A Dash of Awesome: Fall Weather Friends

Hello & welcome back to Trotting Through Life as we embark on A Dash of Awesome as we look at Fall Weather Friends.  If there is one word to describe this episode, it'd be simple. That's not to say that it's bad but rather going back  to a season one episode after seven seasons, you notice that they were worried about smaller things.  Consider, that this episode primarily focuses on the competitive streak of Dashie and AJ.



The Plot 



We start at Sweet Apple Acres with a game of horseshoes between our Ashleigh Ball characters.  And Dash loses and we find out that she hates losing.  And this causes Dash to challenge AJ to an Iron Pony competition to prove, who is the best athlete.  Dash's ego gets the best of her during the competition as she starts using her wings more and more to win.  And Applejack does not take kindly to this and this comes to a head during the final tug of war as Dash tricks AJ to drop the rope out of her mouth.

So, Applejack challenges Dash to the Running of the Leaves and we see, when they get there, that she is insistent on Dash running as she ties up Dash's wings.  

Oh, and Twilight there is running as well.  Which'll get to her part during the characters section and there is a minor and I mean minor subplot involving Spike and Pinkie commentating on the Running of the Leaves.


I won't be touching on that much as the main focus is on AJ and Dash and about their competition causes them to lose sight of the race and try to outdo one another.  Starting with AJ thinking that Dash tripped but that wasn't the case but I think it really comes to a head, when Dash pulls a trick out of the Looney Tunes handbook and switches a sign and causes AJ to go the wrong way.

Now, I know that I'm mostly focusing on Dash's dirty deeds but that is because Dash got her hooves a bit more dirty than AJ but that doesn't mean that the honest apple wasn't afraid to play Dash's game as we saw towards the end of the race.

Sadly, this leads the two get into  a scuffle and their pettiness and their fighting caused them to come in last.  And we find out that Twily placed 5th.   And then Princess Celestia shows up as she likes seeing the Running of the Leaves but not many leaves fell, so AJ and Dash decide o do it again to make the leaves falling.

Overall, as I said this episode is simple but enjoyable and a very cute episode from the show's early days.



Characters




Main Characters



Rainbow Dash & Applejack both voiced by Ashleigh Ball

The best way to look at these two characters is to perhaps to look at them together. And you get to see that both of these ponies love to compete.  Something, you saw more with AJ in the early seasons.  I mean, we still see that with Dash but not so much Applejack nowadays.   But this episode does a decent job of showing what can happen, when you let your competitive nature get the best of you.





Supporting Character



Twilight Sparkle voiced by Tara Strong

It's fascinating looking at how Tara Strong played Twily in the first season as she seem to well use Rainbow Dash's phrase, egghead like nature more than in the later seasons.  I mean,  Twi read a book about running and that is how she prepped for the race.  I mean,  that does sound Twily but I think Twilight of current would also want the experience because she knows that you just can't get that experience from reading books.   It's kinda hard to explain, what's different about season 1 Twilight Sparkle compared to that of the current seasons but I think, going back to egghead phrase,  season 1 Twilight just seemed nerdier.  That's not a disparaging remark against Purple Smart as I love her but it seems like those traits were laid on a bit more thick in the early episodes.




My Final Thoughts



Overall, this was a good episode and it was a treat to go back and rewatch.   Seeing, these characters in their early stages is fascinating after so long. Join me next time as we look at...


Sonic Rainboom

A Dash of Awesome: An Introduction

Hello & welcome back to Trotting Through Life and today, we start our next mane character retrospective as we start a A Dash of Awesome.  Now, for those wondering about my Trixie retrospective, I just couldn't get into the book and wanted to move onto this one as it's been awhile since I've done an MLP blog.  And I always knew that after Pinkie,  I wanted Dashie to be my next character-focused retrospective.  For those, that remember how I did my previous, character retrospectives,  I will look at Dash's voice actress,  First Appearance, Personality, How Rainbow Dash Got Her Cutie Mark, EQG Counterpart, and finally Is Rainbow Dash A Good Character? With that outta the way, let's board the awesome train as things are about to get 20% cooler.



Voice Actress


Ashleigh Ball

Ball brings a lot of fun to the role of Dash and takes the character beyond just the girl that is into sports as when you listen Ball's performance,  you realize Dash like a lot of good characters has insecurities and while Dashie may not want to admit it, there are moments where she feels vulnerable and Ball makes you believe in both the strength that Dash can portray and the weaknesses that she exhibits.   As shown by this image, Ball also voices my former least favorite character, AJ and we will be talking about the relationship that these two have off and on.  And for that remember, the Rarity Retrospective, you'll recall my strong dislike of the AJ and Rarity relationship in early FIM stories,  I don't have that same disdain for the Dash and AJ relationship as it comes across these two are on equal hooving.



First Appearance


We first see Dash in the pilot of Twilight enters Ponyville and she crashes into her.

The interaction between Dash and Twilight is great here and it shows that she can be brash and impulsive and doesn't always think before she acts.  So, yeah not the greatest introduction for Dashie but it did give us this.

Easily, one of my favorite Dash moments.




Personality


Now,  as I mentioned Dash is a bit brash and can be a bit impulsive when it comes to making decisions but as we've seen through her interactions with her friends and the Wonderbolts, she is very loyal. After all, this was her element.

Now, there is one other element (heh) to Dash that in the early seasons, she may not have admitted but I think it's something that Bronies can relate to, she's a fangirl.   Just think about the times that she met the Wonderbolts before she joined them, her calm and cool composure was gone as she let out a rather adorable squeal or at the Daring Do convention, when she got into a debate with the so annoying Quibble Pants about the quality of later Daring Do books.  I've had similar arguments in 2 of my other fandoms regarding the quality of CGI Disney movies and while it's okay for Lego to make sets based on films and TV shows.   Now, while the fangirl part may not be the most  highlighted part of Dashie's character, it is one of my favorite aspects of her character.   But my absolute favorite is her relationship with Scootaloo.  They're my favorite sisters on the show and they're not actually related but they to me have the most unique sister bond.

In many ways, Scoots started out as mini-Dash idolizing her in the same that best sister idolized the Wonderbolts but around the time of Sleepless In Ponyville, you do get more as you finally see Dash takes Scootaloo under her wing.   And their relationship has had a lot of great moments as Dash has always been there to lift Scootaloo up.

Scootaloo: I didn't want to ruin their chance to win just because I couldn't fly.Rainbow Dash: And who said you had to?

Scootaloo: But flying's what Pegasus ponies are supposed to do! You flew when you carried the flag in the games!

Rainbow Dash: But that was me! You're you! And it just doesn't matter if you can fly or not. Your routine was amazing 'cause it represented exactly what makes Ponyville special. You do still know what that is, right?

This is such a great moment as it shows that Dash does love the little filly but realizes that the orange daredevil doesn't need to be like her big sister.   You can also see how far their relationship has come at the end of Crusaders of the Lost Mark.

This is especially observant in the lyric from the reprise of We Made Our Mark.

I'm so proud of you, little buddy You've taught me a thing or two

This moment is so key in the relationship that these two have as it shows that Dash doesn't see Scoots as just the squirt that she adored in the  early stages of their relationship.  As it  has developed  beyond  that point and for many Dash and Scootaloo fans as myself, this is a moment that we had wanted for the longest time.  Because so many people in the Brony instantly latched onto the sisterhood of these two.  And  for the show to give us a moment such as this is great because it highlights the fact that you don't have to be related by blood to love someone like a sibling.



How Rainbow Dash Got Her Cutie Mark

In many ways, Dash is responsible for the rest of the Mane Six getting their cutie marks as her Sonic Rainboom inspired the rest of them as fillies and that helped them to understand what they were meant to do.

And to think that this all came from Dashie racing against a couple of bullies but Dash, even as a filly wanted to prove herself and boy howdy, she did.



EQG Counterpart

While I've given a lot of praise to Dash, I'm not the biggest  fan of her EQG counterpart.   She's not bad but I think my biggest issue with the Equestira Girls of Dash is that while she has all of the same qualities of her Ponyville counterpart,  she hasn't had the same development as pony Dash and EQG  is more focused on Sunset Shimmer's relationship with the girls after the first movie,  so we really never get any sense that this version of Dash has the relationship that I adore with Scootaloo in the show.  And as a huge Dash and Scoots fan,  that's disappointing.  Sure, there's this moment from the EQG movie but it felt more like fan service than anything meaningful for the characters.

When I saw this at the end of the first Equestira Girls, I had some hope but unfortunately,  nothing really has come from it.



Is Rainbow Dash A Good Character?



Yes, if we look at her original show version and not bring the Equestira Girls counterpart into the equation, which I think is a fair thing to do.  So ignoring, Equestira Girls is Dash is one of the best characters on the show.  She may not be my favorite character but she has a lot of wonderful attributes that always make her a joy (most of the time) to watch.   Join me next time as we look at Fall Weather Friends.