# Wonderbolts Academy > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Wonderbolts_Academy > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Wonderbolts_Academy.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonderbolts_Academy > Source revision: 1334271696 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 7th episode of the 3rd season of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic "Wonderbolts Academy" My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic episode Rainbow Dash (left) races with fellow Wonderbolt Academy recruit Lightning Dust (right). Episode no. Season 3 Episode 7 Written by Merriwether Williams Original air date December 15, 2012 (2012-12-15) Running time 22 minutes Episode chronology ← Previous "Sleepless in Ponyville" Next → "Apple Family Reunion" My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic season 3 List of episodes "**Wonderbolts Academy**" (also called "**Wonderbolt Academy**") is the seventh episode of the [third season](/source/My_Little_Pony%3A_Friendship_Is_Magic_season_3) 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 [Merriwether Williams](/source/Merriwether_Williams). It originally aired on [The Hub](/source/Discovery_Family#As_Hub_Network_(2010–2014)) on December 15, 2012. In this episode, [Rainbow Dash](/source/Rainbow_Dash) is accepted into the [Wonderbolt](/source/Wonderbolt) Academy where she meets Lightning Dust, a reckless pegasus whose dangerous flying puts Rainbow Dash's friends in peril. ## Plot External videos Wonderbolts Academy (full episode) — Official upload of the episode onto YouTube 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) receives her acceptance letter to the prestigious [Wonderbolt](/source/Wonderbolt) Academy and eagerly reports for training, where she meets the demanding instructor Spitfire and fellow [cadet](/source/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 [wingpony](/source/Wingman), 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](/source/Pinkie_Pie) becomes obsessed with checking the mail for news from Rainbow and eventually convinces the other ponies to deliver a [care package](/source/Care_package) to the academy in person. During a cloud-clearing competition, Lightning Dust proposes creating a [tornado](/source/Tornado) to gain an advantage, and Rainbow reluctantly agrees. The tornado quickly spirals out of control and threatens the [Mane Six](/source/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](/source/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.[1] Hillary Busis of *[Entertainment Weekly](/source/Entertainment_Weekly)* noted the various references to *[Top Gun](/source/Top_Gun)* throughout the episode; she humorously remarked that there was no climactic battle against the [Soviets](/source/Soviets) at the end of the episode.[2] 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.[3] In a critical analysis of the episode, author Jen A. Blue described "Wonderbolts Academy" as a *Top Gun* [homage](/source/Homage_(arts)) 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-"[Mysterious Mare Do Well](/source/The_Mysterious_Mare_Do_Well)" Rainbow Dash, utterly unconcerned about [collateral damage](/source/Collateral_damage) from her actions, and serves as an [externalization](/source/Externalization_(psychology)) 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 [Element](/source/Elements_of_Harmony) over her ambition, and concluded that "for Rainbow Dash, this episode is an [exorcism](/source/Exorcism) and a [maturation](/source/Maturity_(psychological))" which demonstrates how Lightning Dust successfully pushed Rainbow Dash to discover her limits and align herself with her Element of Harmony.[4] ## 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)** [Connelly (2017)](#CITEREFConnelly2017), p. 80 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Busis, Hillary (2012-12-14). ["'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic': 'Top Gun'-themed episode"](https://ew.com/article/2012/12/14/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-top-gun-episode/). *[Entertainment Weekly](/source/Entertainment_Weekly)*. Retrieved 2025-07-05. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Alvarez, Daniel (2012-12-15). ["My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic 'Wonderbolts Academy' Review"](https://web.archive.org/web/20121217000503/http://www.unleashthefanboy.com/news/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-wonderbolts-academy-review/37119). *Unleash The Fanboy*. Archived from [the original](http://www.unleashthefanboy.com/news/my-little-pony-friendship-is-magic-wonderbolts-academy-review/37119) on 2012-12-17. Retrieved 2025-06-30. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-Blue-S3-WA_4-0)** Blue, Jen A. (2016-01-20). "The Wonderbolts will never let a loser like me join! (Wonderbolts Academy)". *My Little Po-Mo: Unauthorized Critical Essays on My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic Season Three and Derivative Works*. pp. 48–51. ### 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 - ["Wonderbolts Academy"](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2479834/) 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 3 "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" --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Wonderbolts Academy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonderbolts_Academy) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonderbolts_Academy?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.