Just an Experiment

Seconds became minutes, minutes became... well not hours just yet.

Rainbow and Twilight sat in awkward silence. As Twilight contemplated what to say next, Rainbow ate her food like everything was completely normal.

"H-How could she be so calm?" Twilight questioned herself, "Does she take this as a joke? That is all this is to her isn't it? Just one great big laugh! I thought she was my friend and wanted to help me with this project." Realized what she was thinking, she took a deep breath and regained her composure. "Okay Twilight, calm down. You know Rainbow wouldn't do something so cruel. You just need to think here. What else did the magazine say? Oh I got it!"

"So umm..." Twilight started, "What did you think of the weather today?"

Rainbow Dash stopped eating with some hay fries still in her mouth. "Really?" she thought, "That's what she came up with?"

Rainbow quickly chewed her food and swallowed to speak, "Uh, I guess it was cool. Since I was one of the pegasi to help clear it up after all."

"Wait. What? You still do that?" Twilight questioned.

"I mean, yeah I'm a Wonderbolt, but in my free time, whenever I feel like it, I work with the weather team to get some extra bits."

"Oh," sighed a disappointed Twilight. "Okay, need to change the subject. Uh... Oh... I got it!"

"Hey Dash!"

The sudden outburst startled Rainbow, "Umm... yeah?"

"Did you happen to read the newest Daring Do novel?"

"You mean the one we talked about last week?"

Twilight immediately shut her mouth in shock. She had forgotten that she preordered the book and read it with Rainbow; knowing that she couldn't wait. How could she have forgotten?

Rainbow was feeling annoyed and saw that this night wasn't getting any closer to the end. She was nearly done eating her food and wanted to call it a night. "Look Twi-," Rainbow started, but stopped herself when she looked at her friend. As Rainbow stared at her, she noticed that Twilight was staring down at her hooves; looked down at them with embarrassment. For some reason, this filled Rainbow with... guilt? For what reason did she have to feel guilty about? For whatever reason, she decided to sit silently and be patient.

"So... uh..." Twilight struggled to speak, "How about..." The idea had suddenly hit Twilight. One of the things the magazine mentioned was to talk about your date's interest and hobbies. If you two can't seem to keep a conversation going, perhaps talking about their activities will be what gets the night going. "The Wonderbolts! Anything new going on with that?"

"Finally, something to actually talk about," thought a relieved Rainbow Dash. "Actually, we have plans to perform at the Junior Speedsters Flight Camp."

"Oh? How exciting," Twilight said with relief. "Perfect! Now we are getting somewhere."

"Yeah. The Wonderbolts were my big inspiration to become the best flier. So I thought maybe that we could perform for the colts and fillies at the Academy to drive them to do their best."

"That is a good idea Rainbow."

The two were silent, as Twilight noticed that Rainbow seemed to be deep in thought. Twilight took a guess at what she could have been thinking, "You have come a long way haven't you? First the flight camp, then a weather pony, the element of Loyalty and now a Wonderbolt. Your parents must be so proud."

"..."

***

"WOO HOO! LOOK AT HER GO!" shouted Bow Hothoof.

"OH! OUR DAUGHTER IS A WONDERBOLT!" shouted Windy Whistles.

"Mom... Dad... So good to see you?"

"Oh honey, it's so great to see you too." said Windy as she embraced Rainbow. "And wow! You were so amazing up there with all that flying."

***

"Oh you have no idea," Rainbow said jokingly. Twilight and Rainbow both shared a laugh. After that shared moment, Rainbow's expression had changed back to a look of uncertainty.

"Rainbow? Is something wrong?"

"Oh, I don't know. Like you said, I am now a Wonderbolt. What could possibly be wrong?"

"I don't know. I was hoping you could tell me."

Rainbow sighed, "No seriously, I don't really know what's wrong. It's like, the Wonderbolts was something I have wanted to be a part of ever since I first saw them. Now that I am a part of them, nearly every day it's drills and rehearsals. It's the same thing and nothing exciting ever happens."

"But, you knew all this before joining didn't you?"

"Well yeah, but in my mind it looked more... awesome?"

"Of course," Twilight said with a small smile.

"I wanted to join the Wonderbolts because I wanted to be the best. Now that I am in, I feel so... limited."

"Limited?"

"Yeah. There are all these rules that we have to obey. If something happens in Equestria, we have to follow protocols. As for our aerobatics, we almost never try anything new. I'm not saying that we need to do something new every day, but we could at least consider trying once in a while."

"I see. So in other words, you are bored?"

Was that it? Was Rainbow bored with the Wonderbolts? Did she want out? If she did, where would she go from there? If she did, would she ever be seen as the best? In just a matter of minutes, Rainbow's mind was filled with more questions than she has ever had in her life.

As Twilight looked at Rainbow, she could see that she was very much distracted. "Oh no. Maybe this wasn't the best topic. I don't think I have ever seen Rainbow so deep in thought. Oh, what should I do? While Rainbow was distracted, Twilight kept a low profile and referred to the magazine. Unfortunately for her, she could not find anything that could tackle the issue. The magazine looked more to positive outlooks instead of negative ones. Twilight was sure why the magazine was such a financial success and earned favorable reviews. "Oh no. What am I going to do?" Twilight puzzled and puzzled on what to do next. She did not want her friend to feel lost and confused, but without proper guidance she too felt lost. "Wait, she said she was bored with the Wonderbolts. She wants to do something exciting, right? She wants to go past a certain limit, right? Hmm..."

"Rainbow?"

"Huh? Sorry what?"

"Follow me. I have an idea."