LAST EDITED ON 12-17-12 AT 08:00 AM (EST)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyvuX1YhPZE
Stop covering your eyes already. We knew this was a RD episode going in. So...
...what are the Wonderbolts, exactly? A professional stunt flying troupe? An elite tiny subset of Equestria's military, air force division? A rapid response team that does air shows in their spare time? The Harlem Globetrotters?
...there are already theories circulating about Spitfire and Lightning Dust being related. (It's the manes.) Another one figures Twilight, knowing just where they were going, had cast the cloudwalker spell before they left.
...Pinkie Pie: still struggling with abandonment issues.
...well, there's a pony we haven't seen in a while! But because "Roid Rage" was collectively deemed to be a little too harsh for the show plus it's judging him a bit unfairly, the Internet had a change of massmind and switched his name to Snowflake.
...of course Dashie recovers quickly from spinouts. It's called experience, Captain Crash.
...Fluttershy, Fluttershy, can't remember she can fly!
...interestingly, this episode shows the maturation process of Rainbow Dash. Can you imagine her walking out on her dream back in Season One? She's the one who would have been up there taking ever-increasing risks in the name of impressing anyone. Going too far in the name of bravado was just about her entire definition, and as for risking others -- yes, let's kick a dragon in the snout again, shall we? But now we have an RD who's had her ego yanked by the tail, put herself in the hospital, taken responsibility for both a pet and a Scootaloo, and generally been forced to grow up by a few seconds. She made a different decision.
The show may have as well. I don't think they'll hit the reset button on this, at least not immediately. From this point on, RD is a Wonderbolt in training -- and that's the first real long-term threat to break the six we've had.
Don't tell the pink one.