S06:E24 - Top Bolt

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,161]

Title: Top Bolt

Air Date: October 15, 2016
Written by: Joanna Lewis and Kristine Songco

Synopsis: Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle are sent to the Wonderbolt Academy to help two friends, Vapor Trail and Sky Stinger, solve a friendship problem that could prevent them from getting into the Academy.

 

Of course remember to join us at the CMC Clubhouse on Equestria.tv!

 

[Will Guide 21,360]

Even if I haven't already seen this episode through leaks, I could already tell that this episode is the last Map episode this season. Having already sent Rarity with Pinkie Pie to Restaurant Row of Canterlot, and Fluttershy with Applejack to Las Pegasus, there's only one pair left for the Map to send: Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash!

 

I hope next season the pairs shuffle again and give us new combinations between the Mane 6.

[Batbrony 16,055]

Oooooooooo, Twilight and Rainbow Dash at the Wonderbolt Academy, I love it!  We don't get to see this pair too often, plus more stuff with the Wonderbolts always makes me happy (at least more about them does).  Should be fun!   

[Will Guide 21,360]

Spitfire: You'll fly so hard, your wings will fall off. Though, that only happened once.

Me: Could she be subtly referring to the time Rarity had butterfly wings and flew too close to the sun? She was there after all.

[ggg-2 3,553]

Ugh. Stinger is like pre-character development Dashie up to 11. That's not a good thing.

[PoisonClaw 8,164]

I swear, Rainbow and Twilight have the best comedic chemistry. This is turning out to be just as funny as Testing, Testing 1-2-3.

[Batbrony 16,055]

I am digging this ep so far.  Always love the Wonderbolt Academy setting, and Twilight and RD are a lot of fun together so far. 

[Will Guide 21,360]

Okay, I'm having trouble finding a good stream of the episode to view it again, so I'd be able to comment on it on it goes along. I already saw it elsewhere, but I keep getting interrupted. I'll be back when I find a better viewing.

[Batbrony 16,055]

Can we all agree that, so far, Sky is giving Zephyr Breeze a run for his money for worst pony of Season 6? 

[PoisonClaw 8,164]

 

Oh, these two are just asking to be shipped.

[Will Guide 21,360]

Rainbow Dash is such a nicknamer! She gave Twilight and herself the nicknames, "T-Sparks" and "The Dashinator!"

[CT-1138 3,182]

I ship Vapor and Sky so hard, plus I thin Vapor is super adorable. 

 

Also, does Spitfire's voice sound a little... softer? 

[Will Guide 21,360]

Can we all agree that, so far, Sky is giving Zephyr Breeze a run for his money for worst pony of Season 6? 

Give him time; Zephyr had hidden depths, and I'll bet Stinger is also using an egotistical act to hide his insecurities.

[cmarston1 5,959]

So we have finally made it to this point, just one more week before the season finale.

Time sure does fly.

Outside of that I fond this episode to be pretty enjoyable.

One of my favorites of the season.

Unlike Newbie Dashie, I really liked the comedy here, and feel that it actually helped make the episode better.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash were presented nicely here, and had a great character dynamic.

I liked Vapor Trail's character and it was nice to get another episode where the Wonderbolts were treated nicely for a change.

[Professional Horse 94]

I already posted my thoughts on this episode before, but I'm going to also put them here:

 

Once again, fairly solid episode. Loved the comedy (Spitfire's "I love my job" line and Dash falling asleep during class made me laugh pretty damn hard) and the new characters that were introduced. Vapor Trail was adorable as hell. I need extra cute fanart of her within the next 24 hours. I NEED IT. (5 days later edit: I NEED MOAR)

 

The ending gag and the resolution to the conflict weren't very satisfying to me, however. The former felt forced and cliche while the latter felt too fast and easy.

 

The shippers are going to have a field day with this episode.

Edited October 15, 2016 by Professional Horse

[PoisonClaw 8,164]

I loved this episode. As I already said, Twilight and Rainbow have the best chemistry, so having them work of one another was hilarious to watch. Must be why they're shipped so often...

 

Speaking of shipping, I defy you to watch the sheer adorable interactions between Sky and Vapor and not want to ship them. At first, I thought they were basically expies of Rainbow and Fluttershy, given that Sky was super overconfident and Vapor was portrayed as a weak flyer, but that was proven wrong very quickly once they were more fleshed out.

 

If I had to use one word to describe this episode, it would be adorable. Twi and Dash were adorable, Sky and Vapor were adorable and Angel Wings (A Make-A-Wish pony like Stellar Eclipse) was adorable. 

 

Can we all agree that, so far, Sky is giving Zephyr Breeze a run for his money for worst pony of Season 6? 

 

Hardly. Zephyr was a jerk without a good reason, Stinger is overconfident because Vapor has been doing everything she can since they were kids to convince him how awesome he was,

[Batbrony 16,055]

Hardly. Zephyr was a jerk without a good reason, Stinger is overconfident because Vapor has been doing everything she can since they were kids to convince him how awesome he was,

 

Fair enough, fair enough, they had a really good backstory and all that jazz.  I think his voice was grating me to be honest (I can't STAND anyone who sounds that overconfident), and I think also since I was in sports and have seen people like that before, that just made his cockiness more insufferable for me.  They had a good resolution overall, though I won't lie, I was FAR happier for Vapor than Sky.  Admittedly, mostly because she was adorable as buck.     

[BlackWater627 700]

 

 

If I had to use one word to describe this episode, it would be adorable. Twi and Dash were adorable, Sky and Vapor were adorable and Angel Wings (A Make-A-Wish pony like Stellar Eclipse) was adorable. 

 

 

Twilight has innate cuteness skills but it was daw-inducing to watch. In particular, Vapor. I agree it was a cute episode. I wouldn't say it was my favorite or give it 5/5 but I liked it very much. 

[Will Guide 21,360]

When Twilight goes to talk to a confidence-less Sky Stinger, who thought he was a natural flyer for some time, this dialog happened:

 

Twilight: I wasn't a natural at friendship at first. But with practice and help from my friends, I got better. And now, I'm the Princess of Friendship!

 

Sky (with confidence returning): So, you're saying I could be the "Princess of Flying"?

 

Me: Hee, Hee. Everypony wants to be a Princess of something!

[BlackWater627 700]

When Twilight goes to talk to a confidence-less Sky Stinger, who thought he was a natural flyer for some time, this dialog happened:

 

Twilight: I wasn't a natural at friendship at first. But with practice and help from my friends, I got better. And now, I'm the Princess of Friendship!

 

Sky (with confidence returning): So, you're saying I could be the "Princess of Flying"?

 

Me: Hee, Hee. Everypony wants to be a Princess of something!

 

Princess Sky Stinger fanart is on the way, I'm sure. 

 

And yeah that was a hilarious moment in the episode. Way to get the wrong conclusion, Sky! 

[weesh 690]

oh, wow, very cool.

 

Sky and vapor's relationship was unequal, and broken, and had a lot of relatable elements.

the fact that one was keeping such a major secret from the other, and that Sky's confidence was based on a lie was a very interesting dynamic.

 

Also, the tension between rainbow's and twilight's strategies felt very real as well.  

 

They did a fine job of handling the relationships in a realistic way, and to see their confidence and ability afterwards warmed my heart.

 

Strong episode.  

I love that they can make a story about something silly like pegasus flight training, but it brings back lots of memories in my own life.  

Edited October 15, 2016 by weesh

[GrimGrimoire 4,973]

I already gave my opinion of this in the earlier thread... so to sum it up...

 

I really liked it. The new characters were fun and definitely adorable.. and as much as Sky was annoying at the beginning he became likable at the end. The jokes did not feel forced and got a good laugh out of me, and I could see and feel the frustration the characters were feeling. Their conflict just felt real to me.

 

The only part I groaned at, was the whole "official friendship business" part between Spitfire and RD and Twi. That just hit me as incredibly lame and ridiculous... like some sort of "friend police, or friendship inspectors" or something. I get it and understand it, but that does not make it less lame sounding.

 

I actually was hoping to see more Wonderbolts action though, and not just the training. Apparently they have their own emergency missions and the like, so hopefully next season we will get an RD/Wonderbolt top secret mission episode. That would be awesome.

[StitchandMLPlover 930]

spoiler alert! I saw this episode as a youtube leak a few days before it aired but decided to wait until it aired on TV before giving my thoughts. I really liked this one! I love the chemistry between Twilight and Rainbow Dash. They work really well together as a pair. I loved the continuity with "Wonderbolt Academy" and "Testing 123". I enjoyed the new characters quite a lot. Vaper reminds me of mint and cotton put together because of her colors. Sky Stringer was an arrogant A**hole at first but he grew on me as the episode went on and we saw the adorable flashback! I also like that "Make A Wish" put a child's fan pony in this episode! I heard some reviewers on youtube say this conflict the characters had, had no easy answers but ultimately I think the lesson here is that honesty is the best policy but honesty still has consequences. 

[Zantetsuken 364]

Top Bolt written by Joanna Lewis and Kristine Songco (oh thank god, finally some good writers again)

 

I ship it! I ship it! I ship it so much!

Vapor Wave Trail x Sky Stinger I'm not a shipper but I ship this...

 

Or right, the episode, I liked this one quite a bit, granted I spoiled myself by watching the UK release earlier in the week. But I watched it again here and I will give my thoughts. I liked the writing and new designs of all the new characters introduced this episode. I was getting a Lightning Dust 2.0 vibe from Sky Stinger at first but I'm kinda glad I was wrong there. LD was overconfident but had the skill to back her talk up. Sky Stinger didn't, he was overconfident with no real skill and I kinda like that better, more relatable. 

 

Interesting story and conflict here but if I had to nitpick something I guess it would be Sky and Vapor's backstory I mean yeah it was cute and all but it feels pretty pointless.

 

Vapor- *helps sky do a flip* "Wow! that was amazing!"

 

What was amazing? The fact that he was able to do a flip with your help? Wasn't that your intention? And then you just fly away together even though he hasn't said a single word to you yet? I mean fuck, you don't even know each others names yet. You have never met each other... like ever... I wish making new friends was this easy IRL :/

 

I guess the scene feels a bit too clumsy, awkward, fast moving, and pointless to me but I mean I can mostly forgive it, it didn't go on too long.

 

So in conclusion I liked the episode. Nothing special for the lady writers though it's normal and par for the course for them which it to say its a good solid and well structured episode. Don't have much to say about the moral honestly but i will say its good.

 

7.5/10 

[Radiance64 7,053]

This one was pretty good, Sky Stinger wasn't that great of a character but Vapor Trail was adorbs as all heck, even if a lot of that cuteness was directed towards Sky... yeah, we get it, no way they won't be not more than friends lol.

Twily and Dash were cool too in this episode of course, was nice seeing them work together.