Wonderbolts

The Wonderbolts are a squad of Pegasus ponies who perform aerial acrobatics and demonstrations. Throughout season one, Rainbow Dash dreams of meeting and joining this group. She wins the prize of spending a day with them in Sonic Rainboom, and spends a short while with them in The Best Night Ever. Their captain is Spitfire. When flying they leave a long trail of lightning clouds, similar to Rainbow Dash's streak of rainbow she leaves while flying. Their name is a portmanteau of the words "wonder" and "thunderbolt".

Development
In mid-December 2011, Jayson Thiessen was asked if The Wonderbolts were inspired by the "blue angles [sic]" and answered "yeah I think they were."

The Wonderbolts appear to be an amalgam of the United States Navy flight demonstration team, known as the Blue Angels, as well as their United States Air Force counterparts, the Thunderbirds. Their resemblance to the Blue Angels can be seen in their flight suits, which feature a shade of gold and aquamarine along with a 'winged bolt' logo not unlike the paint scheme and 'flying shield' icon of the naval aerobatics team. Added with this, the background of their name is vaguely similar to that of the Thunderbirds.

Depiction in the series
The Wonderbolts are first mentioned by Rainbow Dash in Friendship is Magic, part 1 as her idolized flight acrobatics group. In the following episode, Nightmare Moon takes the form of The Shadowbolts,(including Descent and Nightingale), to lure Rainbow Dash into joining them and abandoning her friends during their quest to get the Elements of Harmony. While Dash appreciates the offer, she declines and stays loyal to her friends. Having failed to accomplish their intentions, the Shadowbolts fade into a purple mist and are never heard from again.

The Wonderbolts attended the Best Young Flyer Competition in Cloudsdale as celebrity judges in the episode Sonic Rainboom. The winner of the competition would spend an entire day with The Wonderbolts. During the final performance, Rarity's wings burn up when she flies too close to the sun at the end of her act, causing her to plummet down toward the Earth. Soarin, Spitfire, and Misty Fly take immediate action and dart for the plummeting Rarity to save her, but are knocked unconscious by her flailing hooves. When all hope seems lost, Rainbow Dash manages to save them before they hit the ground, in the process her extreme speed triggers a spectacular sonic rainboom that dazzles the stadium audience. When Rainbow Dash receives gratitude from Spitfire for saving each of their lives, she becomes so overwhelmed with excitement she can't voice a proper reply. Nonetheless, she gains the opportunity of spending the rest of the day with her heroes.

A Wonderbolts Derby takes place in Sweet and Elite. Five Wonderbolts take part in the race held over a cloud circuit in Canterlot. Two of the contestants resemble Spitfire and Soarin, and two are named Fleetfoot and Rapidfire, though only Fleetfoot is identified. The racers are shown in close-up three times; their composition changes in the middle, only to revert to the starting lineup by the end.

Three Wonderbolts attempt stop a grown Spike from rampaging through Ponyville in Secret of My Excess, but are largely unsuccessful. They only manage to partly shear off the spikes on his head before being caught and trapped in a water tank. This scene pays homage to a climactic scene in the 1933 monster adventure film King Kong in which a squadron of fighter pilots perform an airborne assault against the massive gorilla as he takes his last stand on the Empire State building.

Spitfire is established as The Wonderbolts' captain in "Hurricane Fluttershy". She oversees a tornado operation on behalf of Cloudsdale.

The Wonderbolt Soarin is a guest at the royal wedding in A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2 and dances with Rainbow Dash.

Wonderbolt Academy introduces the Academy: a training center for potential new members. Spitfire serves as a drill sergeant for the newest cadets. Also shown are guards and training staff, who assist Spitfire in handling the cadets. Rainbow Dash is accepted into Wonderbolt Academy along with several other Ponyville residents and the cocky Lightning Dust, though Dust is sent off after she puts other ponies in danger out of recklessness.

Uniforms
The Wonderbolts are almost always seen in their uniforms which conceal their cutie marks. Their suits sport a uniform icon on their flanks over where their cutie marks would be, which varies depending on the gender of the member. For males, the mark would be a winged lightning bolt, while for females would be a long streak of lightning.

In Rainbow Dash's fantasy in The Ticket Master, when she imagined herself as a Wonderbolt, her own cutie mark appeared in place of the emblem. When she fantasized herself as a Wonderbolt again in The Best Night Ever, on the other hand, she sported the long bolt emblem usually found on any other female members' flanks. In reality, The Wonderbolts' uniforms are notably brighter than in Rainbow Dash's fantasies.

In A Canterlot Wedding - Part 2, Soarin is shown in a military shirt with collar badges, epaulettes, and black tie. His cutie mark is also shown and appears to be the male Wonderbolts flight suit symbol.

In Wonderbolt Academy, Spitfire wears a dark blue uniform with a shirt and tie underneath, with epaulettes, two bars (signifying "captain" under US Air Force ranks), and medals. Unlike Soarin, her epaulette is a roundel and a single wing. Also unlike Soarin, her visible cutie mark differs from any flight suit logo.

Cadets at the Academy wear a uniform that leaves the legs and faces bare, with a larger, pale yellow lightning bolt on the front. The guards and training staff wear dark blue jackets with a lightning bolt epaulette, a cap with the Wonderbolts' insignia, and mirrored shades.

Other depictions
In the Treehouse Live! My Little Pony show, The Wonderbolts are described as Celestia's "exclusive aerial acrobatic team".

Members
As shown in the The Best Night Ever, The Wonderbolts consists of six mares and five stallions, though they are generally seen in groups of three or six.

Spitfire and Soarin

 * Main articles: Spitfire and Soarin

At the Grand Galloping Gala in The Best Night Ever, Rainbow Dash meets The Wonderbolts again when saving an apple pie from falling to the floor, after one of The Wonderbolts, Soarin, drops it. The orange-maned Wonderbolt, later named Spitfire, mentions their encounter at the competition where Dash saved them, and invites her to join them at the gala.

Spitfire appears again in Hurricane Fluttershy to monitor the tornado designed to bring water from Ponyville to Cloudsdale, and in Wonderbolts Academy, as the drill sergeant of the titular academy.

Rapidfire and Fleetfoot
Two more Wonderbolts are named in Sweet and Elite: Rapidfire, a male pony, is pegged as the winner by Fancypants, while Rarity picks Fleetfoot, a female pony. The first pony to fly over the finish line is a white-maned mare, and the announcer declares Fleetfoot the winner "by a nose". One of the show's layout artists wrote that the white-maned pony is indeed Fleetfoot, and that Rapidfire isn't specified. Fleetfoot appears earlier in the show at the VIP section of the Grand Galloping Gala in The Best Night Ever.

Wonderbolt Academy Staff
Although they are not part of the Wonderbolts per se, Academy Staff members are responsible for maintaining security, assisting Spitfire, and supervising the training of Cadets at the Wonderbolt Academy.

Merchandise
The blonde mare Wonderbolt is part of the Miniature Collection's Cloudsdale Set, packaged with toys of Gilda and Rainbow Dash.

Partially translucent mini-figure toys of Spitfire, Soarin, and Misty Fly were leaked in early August 2012, and their corresponding collector cards were leaked in late 2012; all three pairs of toys and cards were released in January 2013 as part of the seventh wave of mystery packs, which is themed around The Wonderbolts and the Crystal Empire. Spitfire and Soarin's cards misidentify the two ponies as each other, though the wave's packaging identifies them correctly. Misty Fly's name comes both from her card and from the packaging of the wave.

Gallery

 * The Wonderbolts image gallery