunt Holiday and Auntie Lofty Equestria Girls Sunset Shimmer Seasons & episodes Season 1 (2010–2011) "Friendship Is Magic" "The Ticket Master" "Applebuck Season" "Griffon the Brush Off" "Boast Busters" "Dragonshy" "Look Before You Sleep" "Bridle Gossip" "Swarm of the Century" "Winter Wrap Up" "Call of the Cutie" "Fall Weather Friends" "Suited for Success" "Feeling Pinkie Keen" "Sonic Rainboom" "Stare Master" "The Show Stoppers" "A Dog and Pony Show" "Green Isn't Your Color" "Over a Barrel" "A Bird in the Hoof" "The Cutie Mark Chronicles" "Owl's Well That Ends Well" "Party of One" "The Best Night Ever" Season 2 (2011–2012) "The Return of Harmony" "Lesson Zero" "Luna Eclipsed" "Sisterhooves Social" "The Cutie Pox" "May the Best Pet Win!" "The Mysterious Mare Do Well" "Sweet and Elite" "Secret of My Excess" "Hearth's Warming Eve" "Family Appreciation Day" "Baby Cakes" "The Last Roundup" "The Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000" "Read It and Weep" "Hearts and Hooves Day" "A Friend in Deed" "Putting Your Hoof Down" "It's About Time" "Dragon Quest" "Hurricane Fluttershy" "Ponyville Confidential" "MMMystery on the Friendship Express" "A Canterlot Wedding" Season 3 (2012–2013) "The Crystal Empire" "Too Many Pinkie Pies" "One Bad Apple" "Magic Duel" "Sleepless in Ponyville" "Wonderbolts Academy" "Apple Family Reunion" "Spike at Your Service" "Keep Calm and Flutter On" "Just for Sidekicks" "Games Ponies Play" "Magical Mystery Cure" Season 4 (2013–2014) "Princess Twilight Sparkle" "Castle Mane-ia" "Daring Don't" "Flight to the Finish" "Power Ponies" "Bats!" "Rarity Takes Manehattan" "Pinkie Apple Pie" "Rainbow Falls" "Three's a Crowd" "Pinkie Pride" "Simple Ways" "Filli Vanilli" "Twilight Time" "It Ain't Easy Being Breezies" "Somepony to Watch Over Me" "Maud Pie" "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils" "Leap of Faith" "Testing Testing 1, 2, 3" "Trade Ya!" "Inspiration Manifestation" "Equestria Games" "Twilight's Kingdom" Season 5 (2015) "The Cutie Map" "Castle Sweet Castle" "Tanks for the Memories" "Slice of Life" "Amending Fences" "Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?" "Made in Manehattan" "Crusaders of the Lost Mark" "The Hooffields and McColts" "The Cutie Re-Mark" Season 6 (2016) "A Hearth's Warming Tail" "The Times They Are a Changeling" Season 7 (2017) "The Perfect Pear" Season 8 (2018) "Grannies Gone Wild" Season 9 (2019) "The Last Crusade" Series finale Media Films & specials My Little Pony: The Movie (2017) My Little Pony: Best Gift Ever (2018) My Little Pony: Rainbow Roadtrip (2019) Music Theme song "This Day Aria" Movie Soundtrack "Rainbow" "Off to See the World" Games My Little Pony: Twilight Sparkle, Teacher for a Day Gameloft video game Collectible card game Other media Home video releases IDW comics Issues My Little Pony/Transformers Brony fandom Fan works (list) 15.ai Voiceverse NFT plagiarism scandal A Brony Tale Bronies (documentary) Derpibooru Equestria Daily Fimfiction Fallout: Equestria Friendship Is Witchcraft Legends of Equestria Love & Ponystep Ponysona PONY.MOV Them's Fightin' Herds Fandom people 15 hotdiggedydemon Jenny Nicholson Odyssey Eurobeat Sethisto The Living Tombstone Vylet Pony Fan culture Analysis Brony music Bronyspeak Charity Criticism Fan art Clop Ponysona Fan fiction Military bronies /mlp/ Online communities My Little Pony conventions BABSCon BronyCAN BronyCon Czequestria Everfree Northwest GalaCon Ponyville Ciderfest RuBronyCon TrotCon UK PonyCon Vanhoover Pony Expo v t e [Rainbow Dash](/source/Rainbow_Dash) faces an upcoming entrance exam for the [Wonderbolts](/source/Wonderbolts) Reserves but shows little concern about studying. Twilight attempts to tutor Rainbow using traditional academic methods, but she struggles with every conventional approach Twilight tries. Rainbow begins to worry about failing and blames Twilight's methods; their argument attracts the rest of the [Mane Six](/source/Mane_Six) who each volunteer their own teaching techniques. [Fluttershy](/source/Fluttershy) attempts to teach Wonderbolts history through a [theatrical performance](/source/Theatre) starring the pets. [Pinkie Pie](/source/Pinkie_Pie) creates a catchy [rap song](/source/Rap_song) about Wonderbolts history, while [Rarity](/source/Rarity_(My_Little_Pony)) tries using historical fashion. [Applejack](/source/Applejack_(My_Little_Pony%3A_Friendship_Is_Magic)) admits she has no study advice since she learns everything through hands-on experience. Rainbow feels overwhelmed by all the conflicting methods and is convinced that she is "too dumb to learn anything." Rainbow flies off in frustration, and Twilight follows to apologize for overwhelming her friend, but during their conversation Rainbow instinctively pushes Twilight out of the path of an oncoming [helicopter](/source/Helicopter). When Twilight asks how she noticed the danger while focused on their discussion, Rainbow reveals her natural ability to [multitask](/source/Cognitive_flexibility) by monitoring multiple things simultaneously: she had observed the [Cutie Mark Crusaders](/source/Cutie_Mark_Crusaders) leaving Sugarcube Corner and Big McIntosh conducting business with Filthy Rich while talking to Twilight. Twilight develops a plan to teach her "Rainbow Dash's way" by taking advantage of her multitasking abilities during flight. She positions various ponies throughout Ponyville to casually present Wonderbolts historical facts during a seemingly casual flying tour, which allows Rainbow to absorb the information naturally. Rainbow effortlessly recalls all the historical details afterward and earns a perfect score on her exam. ## Reception Sherilyn Connelly, the author of *Ponyville Confidential*, gave the episode a "B+" rating.[2] In a critical analysis of the episode, author Jen A. Blue praised writer [Amy Keating Rogers](/source/Amy_Keating_Rogers) and described it as "the most overtly and straightforwardly political 'Letter to Celestia' in the show's run." Blue analyzed the episode as a critique of [educational systems](/source/Educational_system) that fail to accommodate different [learning styles](/source/Learning_styles) and wrote that Rainbow Dash's struggle with traditional academic methods like textbooks and lectures leads her to briefly declare herself "dumb" when the real issue is that her unique learning style requires hyperawareness and recall while flying. Blue wrote that society tends to treat children who don't fit "normal" learning styles as having individual deficits rather than recognizing institutional failures. Blue positioned the episode as intensely political and wrote that it demonstrates how accommodating diverse learning styles requires more funding and resources for education, and concluded that the episode presents "a straightforward ethical imperative" that every child should be given a chance to succeed, even when their minds have unusual gifts that don't respond to conventional teaching methods.[3] Daniel Alvarez of *Unleash The Fanboy* gave the episode a rating of 6 out of 10 and called it "[Rogers'] weakest episode yet", criticizing Rainbow Dash's portrayal as annoying and painful to listen to. Alvarez praised Pinkie Pie's *[The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air](/source/The_Fresh_Prince_of_Bel-Air)* homage and the episode's message about different learning styles but felt Rainbow Dash was poorly written throughout the first half.[4] Jamie Kingston of *[WomenWriteAboutComics](/source/WomenWriteAboutComics)* wrote that the episode "knocked it out of the park" and analyzed how Rainbow Dash's learning struggles suggest she has [ADHD](/source/ADHD) or [dyslexia](/source/Dyslexia), connecting it to the earlier episode "[Read It and Weep](/source/Read_It_and_Weep_(My_Little_Pony%3A_Friendship_Is_Magic))" where Dash dismissed reading as an "[egghead](/source/Egghead)" pursuit. Kingston highlighted the importance of the show's representation of learning disabled ponies without making them less capable, writing that "placing handicapped ponies and learning disabled ponies in stories without making them any less capable shines a light on how important representation is for people who are atypical in any way."[5] ## See also - [List of *My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic* episodes](/source/List_of_My_Little_Pony%3A_Friendship_Is_Magic_episodes) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Busis, Hillary (2014-04-04). ["'My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic': Rainbow Dash is put to the test -- EXCLUSIVE"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140406080336/http://family-room.ew.com/2014/04/04/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-rainbow-dash-test/). *[Entertainment Weekly](/source/Entertainment_Weekly)*. Archived from [the original](http://family-room.ew.com/2014/04/04/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-rainbow-dash-test/) on 2014-04-06. Retrieved 2025-07-05. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [Connelly (2017)](#CITEREFConnelly2017), p. 82 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Blue, Jen A. (2021-12-27). "There's something wrong with the baby (Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3)". *My Little Po-Mo: Unauthorized Critical Essays on My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Season Four and Beyond*. pp. 177–181. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Alvarez, Daniel (2014-04-06). ["My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic 'Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3′ Review"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140408055756/http://www.unleashthefanboy.com:80/news/little-pony-friendship-magic-testing-1-2-3-review/96498). *Unleash The Fanboy*. Archived from [the original](http://www.unleashthefanboy.com:80/news/little-pony-friendship-magic-testing-1-2-3-review/96498) on 2014-04-08. Retrieved 2025-06-30. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Kingston, Jamie (2014-07-07). ["Throwing Popcorn: My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic"](https://womenwriteaboutcomics.com/2014/07/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic/). *[WomenWriteAboutComics](/source/WomenWriteAboutComics)*. Retrieved 2025-07-05. ### Bibliography - Connelly, Sherilyn (2017-04-01). [*Ponyville Confidential: The History and Culture of My Little Pony, 1981-2016*](https://www.google.com/books/edition/Ponyville_Confidential/E3VPDgAAQBAJ). McFarland. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-4766-6209-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-4766-6209-1). ## External links - ["Testing Testing 1, 2, 3"](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3099884/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier)) v t e My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes Seasons 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Season 4 "Princess Twilight Sparkle" "Castle Mane-ia" "Daring Don't" "Flight to the Finish" "Power Ponies" "Bats!" "Rarity Takes Manehattan" "Pinkie Apple Pie" "Rainbow Falls" "Three's a Crowd" "Pinkie Pride" "Simple Ways" "Filli Vanilli" "Twilight Time" "It Ain't Easy Being Breezies" "Somepony to Watch Over Me" "Maud Pie" "For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils" "Leap of Faith" "Testing Testing 1, 2, 3" "Trade Ya!" "Inspiration Manifestation" "Equestria Games" "Twilight's Kingdom" --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Testing Testing 1, 2, 3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testing_Testing_1%2C_2%2C_3) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testing_Testing_1%2C_2%2C_3?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.