Chapters Twilight Sparkle asked Rainbow Dash to meet in her castle for a special request; a request that came as a total shock.
"Excuse me?" Rainbow Dash questioned.
"Well, I was hoping you could help me with an experiment by... going on a date with me tomorrow night," answered Twilight Sparkle.
"Okay. First of all, wow. Second, what do you mean by experiment?"
"Well, I was always curious about a relationship between two mares. Bon Bon and Lyra provided me some useful insights, but they told me that I won't truly know what it is like unless I myself have experienced it. So, I was hoping you could help me with my research. It could lead to a whole new discovery on friendship."
"Twilight, it isn't really a new discovery if mares are already dating other mares."
"True, but it will be a new discovery for me and maybe even you."
"Hey, why are you asking me to help you with this anyway? I mean, you need to go on a date with another mare right? You and I are total opposites."
"Exactly! That way, there would be no chance that this relationship would work out," Twilight said with confidence.
Rainbow Dash was obviously confused by this statement. Also, she couldn't help but feel somewhat insulted. "Alright, now you lost me. I thought you wanted to know why mares like each other."
"Yes, but not at the cost of actually going out with somepony. You see, if I went out with somepony and they end up liking me, their heart would be broken because I don't like mares. But if I were to go on a date with somepony that I had no chance with, then I could complete my research and nopony gets hurt."
Rainbow could not tell if Twilight was being considerate or she was actually full of herself.
"Eh, I don't know Twilight. Even though we wouldn't actually be dating, this all sounds pretty weird."
"Oh please please please please please," Twilight begged like a filly begging for a new toy. "It is for the sake of research and learning a new lesson on friendship."
Even though this was pretend, nopony has ever asked her on a date. Rainbow Dash was always willing to help her friends, but this was something completely new for her. How far was she willing to go to help her friend?
"Ugh, alright fine," said Rainbow.
"Oh how wonderful! Now I can finally put that magazine on dating to good use," Twilight said cheerfully.
"You have a magazine? Now wait a sec-."
"We will make plans tomorrow night."
"But Twili-."
"We can have dinner."
"Twilight."
"I will have to double check everything."
"Twilight."
"No wait, this needs to go perfectly. I need to triple check everything."
"TWILIGHT!!!" shouted Rainbow Dash to finally grab her attention.
"Oh. Yes?"
"Look, this is just a pretend date. You don't need to do all that."
"Oh no no no no no. You see, in the book on dating, one of the rules is that you should always treat your date well. Now if you'll excuse me, I have much planning to do."
"But Twilight-," before Rainbow Dash could make an objection, Twilight teleported and left her alone in the throne room.
She let out a deep sigh and asked herself, "What did I get myself into?"
"I can't believe I agreed to this," Rainbow Dash mumbled to herself as she flew to Twilight's castle. Despite that she agreed to help Twilight with this... "experiment "... she felt somewhat uncomfortable about this.
Soon enough, she was at the castle doors. With confidence, she showed herself in. Once inside, she noticed a well dressed Spike. The outfit he wore can be best described as a butler uniform. It took a moment for Rainbow to process what she was looking at. Suddenly, she burst into tears and laughed at the little dragon. "Hahaha! Sp-Spike? Hahaha! What the h-. Hahaha! What the hay are you wearing?" Rainbow asked between laughs.
Spike gave an irritating look at Rainbow. He then ran into one of the rooms, leaving the door slightly open. Rainbow hovered to the door and heard loud whispers, "Forget it Twilight! I'm not doing this!"
"Oh please Spike. You look great and-," Twilight replied.
"I am not doing it," Spike interrupted.
"Fine, then I guess that crystal cupcake will go to waste."
"Crystal cupcake?"
As soon as Rainbow heard that, it was followed up by quick steps heading towards the door. She backed away and landed on her hooves. The door opened quickly; enough to knock Rainbow on her flank if she remained by the door. Before her, stood a well postured dragon, "Right this way Miss Dash."
Rainbow used much of her strength to resist laughing. She took a deep breath and then proceeded into the throne room. She couldn't believe that she was worried about this. Of course Twilight did something as silly as making Spike a butler. She went from feeling uncomfortable, to being curious to what else Twilight had in store.
As she proceeded, she was once again shocked at what she saw. A dark room with a dining table in the center. The table was set with silverware neatly placed, lit candles in the center and of course food. On one side of the table, was a bowl of salad and a glass of water. On the other, there was a hay burger, crispy hay fries and a mug. Even though she was at a distance, she was sure she smelt apple cider from the table. Great hope grew within her that the smell was coming from the mug. What caught Rainbow's eyes the most, however, was what Twilight was wearing. She sat there with her mane up in a bun and in a red dress.
"Rainbow!" Twilight called.
"Huh? What?" Rainbow replied.
"You aren't wearing anything? Ugh. You were supposed to dress nicely to impress your date. It is written here in Hearts and Hooves Magazine." Twilight raised the magazine, covered in her magical aura. Rainbow Dash is already annoyed as she recognized the name. The magazine was popular with young mares. It provided advice on searching for relationships, maintaining relationships, etc.
"Twilight, you don't really believe in all that do you?" Rainbow questioned.
"It wouldn't be in this magazine if it wasn't true. Oh never mind. We'll just continue this the way you are."
"Fine. Whatever." Rainbow said in annoyance as she walked to the empty seat. Once there, Spike dashed to her chair and pulled it out for her. Rainbow rolled her eyes, no longer finding the situation funny. She took her seat and Spike pushed in her chair with little trouble.
"Will that be all Miss Dash?" asked Spike.
"Umm... yeah. Just stop calling me Miss Dash."
"Oh thank Luna. You got it Rainbow. Just shout if you need anything."
Twilight cleared her throat.
"Uh I mean, please let me know if there is anything else I can do to make your evening more pleasant."
"Okay, this was all funny at first, but I just might puke if this keeps up ," Rainbow thought to herself.
Spike bowed as he left the two alone, but was near in case they needed anything else.
Rainbow then redirected her attention back to Twilight, "Twilight, why are you wearing that?"
"I just told you, an article in here says that you have to impress your date by dressing nicely. It strongly recommended wearing a red dress. It is proven by collected surveys that it is guaranteed to entice any stallion."
Rainbow stared at her in awkward silent, looking rather annoyed.
"What?" Twilight questioned.
Rainbow raised a brow. "To entice any stallion?" Rainbow asked.
"Yes."
"I bet it didn't say anything about enticing mares."
Twilight lets out a gasp and flinched in shock and horror. Of course the dress might have worked on stallions, but the magazine said nothing about mares. In fact, Twilight thought back on what she read from the magazine. There was nothing in there about attracting mares at all. The magazine was specifically for young mares looking for a strapping stallion.
"Oh no! " Twilight thought in fear, "I made an error! A big BIG error! Everything I have planned is ruined! Okay Twilight, just remain calm. Keep it together. "
Rainbow continued to stare at Twilight and waited for an answer. "Uh Twilight?" Rainbow questioned, but no answer came. Instead, Twilight kept mumbling to herself in a low voice.
"Uh oh. Now you done it," Spike stepped in.
"What did I do?"
"You found something wrong with her plans. Now she is having one of her freak outs."
Rainbow looked at Spike unamused, "You're joking right?"
"Nope. Unless you do something, you two might be here all night. In the meantime, I am going to find that crystal cupcake." Spike left the room in search for his prize.
Meanwhile, Rainbow tried to bring Twilight back to reality. "Look Twilight," she started, "Let's just get this over with."
"No no no! We can't. Don't you see? I only read stuff on attracting stallions. There is no way this would work now."
"Oh for Celestia's sake! You are freaking out all because I'm not a st-." Rainbow cut herself off as she had an idea. She saw that this project of Twilight's was important to her. As an element of loyalty, she wanted to help her friend. Despite this being one of the most ridiculous things she ever volunteered for. Without saying another word, she flew out of the room at an amazing speed.
Although she was quick, she wasn't fast enough for Twilight not to notice. "Now Rainbow left! Ugh! This whole night is ruined. There was so much preparation, so much work put into this, I wasted Rainbow's time, all this food will go to waste... Actually, Spike and I can eat the food."
Left with her thoughts, she jumped at the gust of wind that brushed her mane bun. The speed was almost enough to blow out the candles. She almost immediately took notice of somepony filling in what was an empty seat. It was Rainbow Dash, wearing a male dress uniform of the Wonder Bolts. Plus, she was wearing a wonder bolt hat, where it looked like she kept most of her mane hiding.
"R-Rainbow? What are you wearing?" asked Twilight.
"Okay look, you don't want to ruin your night and I want to get this whole thing done and over with. As dumb as I think this is, I had an idea of how this could work. I dashed back to my place and put on this uniform."
"How did you even get that?"
"Spitfire gave me two uniforms when I graduated. She gave me the original uniform for the females, but I thought the male uniform was cooler. So as a favor, she gave me this one, but the deal was I wasn't allowed to wear it during practice or at the academy."
"Rainbow, I appreciate you putting on something nice, but this whole pretend date is ruined."
"No it's not."
"Huh?"
"You have heard Rarity say that I don't act like a proper mare right? So for tonight, just pretend that I'm a stallion."
Twilight thought about this plan. In a way, this was a good plan. However, she didn't think she couldn't convince herself of seeing Rainbow as a stallion.
"Come on Twilight, it is kind of hot in this uniform."
"I... guess we can give it a try."
"Finally. Oh, and one more thing." She leaned closer to Twilight, "If you call me Miss Dash this date is over."
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."
Twilight and Rainbow Dash left their dinner and went to the library. As Twilight chose random books to read, Rainbow Dash hovered around confused and awaited to hear Twilight's idea.
As the minutes passed by, Twilight read her books and Rainbow's patience grew thin. Unable to wait any longer, she asked, "So what is this idea of yours Twilight?"
"Well, you want to do something that nopony else has done. Correct?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, with what I have in mind, only a certain princess of the night has achieved this."
"Woah woah woah. Wait a second Twilight. You want me to do something only a princess has done? I mean, I know I'm awesome, but what could I do that only a alicorn has accomplished?"
"Oh nothing much, you are just going to the moon."
"Oh okay."
"..."
"..."
"WHAT!?!" Rainbow Dash screamed at the thought.
Twilight realized that it sounded more innocent in her head. "Wait Rainbow Dash, let me explain."
"Was it because of dinner? Did I make you mad? I thought the food was good! I barely even drank the cider!" Rainbow spoke without taking a breath. "Now I know why you brought us to the library, you are looking for a spell to send me to the moon!" Rainbow flew all around the library; like a fly going in random circles with no clear destination.
"Rainbow! Calm down!" Twilight shouted as she trapped Rainbow Dash in her magical aura. She then levitated Rainbow to the floor and had her rest right next to her. "Now listen to me. I am not sending you to the moon. For what I have in mind, you are going to travel to the moon and back."
Rainbow Dash was only able to mumble, rather than give a proper reply.
"Oh right," Twilight then released Rainbow from the magical trap.
"Okay," Rainbow started as she stretched her muscles, "let me get this straight. Your idea is to have me fly from here, ALL THE WAY to the moon and back? How do you expect me to do that?"
"Well, if I read the 'Elements of Harmony' correctly, it looks like Nightmare Moon landed on the moon in an instant. Which means she had to have been traveling the speed of light to do that."
"The speed of light?"
"Let me put it this way; the speed of light makes you look ridiculously slow."
Although this was true, Rainbow Dash could not help but take that as an insult. For she found the words "slow" and "Rainbow Dash" don't go together.
"Right, so in other words?" Rainbow questioned.
"From what I see from you Rainbow, with the information I'm getting from these books, at your current speed, it would take you months to reach the moon."
"Twilight, I'm all for challenges, but I am not going to fly for months to get to the moon."
"And I don't expect you to."
"Huh? But you just said-"
"If you let me finish explaining then you would know what I had in mind," Twilight interrupted with an annoyed tone.
Rainbow rolled her eyes and kept her mouth shut to let Twilight finish.
"Now, as I was saying, at your current speed it would take you months to get to the moon. However, once you pull off a sonic rainboom, you go ten times your normal speed."
"So how long would it take me to get to the moon at that speed?" Rainbow asked excitedly.
"Unfortunately, it would still take you a couple of days to reach the moon."
In an instant, Rainbow's excited expression disappeared into a look of disappointment.
"Thanks a lot Twilight, but I don't think I can make this trip to the moon. Maybe if you check back with me in a month or two, we can work something out," Rainbow said jokingly.
"Rainbow, I have a spell in mind that could help you get to the moon in just a few hours."
"Really? That's awesome! Why didn't you say that in the first place?"
For a moment, Twilight did not say a word. Instead, she hesitated with a worried expression. "You know what, this wasn't the best idea. We can think of something else to do."
"Huh? Why?"
"Forget it. It's nothing. We can try something different; something simpler. You know, I don't think anypony has a record for flying across all of Equestria," Twilight tried to make it sound exciting.
"Twilight, what is it? You were excited on me going to the moon, but now you are limiting me to space. I gotta admit that you even had me excited for the moon. So why change your mind?" Rainbow asked.
Twilight gave a deep sigh and shown deep regret for her suggestion. However, for Rainbow to understand, she knew she had to explain. "Rainbow, the spell can help you get to the moon quicker, but... I'm concerned about your safety."
"My safety?"
"Rainbow, one sonic rainboom is dangerous enough going at such incredible speed. To think that doubling or tripling it, I don't know what would happen to you. You could get seriously hurt... or worse."
"Worse?"
"Rainbow, I don't know what is going to happen. All I know is that we would be dealing with physics that we don't truly understand."
Rainbow Dash seemed to finally understand what she could be getting herself into. Twilight hoped that Rainbow Dash would have agreed and keep the idea away from her mind. However, Rainbow was actually deep in thought and Twilight had regrets.
After a few minutes of careful thought, Rainbow Dash broke the silence, "Twilight, I have done many challenges and this is without a doubt the most dangerous one ever. After what you just told me, I have to admit that it has got me shaking-"
"It's okay Rainbow. There is no shame in being afraid. As I said, there are other-."
"Afraid? Are you kidding? I was going to say you got me shaking in excitement! There is no challenge too big for Rainbow Dash!" she shouted proudly.
"What!?! Did you not hear anything I just said!?!"
"Of course I did!"
"Of course you did," Twilight said with less enthusiasm. "Rainbow, we really shouldn't-."
"So when do we get started?"
With a deep sigh, Twilight knew that it would be pointless to try to talk Rainbow out of it. Rainbow's mind was set and now she felt the need to follow this through with her friend. What was supposed to be an experiment on romance, turned into a magic experiment. "Wait Rainbow, before we even try this spell, we should take all the necessary precautions. I want to study this carefully before we even attempted this."
"Okay okay, but when can we get started."
"Ugh, give me a couple of days and I will come get you."
"Great! This is going to be SO AWESOME! I can see it now, 'Headlines! Rainbow Dash First Pegasus on the Moon!' I like the sound of that. I will be the best of the best." Rainbow Dash said with excitement and a new drive built up inside her. "Thank you Twilight. I am going to practice for it right now!"
"What? Now? But look how late it is?"
"Ha! That's not going to stop me now. I will see ya later Twilight!" Without another word, Rainbow dashed out of the castle to "practice" for her trip to the moon.
Twilight, now alone, began to research for her friend.
A few moments later, Spike entered the library with a cupcake in hand. "There you are! You thought you could hide this baby from me huh? Well I proved you wrong Sparkle. I-." Spike stopped himself as he saw Twilight trapped in her book. Twilight always has her muzzle into her books, but somehow, he knew that something was different. He knew that something was bothering his best friend. "Umm, Twilight? Are you okay?"
Not looking away from her book, she replied, "All I wanted was a nice quiet evening with her..."
