Rainbow Dash

  Rainbow Dash is a pegasus pony and a main character in My Little Pony Friendship is Magic. She is responsible for maintaining and clearing the skies in Ponyville. She is also a huge admirer of The Wonderbolts and dreams of joining their flying group. She represents the element of loyalty.

Development
Rainbow Dash shares her name and color scheme with a fashionista earth pony from G3 and G3.5, however, Lauren Faust gave her the personality of her favorite G1 pony, Firefly.

Personality
Rainbow Dash is a tomboyish pony, often bragging about her talents and accomplishments. However, she is also a loyal friend. She is very competitive, often challenging others to various contests.

Loyalty
Rainbow Dash first appears in Friendship is Magic, part 1, where she accidentally crashes into Twilight Sparkle. They briefly get to know each other, and Dash later joins Twilight and the other ponies in Friendship is Magic, part 2 on the quest for the Elements of Harmony. Just as the ponies are about to reach the castle where the Elements are located, Nightmare Moon takes the form of The Shadowbolts, doppelgangers of Rainbow Dash's personal heroes, The Wonderbolts. They solicit Rainbow Dash into joining their ranks and abandoning her companions, but Rainbow Dash remains loyal to her friends and declines their offer, which earns her the element of loyalty.

Dash's loyalty is put to the test in The Return of Harmony Part 1 and Part 2. She and her friends have to solve Discord's riddle and play by his rules to regain the Elements. During their mission, Dash falls victim to Discord's manipulation after he tells her that her home will crumble without her, and shows her a vision of Cloudsdale crumbling. Under Discord's influence, she abandons her friends to "save" a cloud she believes to be Cloudsdale. Right before Applejack spots Dash flying away, Twilight Sparkle reassures herself by saying Dash won't let them down, but then watches in disbelief as Dash speeds off. Discord reveals himself and informs other ponies that they have been disqualified, as one of his rules stated that if one of the ponies leaves, the game is over. Later, when Twilight sets about finding her friends to undo what Discord had done to them with a "memory spell", Rainbow Dash dismisses Twilight's plight with "loyalty shmoyalty". Since she won't come close enough to Twilight for the spell to be performed, the ponies must combine their efforts to catch her and bring her to the ground. Her first words after her corruption is undone is "How's Ponyville? Where are the Elements? Did we stop Discord?" With Dash by their side again, the ponies wield the Elements of Harmony and defeat Discord with their magic.

Brashness and apparent laziness
Rainbow Dash is very confident in her abilities, which is often construed by others as laziness. When Twilight Sparkle first meets Dash, she has none of her cloud cleanup work done, and lies idly on a cloud, and puts off her work. Despite her apparent laziness, she performed her duty in "ten seconds flat", leaving Twilight wide-eyed at the sight. She languishes about in Griffon the Brush Off and Swarm of the Century, but springs into action in the latter when she's needed to help deal with the parasprite infestation, and leaves off for duty when she's needed in the former. She is the leader of the weather team in Winter Wrap Up and she volunteers to go on important missions with her friends, so despite her apparent laziness she is a hard-working, contributing pony.

She proudly says in Boast Busters that she's better than the rest of the ponies, but laughs it off when Applejack gives her a scornful look. She and Applejack deride Twilight Sparkle in Fall Weather Friends for being an "egghead" and not having any experience with running outside of what she read in her book. However, both of them admire her magic in Boast Busters and tell her they're proud of her.

Rainbow Dash doesn't hide her annoyance at her friends' behavior. On the ponies' expedition in Dragonshy, Rainbow Dash is short with Fluttershy throughout their journey, and in Sonic Rainboom she becomes so frustrated with Fluttershy's meek cheering that she does a pratfall. She begrudgingly lets Rarity give her a makeover in Swarm of the Century, and keeps an annoyed frown on her face in the process. When Twilight Sparkle tries to convince Rarity in Suited For Success that she's not a laughing stock, Rainbow Dash rudely quips "she kind-of is". However, she wears the dress Rarity originally designed for her with a smile on her face when Rarity is given a second chance to redeem herself.

In Sonic Rainboom, her conversation with the bully pegasi implies she may have been kicked out of flight school for being lazy.

Competitiveness and athleticism
Dash describes her passion for winning in a flashback in The Cutie Mark Chronicles, and challenges other characters to competitions throughout the show. She races several times with her old friend Gilda in Griffon the Brush Off, and challenges Applejack in a series of athletic competitions in Fall Weather Friends.

Despite Rainbow Dash's competitiveness and confidence, she reacts poorly to failure, or even the possibility of failure. She gets defensive over losing a simple game of horseshoes to Applejack, stating that she "hates losing". During the Iron Pony Competition, she resorts to using her wings, which Applejack regards as cheating since she does not have wings herself. The two ponies argue throughout the episode, and eventually brawl with each other at the race's finish line, but soon make up and come to appreciate each other.

Rainbow Dash initially displays overwhelming bravado about her performance in the Best Young Flyer competition in Sonic Rainboom, but she soon revealed she was absolutely terrified of making a fool of herself, almost refused to perform, and messed up several of her routines.

Mischievousness
Rainbow Dash tries to spook her friends when they venture into the Everfree Forest for the first time, telling them no pony ever made it back out of the forest. She also seems to be a joker as in Griffon the Brush Off, where she and Pinkie Pie pranked various ponies. This pranking attitude is also seen in A Bird in the Hoof when she tries to make the Royal guards laugh.

She plays several pranks on her friend Gilda in Griffon the Brush Off, which were set up for Gilda's party but were not specifically aimed at her. For the majority of the time when Gilda is visiting Ponyville, Rainbow Dash is unaware that the griffon is being callous and rude to the other ponies, but the pranks at the party get the best of Gilda, and she loses her temper in front of Rainbow Dash. After witnessing Gilda's rude demeanor, she sends her on her way.

Dash uses a cloud to create thunder and lightning to scare Spike in Griffon the Brush Off, as a prank. She does the same to Pinkie Pie and various other ponies in Luna Eclipsed, telling Twilight Sparkle that "this is the best night of the year for pranks" and that "it's all in good fun." She hurries off to scare another group of ponies.

Flying and weather manipulation
Rainbow Dash is a very accomplished flier, being fast and agile in the air. She speaks of her impressive and flashy aerial acrobatic maneuvers in The Ticket Master, which include: the "rainblow dry", which she uses to clean up Twilight Sparkle in the first episode; the "super speed strut", the "fantastic filly flash", and "buccaneer blaze", which involve strutting while flying, a nose-dive and recovery that create a flash, and the creation of multiple bolts of lightning, respectively.

She uses her flying skill to help Applejack demolish a barn in Lesson Zero. She tears through the structure from all directions, and eventually dives into it from a great height, creating a colorful mushroom cloud and shockwave that annihilates the barn.

Rainbow Dash uses her weather-manipulation abilities several times. She clears the skies of Ponyville "in ten seconds flat" in the first episode, dispersing the clouds by kicking them. She leads water droplets out of a cloud in Boast Busters, and creates a rainbow above her when the droplets splash against her. She teams up with other pegasus ponies in Winter Wrap Up to create a whirlwind that sucks away clouds and snow from Ponyville, and she creates a tornado to vacuum the parasprites in Swarm of the Century.

Rainbow Dash's most venerated move is the sonic rainboom, first depicted in the aptly-titled episode Sonic Rainboom. This is the second time in her life that she has performed the trick, the first being depicted in a later episode, The Cutie Mark Chronicles. Even though several ponies witness the sonic rainboom in The Cutie Mark Chronicles, the very same ponies consider the maneuver a myth in Sonic Rainboom.

Cutie mark
Rainbow Dash mentions in Call of the Cutie that she was the first in her class to get her cutie mark. She tells the Cutie Mark Crusaders in The Cutie Mark Chronicles the story of how she got her cutie mark. Her story is set in Junior Speedsters flight camp, where she defends Fluttershy from a pair of bullies, who refer to Rainbow Dash as "Rainbow Crash". The bullies already have their cutie marks, but Dash and Fluttershy do not. Dash challenges the two bullies to a race, and in the ensuing contest she discovers her passion for speed and for "winning", in her words. Going through the race course, she performs her very first sonic rainboom, not only gaining her own cutie mark, but also inadvertently setting in motion the events that would cause Fluttershy and her future Ponyville friends to gain their own cutie marks.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders
Despite earning her cutie mark in an endeavor that came naturally to her, Rainbow Dash advises Apple Bloom to try out many different activities to gain her cutie mark in Call of the Cutie, leading the filly and her friends to pursue their cutie marks in the wrong avenues. When coaching Apple Bloom in Call of the Cutie, Rainbow Dash dons a sports headband, a whistle, and later a martial arts uniform with a black belt when Apple Bloom tries karate.

Scootaloo, the pegasus pony of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, idolizes Rainbow Dash. While Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle are the younger sisters of two ponies from the main cast, Applejack and Rarity, respectively, Scootaloo is not related to Rainbow Dash, and "Rainbow Dash isn't the kind of character who would treat a younger sibling as well as younger siblings are expected to be treated in MLP". Rainbow Dash affectionately calls Scootaloo "squirt" in Owl's Well That Ends Well, and appears alongside Rarity and Applejack to congratulate the Cutie Mark Crusaders for their performance during The Show Stoppers.

Ponyville
Rainbow Dash manages the weather in Ponyville. She keeps the skies free of clouds for the Summer Sun Celebration, and make sure that Ponyville has clear, sunny mornings, although Spike states that she rarely gets up early in the morning. She lives in a cloud-house near Ponyville, which has the same design elements as her hometown.

Rainbow Dash is one of several ponies badgering Twilight for the extra ticket to the Grand Galloping Gala, in The Ticket Master. Her reason is a chance to audition for The Wonderbolts who would presumably perform there. She persists, even when Twilight calls her out on it, and when all her other friends say they don't need the ticket. The Wonderbolts do appear at the Gala in The Best Night Ever, although their performance is not shown, and they are only seen mingling with the guests.

Residence
Rainbow Dash's home is shown in Griffon the Brush Off. She lives in a white cloud-house hanging low to the ground somewhere near Ponyville. It features classical columns and rainbow-colored streams and waterfalls. In Dragonshy, Rainbow Dash uses one of these streams to make rainbow-colored facepaint. Her home is shown again in Party of One, with a different design from the first.

Sonic rainboom
Rainbow Dash tries to perform a sonic rainboom again in the episode Sonic Rainboom, this time in an effort to win the Best Young Fliers Competition. Fluttershy confides to her friends that Rainbow Dash was unable to perform the move in her many practice trials.

Nonetheless, Rainbow Dash heads to Cloudsdale to participate in the competition, accompanied by Fluttershy as moral support. Much to their surprise, their wingless friends have decided to follow them with the aid of Twilight's cloud-walking spell, easing Rainbow's fears. However, Twilight had also given Rarity magic, beautiful wings, which led her to steal the spotlight. As a result, Rainbow Dash loses her nerve and tries to delay her performance, but as the competition draws to a close, she decides to she perform anyway.

Dash messes up the fist two rounds of her performance, hitting an obstacle and accidentally sends a cloud hurtling in the direction of Princess Celestia. Due to time constraints, Rarity performs alongside Rainbow Dash, and delivers her grand finale, which involves flying in front of the sun and showing off her wings. However, her fragile wings burst into flames, sending her plummeting towards the earth. The Wonderbolts try to save her, but Rarity kicks them and they are knocked out. Rainbow Dash finally notices the goings-on and accelerates towards the plummeting ponies, saving both Rarity and the Wonderbolts and performing a sonic rainboom in the process. Rarity is incredibly grateful that Dash saved her life, and apologizes to her friend not minding her anxiety. Rainbow Dash is crowned the winner of the competition and leaves off to spend the day with her heroes, The Wonderbolts.

Hasbro.com description
''Capable and athletic, Rainbow Dash lives for adventure! When any problem should arise that involves traveling to distant lands or dealing with a magical, mysterious beast, Rainbow is the first to volunteer! Brave and bold, anypony who has ever seen this rainbow-haired Pegasus in the air has been left in jaw-dropped awe of her speed, agility, and, well, her confidence. She's quite positive she's the fastest pegasus pony alive, and truth be told, she probably is. Yes, she's a bit proud, and a bit mischievous, and often lazy for somepony obsessed with speed, but when the chips are down, and danger is a-brewing, Rainbow Dash always, always comes through, proving time and time again that she is a true hero!''

Hubworld description
''Rainbow Dash lives for adventure! Whenever there's a problem that involves danger, distant lands, and mysterious beasts, she's the first to help. She's bold. She's brave. She's also a bit proud and mischievous -- but wouldn't you be too if you were the fastest Pegasus around?''

Teacher for a Day description
''Rainbow Dash is her name and adventure is her game! A true hero, this rainbow-haired pegasus pony is as fast as they come, flying through the air with jaw-dropping speed!''

''Athletic, brave and confident, she is also a bit mischievous - and always first on the scene wherever danger is at hand. Whether traveling to distant lands or taking on mystery and magic, this pretty pony is ready to fasten her seatbelt for the adventure of a lifetime!''

Appearances

 * See also character appearances

Rainbow Dash appears in all episodes so far except episodes eight, fifteen, and seventeen, with only a background appearance in episodes eighteen and twenty.

Gallery



 * Rainbow Dash image gallery

Trivia

 * Rainbow Dash is the only pony of the main cast who has not had a pet introduced in season one. This may change in season two, however.
 * Rainbow Dash's personalized formal dress resembles the outfit of the comic book character The Rocketeer.
 * Rainbow Dash is the only pony in the main cast to have eyelashes that are completely straight.
 * Rainbow Dash's cutie mark bears a close resemblance to The Symbol of the Gods in the Disney animated film Hercules.
 * Rainbow Dash is second of two ponies whose names have been abbreviated to their initials, with Applejack calling her "R.D." in Lesson Zero. The other is Applejack herself.
 * In the episode Luna Eclipsed, she goes as a Shadowbolt for Nightmare Night.
 * Like Scootaloo, Rainbow Dash is similar to Buttercup from The Powerpuff Girls.