Awesome As I Wanna Be

Chapter 11: Iridescent Magic

Rainbow surprised herself with how quickly she reacted. Like muscle memory, her school lessons of magic combat came rushing back to her and she took up a fighting stance. Granted, she'd never seen her former headteacher this powerful or angry before but the training sessions suddenly became very useful. The first thing Rainbow had to take care of was Sunset, she could get seriously hurt if she stayed and Rainbow didn't really want to destroy her home.

Crossing her arms in front of her face, she allowed the magic to rise and spread her palms wide. Then she watched as the sparks leaped off her fingers and untangled them so that now both her hands were on their original side of her body with the magic building stronger and stronger. What surprised Rainbow was that even with her powers already flaring, Madam Gradient made no move to stop her from completing the spell. It reasoned with her that it would prevent witnesses and do no actual damage to her in the slightest. Then Rainbow balled her hands into fists as she felt the magic fighting itself in such close quarters. The final step was to basically punch her fists together in a straight line, parallel to her face. This sent a shockwave of magic rippling throughout the room that levitated both student and teacher before the world appeared to wave in front of them.

Madam Gradient was pushed backwards with the force of the punch and the following shockwave but didn't land having broken Sunset's staircase. Instead, the waves embraced her and pushed her back up to a standing position. The world around them dissolved as Sunset and her house disappeared to the great unknown. Rainbow had never really grasped the concept of what happened when people entered the Ripple Realm.

It was supposed to act like they were in a puddle of water with the waves and everything but also look like a clear, blue sky with a shining sun. Frankly it could be either the sky or the sea for the former was only blue because the latter was blue. The sky reflected the water colour somehow. The bases of it was with the water and the sun, whenever someone completed the special task they were sent here to do, a rainbow would appear and take them back to wherever they came from.

Rainbow wondered what her task was, the spell wouldn't have worked if she didn't have one. Perhaps that was why Madam Gradient had allowed her to complete the spell, to see if it would actually work. Rainbow wasn't sure if her task would be completed and what would happen if she could not complete it.

Madam Gradient glared up at her through the ripples, her hands blazing with the entangled magic. Her body appeared to shift and ripple through the power. Rainbow allowed herself to feel slightly afraid, an emotion she didn't like, for she'd never seen her teacher or anyone she knew filled with magic like that. Sure, Sunset and Twilight had been powered up quite a bit, filled with a lot of energy but this was different. Madam Gradient's magic was neither good nor bad, right nor wrong. It just was. Both and neither. "You can't keep running Rainbow, we were sent here to do something. As you just saw, this place won't let us leave until we complete it." She started to move in a circle as Rainbow moved in the opposite direction, forever keeping themselves the same distance apart even if they were in a different position.

Rainbow silently wished that she'd considered activating her magic before she had done the spell but it was too late to change the past now. "What do you think we have to do?" If there was one thing she knew her teacher would love, it was the chance to teach her one last lesson before she destroyed her.

Madam Gradient laughed, a proper loud laugh that was tainted with a dark and bitter twist. "Why, Rainbow? I thought you were clever. Or at the very least have figured it out. As I'm sure you can remember, we can't leave until we finish a specific task, important to our growth. The fact that you very successfully cast this spell with little to no resistance or effort implies that you are at a crucial moment in your life. This moment has been a long time coming, I think, ever since we learnt of your future." She suddenly shot a bolt of energy at Rainbow, forcing her to use her speed to duck. "At least you have managed to get some control over your 'Pony Powers'. Super speed, such a mundane skill when you can do so much more." Madam Gradient held out her hand and clasped it into a fist, snapping Rainbow's chain around her geode and pulling it towards her. The geode shattered upon contact and Rainbow froze.

She could feel it inside of her, something was different, broken. When the geode shattered, her speed disappeared with it. Trying to run, Rainbow felt bile rise in her throat as an excessive speed didn't accompany her, she could only run as physically fast as her body allowed her to. Turning to her grinning enemy, Rainbow felt her bile turn to fury. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Without her speed, Rainbow was nothing.

Madam Gradient merely laughed and stepped over the fragmented blue shards. "I have clipped your wings. For over a year now, you've hidden behind them and used your power alongside your friends to protect this small town from rather large threats. Before that, you neglected your birth powers entirely, pretending to be someone you're not. Normal. When you lived with us, you hid at home, too afraid to come out and face the reality of being the villain." She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose and rubbing her temple. Rainbow hardly thought this was appropriate for a battle but they weren't really fighting and she wasn't even sure if that was her task yet. "All you have ever done is run and hide. I want you to face me, Rainbow Dash. Use what you were born with and embrace that. Prove to me that you don't need the advanced training, that you can handle your powers on your own!" She clapped her hands together and the magic rippled, shaking Rainbow to her core.

Madam Gradient didn't need to do anymore to try and convince Rainbow; if someone wanted her to prove herself then she would make them regret asking. Feeling all of her emotions grow, Rainbow tried to also find a light balance in the turmoil. "Rainbow, Rainbow, glimmer and shine. Listen to me, for I command what's mine. Burn, copy, glow and heal. Dampen, storm and steal." The magic words unleashed a wave of power that had been held back for many years.

Rainbow could feel herself changing, her hair was flowing and floating of its own accord, getting brighter and brighter. The colours were becoming more prominent and separate as her skin pulsed in time to get heartbeat. Rainbow watched as her clothes changed from her running and casual clothes to multicoloured mayhem of a dress. She often hated dresses but this one didn't seem to be weighing her down like Rarity's dresses often did. There didn't seem to be a fixed shape for it either, it glowed and flowed as though it was still deciding on it's purpose.

Looking at herself in the nearby ripples, one thought came to her head. For years, the word 'Iridescent' had sprung to mind dull, drab colours that sucked the joy and out everything. The person Rainbow saw now was nowhere near that. Turning to Madam Gradient, she grinned, adrenaline pumping through her body. "You can call me Evil if you want, but I'm not that. However your prophecy was right about one thing: I am Iridescent!" Saying it aloud made it feel like a great weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. Similarly to how she felt after embracing her speed at Camp Everfree.

The older woman only scowled at this apparent acceptance of who she was. "We'll see." She commented with pursed lips. She clicked her fingers and Rainbow watched as the ripples increased in frequency. A multitude of colours swam in front of her eyes. The world before her started to shake and fade as the world she left behind switched in a hazy vision.

Panic began to settle in. "Wait! What are you doing?" Rainbow had been expecting a fight of some sort and she couldn't tell if her Iridescent magic had left. Her geode may still be shattered when she returned. One thing was for sure, Rainbow could never go back to running and hiding ever again after this.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, rather dramatic and action-packed. If you need help visualising what Rainbow does at the beginning with her hands, imagine Doctor Strange activating the time stone for all the hand action plus Captain Marvel power punch that sends off all the light when she's in front of Ronin's ship. That's what I was imaging anyway. I'll probably won't update tomorrow as I have creative writing club and a open evening to attend. I know, I'm sorry, it does seem to be rather lacking with the daily updates. Nevertheless, I hope that things will be back to normal on Wednesday and onwards. Until then, adiós.