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Monday, July 24, 2017

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


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