Let's "dissect" Rainbow Dash's Head!

[Cirrus. 1,088]

Not like this though......(Why does this even exist ?)

Now of course I'm talking about Rainbow Dash and her character in terms of psychology. Over the years I've come to appreciate that episodes have touched on various things which helped fill in the blanks and show Rainbow Dash to be a much more complex character than just a loudmouth flashy athletic type. We ended up seeing her past, way back to her first days, to it being confirmed that she ends up (at least) living with Applejack sometime probably in her early-mid 40's would be my guess (based on Pinkie having a young child yet herself looking aged).

Anyway we find out that she starts out with obsessively admiring parents in a funny, but unhealthy way if you look at it realistically. So probably for like 5 years she has this excessive positivity and obsessive attention as her normal reality- and doesn't know anything else. Then comes flight school and she has her first experience with bullying, which given how it's been with her parents, probably burned in a deeper anxiety/fear of being ridiculed/embarrassed than normal. To complicate things, she actually for sure was above average with her flying abilities as seen with her first "impossible" sonic rainboom.

The rainboom I think really boosts her confidence/ego, while the negative experience of being bullied leads her to befriend and protect Fluttershy, and poor Gilda who probably is there already fully expecting just to be bullied or ignored like she has always been.

Hence, The start of Rainbow Dash's Loyalty trait too I guess. We also find out that she has some kind of learning difficulty like ADHD or something similar, which she covers up in school by being a "class clown" type as mentioned in "Testing 1.2.3..." Her impulsivity and short attention span was kind of a clue before this episode also.

Moving Into adolescence/teenage years I think Rainbow Dash really realizes that her parents behavior isn't normal.

She's embarrassed by and and develops disdain towards their obnoxiousness for making her look like a moron by association in public, which isn't good for her ego and image. I think getting some distance from them was a MAJOR factor in her choice to move to Ponyville.

Fluttershy being there probably made the choice easier also. She also keeps her parents completely in the dark that she actually made the Wonderbolts too, which is a pretty major thing, considering the team is like the Blue Angels!She did say to Scootaloo, " I love them very much, and we're really close, but there's a reason I didn't tell them I'm a Wonderbolt."

She's also shown that she doesn't like being alone, which is why I think she ends up moving in with Applejack. I see them being more as roommates, kind of
like a Golden Girls situation. I'd guess she was probably retired from active performing by the time of the final episode. Leading up to it, she probably had some relationships throughout the years, but nothing that worked out ultimately.

I like her for sure more now than I did when I first started watching the show. At first I found her kind of annoying and off-putting.

Has your opinion of her changed throughout the years and/or have you noticed anything else in the show regarding her?

Edited February 12, 2022 by Cirrus.

[Megas 27,069]

With Testing Testing 123, it definitely showed that RD had some learning deficiencies, likely ADHD. Also I think her parents had a big part in inflating her ego unintentionally with constantly making her "No. 1" in literally everything

[Sparklefan1234 161,903]

Just as I thought. Rainbow Dash is an airhead!  

Seriously, Rainbow Dash is (sometimes) very knowledgable about the things she's most interested in. 

Edited February 9, 2022 by Sparklefan1234

[Props Valroa 26,051]

I find RD to be a prismatic and enigmatic character. She is annoying, boastful, but you know what? When push comes to shove she gets the job done and genuinely means it in her own way. Imperfect and with an inflated ego, but she deserves to be for all the good she's done.

[They call me Loyalty 1,941]

Eh, I think she is perfectly imperfect. Which is just about right.

[Cwanky 17,459]

This is giving me Cupcakes vibes. Hard pass.

Edited February 10, 2022 by Cwanky

[Orchid_Fiore 199]

She's 20% cooler I like her

[Cirrus. 1,088]

I edited the original post a little, as I think it came across as Rainbow Dash not liking her parents when I meant their behavior. I do think she loves them very much, but probably really thought they'd be crushed or something if she told them to tone it down years ago.

Now thinking about her parents has made me think more about Rainbow Dash's house also.

From the beginning of the show, I've always wondered WHY SHE LIVES IN A CLOUD HOUSE IN PONYVILLE?!?! There are other pegasi that I would assume live there besides Fluttershy and Derpy, but you never see any other low cloud houses. Now I find it kind of hilarious!

Here's why:

It's slightly outside of the town and off the ground, and the only other pegasus that Rainbow Dash regularly associates with is Fluttershy, who'd I'd pretty much guarantee knows her parents already.

I think it's so if her parents do visit, they won't go obnoxiously/embarrassingly rampaging through town! Also less chance of anyone coming over while her parents are visiting due to her house being in the air anyways with the majority of ponies in Ponyville being earthbound. Earth Ponies and Unicorns need a spell to be able to walk in there as we've seen in a lot of episodes.

I used to think it was just obnoxious and showy- fitting to her personality of course, but to me it makes more sense now!

Now as for how Rainbow Dash has/paid for the house, your guess is as good as mine.