{{Infobox television episode | series = [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]] | image = Rainbow competing with Lightning S3E07.png | image_size = 280 | image_alt = | caption = [[Rainbow Dash]] (left) races with fellow [[Wonderbolt]] Academy recruit Lightning Dust (right). | season = 3 | episode = 7 | writer = [[Merriwether Williams]] | director = | music = | editor = | airdate = {{Start date|2012|12|15}} | length = 22 minutes | prev = [[Sleepless in Ponyville]] | next = [[Apple Family Reunion]] | season_article = My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic season 3 | episode_list = List of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes }} "'''Wonderbolts Academy'''" (also called "'''Wonderbolt Academy'''") is the seventh episode of the [[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic season 3|third season]] of the [[Animated series|animated television series]] ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]''. The episode was written by [[Merriwether Williams]]. It originally aired on [[Discovery Family#As Hub Network (2010–2014)|The Hub]] on December 15, 2012. In this episode, [[Rainbow Dash]] is accepted into the [[Wonderbolt]] Academy where she meets Lightning Dust, a reckless pegasus whose dangerous flying puts Rainbow Dash's friends in peril.
== Plot == {{External media |headerimage=[[File:YouTube 2024.svg|alt=YouTube logo|x20px|center]] |video1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgpCROUtbSo Wonderbolts Academy (full episode)] — Official upload of the episode onto [[YouTube]] | float= left| }} {{My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic sidebar}} [[Rainbow Dash]] receives her acceptance letter to the prestigious [[Wonderbolt]] Academy and eagerly reports for training, where she meets the demanding instructor Spitfire and fellow [[cadet]] Lightning Dust. During initial trials, both pegasi excel far beyond their peers. Despite Rainbow's superior performance, Spitfire assigns Lightning Dust as lead pony and makes Rainbow her [[wingman|wingpony]], explaining that Lightning Dust shows more willingness to push her limits.
Under Lightning Dust's leadership, the pair dominates their training exercises through increasingly reckless flying maneuvers that put both themselves and other cadets at risk. Rainbow expresses concern about their dangerous tactics, but Lightning Dust dismisses her worries and Spitfire appears to approve of their aggressive approach. Meanwhile in Ponyville, [[Pinkie Pie]] becomes obsessed with checking the mail for news from Rainbow and eventually convinces the other ponies to deliver a [[care package]] to the academy in person.
During a cloud-clearing competition, Lightning Dust proposes creating a [[tornado]] to gain an advantage, and Rainbow reluctantly agrees. The tornado quickly spirals out of control and threatens the [[Mane Six]], who arrive at the academy in their balloon just as the twister tears through the training grounds. Rainbow abandons the exercise to save her friends, creating a cloud [[trampoline]] that launches them to safety after they get thrown from their balloon.
Fed up with Lightning Dust's callousness, Rainbow confronts both her partner and Spitfire. When Spitfire commends Lightning Dust's maneuver as an "effective tactic", Rainbow protests the rewarding of sheer recklessness and quits the academy. Spitfire quickly realizes her error and acknowledges that being the best should never come at others' expense, dismissing Lightning Dust and promoting Rainbow to lead pony.
== Reception == Sherilyn Connelly, the author of ''Ponyville Confidential'', gave the episode a "C+" rating.<ref>{{harvp|Connelly|2017|p=80}}</ref> Hillary Busis of ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' noted the various references to ''[[Top Gun]]'' throughout the episode; she humorously remarked that there was no climactic battle against the [[Soviets]] at the end of the episode.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ew.com/article/2012/12/14/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-top-gun-episode/|title='My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic': 'Top Gun'-themed episode|first=Hillary|last=Busis|date=2012-12-14|access-date=2025-07-05|website=[[Entertainment Weekly]]}}</ref> Daniel Alvarez of ''Unleash The Fanboy'' gave the episode a rating of 3.5 out of 5 and called it "rather disappointing" in terms of story expectations but also wrote that it was possibly the best one focused on Rainbow Dash. He praised Lightning Dust as a good character who served her purpose as a meaner version of Rainbow and highlighted Spitfire as a definite highlight, though he criticized the missed opportunity of not featuring other Wonderbolts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unleashthefanboy.com/news/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-wonderbolts-academy-review/37119|title=My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic 'Wonderbolts Academy' Review|website=Unleash The Fanboy|first=Daniel|last=Alvarez|date=2012-12-15|access-date=2025-06-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121217000503/http://www.unleashthefanboy.com/news/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-wonderbolts-academy-review/37119|archive-date=2012-12-17|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In a critical analysis of the episode, author Jen A. Blue described "Wonderbolts Academy" as a ''Top Gun'' [[Homage (arts)|homage]] and analyzed Lightning Dust as essentially being Rainbow Dash herself with all her brashness, boldness, and recklessness, but lacks Rainbow Dash's tendencies toward complacency and laziness. Blue argued that Lightning Dust represents pre-"[[The Mysterious Mare Do Well|Mysterious Mare Do Well]]" Rainbow Dash, utterly unconcerned about [[collateral damage]] from her actions, and serves as an [[externalization (psychology)|externalization]] of all Rainbow Dash's competitiveness and callousness so that Rainbow Dash can confront and restrain these traits. Blue interpreted Rainbow Dash's decision to quit the Academy as an act of extreme loyalty, choosing her [[Elements of Harmony|Element]] over her ambition, and concluded that "for Rainbow Dash, this episode is an [[exorcism]] and a [[Maturity (psychological)|maturation]]" which demonstrates how Lightning Dust successfully pushed Rainbow Dash to discover her limits and align herself with her Element of Harmony.<ref name="Blue-S3-WA">{{cite book |last=Blue |first=Jen A. |title=My Little Po-Mo: Unauthorized Critical Essays on My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Season Three and Derivative Works|pages=48–51|date=2016-01-20 |chapter=The Wonderbolts will never let a loser like me join! (Wonderbolts Academy)}}</ref>
== See also == * [[List of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes|List of ''My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic'' episodes]]
== References == {{reflist}}
===Bibliography=== * {{Cite book |last=Connelly |first=Sherilyn |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Ponyville_Confidential/E3VPDgAAQBAJ |title=Ponyville Confidential: The History and Culture of My Little Pony, 1981-2016 |date=2017-04-01 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-6209-1 |language=en}}
== External links == * {{IMDb episode|2479834}}
{{My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes|3|state=expanded}}
[[Category:My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episodes]] [[Category:2012 American television episodes]] [[Category:2012 Canadian television episodes]]