Awesome As I Wanna Be

Chapter 2: Run Far

Iridescent Evil. A name Rainbow hadn't thought about in many years, not since she started in Freshman year at Canterlot High. It wasn't a cruel nickname like Rainbow Crash but something much worse; it was the name she would earn if what that letter stated came to pass. It was complete nonsense however, she was a bringer of hope and friendship and not anything else. Grumbling to herself, Rainbow landed back down on her bed and looked at the ceiling above it. A primary coloured lightning bolt had been painted for her when she was still in her mother's womb as a symbol of who she would become. Rainbow liked to think that she had lived up to that idea of colour and speed but that all threatened to be ruined by that letter.

'Letter this, letter that, I used to have a life.' Rainbow thought bitterly to herself as she considered her options. She couldn't burn the letter, that would only upset her parents and aggravate the sender. She could read it without the pressure of her parents being here but that would only anger her and cause her temper, long overdue, to be taken out on them. The only other alternative was to read the letter with them which would only serve the same outcome as reading it without them but without the long boiling anger. The pressure would also be there. It seemed like the best thing to do would just be to keep active and wait until her parents returned, hoping against hope that they wouldn't bring that damn letter up.

It wouldn't matter either way what she did to try to avoid it, the subject would eventually arise. It was why they had moved here at the beginning of Freshman year, Rainbow and her family lived in a small village where... Strange things happened. The children were born with abilities that bended the elements to their desire. Some could create gales that blew roofs off of houses at four, others could make any object they desired materialise in front of them. To deal with the strange events that centre around the offspring, the village decided to set up a school to help them deal with their powers. Teachers were employed based off how experienced with the powers they were deemed to be. As a result, many of the teachers were the parents of the children themselves.

All except the headteacher. Madam Gradient. She was said to be able to predict the futures of the children and who they may become. Because of this, the school sounded to many like a school out of a fairy tale where children grew up to become fairytale heroes. This couldn't he further from the truth as the highest the students grew to was having many responsibilities within the village. No one ever really left since the wider world could desire and exploit the powers of these exceptional beings. The prophecies told to them were often in relation to spouses, offspring, growth of power or benefit to the village. Many children were happy with the knowledge they got but when it was Rainbow's turn to see her future, Madam Gradient foretold of a terrible world.

Fire, destruction, burning, death, screams, tears, extreme weather, basically anything terrible that could happen, would happen. Rainbow and the others watched in horror as she saw her powers being used to destroy the world. No one could believe it. Rainbow's powers were always something of a mystery to people, she possessed more than one and had a rather emotional tie to them. They appeared to dictate how the powers behaved. Rainbow was hidden away for days afterwards, fear spreading like poison from door to door, wondering what would cause this cheerful girl to fall to a path that sadly led her to destroying the world.

When Rainbow became re-introduced to the daily world of what they consider normality, rumours and fear had taken over like a vice in the village. Parents pulled their kids away from her as her parents walked her to school, teachers and students didn't make eye contact with her in the hallways and worse of all, her parents gently tried to get her to stop using her powers at home and outside. Madam Gradient had turned the school into a friendly place to learn how to control your powers into a place where soldiers were bred. Lessons turned from maths to spells, science became learning the boundaries of your powers. PE became an excuse for combat training both melee and with powers, everyone became a wonderful fighter. The bright colourful building faded to beige, grey and silver. Students started to wear a uniform around the premises and a schedule was to be stuck to at all times. Rainbow hated it.

The title was not created by some bitter student who held a grudge against her for changing the policy; no one ever said it but they all knew Rainbow's prophecy was why. The titles were introduced a couple of months later, given to students as their prophecies became closer and closer to being fulfilled. Even the older students who had settled into the happy, carefree routines were double checked and given a title to make sure that they were still on that preplanned path. The Healer, Saviour, Harbinger, Terror, Wonder, Miracle. The names just kept coming as more were trained for greatness or destruction.

Iridescent Evil was gifted to Rainbow for two reasons: History mentioned of a tribe called the Iridescent people who worshipped the Rainbow. People began to believe that their children were descents of such followers. That's where the first part came from. The second part referred to the tribe's downfall, a selfish being turned to darkness and wished to take over. As a result, the world was leeched of colour for many years and the tribe was wiped out. Evil. The opposite of what a rainbow stood for. Yet Rainbow's dark and twisted prophecy was seen as a perfect piece of irony: A girl named after hope only to destroy it with powers related to her namesake.

Rainbow's family was one of the few to ever move. Nothing in her life had ever hinted that she would become the monster they all thought she would be. Rainbow didn't have a lot of friends there and the burden she carried meant that she was very happy to leave. Nevertheless, Windy Whistles and Bow Hothoof remained adamant that she not use her powers. That suited Rainbow just fine as she had grown to resent them, starting the autumn at Canterlot High where the rest was history.

All the Dashs' had assumed that Rainbow's magical childhood was in the past but when she discovered the Magic of Friendship, everything changed. Suddenly she was celebrated and relied on for her gifts, needing to save the world from darkness with a rainbow. Due to her increase in Equestrian magic, Rainbow discovered that her iridescent powers were growing as well. That worried them to a degree but she promised only to use Equestrian magic. Now that letter threatened to undo all the good she had done and it was a message. That Rainbow could go as far as she could whenever her past caught up to her, but it would never be far enough.

With that thought in mind, Rainbow went downstairs and grabbed the letter and hurried back upstairs. Standing by the window, she turned it over in her palm. The seal glared back at her, daring her to break. There was only one thing she could do. Opening her window, she smiled as a cool breeze flew in, fluttering the light parchment in her hands. Looking out into the early sunset it filled Rainbow with a resolve. Holding the letter out the window she waited for a gust before whispering, "Catch me if you can." before dropping it into the air.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, up on our regular schedule. I thought all the backstory was interesting. I'll update again tomorrow most likely. Adiós.