Awesome As I Wanna Be

Chapter 22: Training

The garden for their new home was very grand. In fact, the entire house was grand. Everything might be slightly smaller on the inside however that was beside the point. The walls were clean and pristine, the grass was neatly trimmed along the even patio tiles. The windows didn't have smudge marks on them, the roof tiles were- You know what? You get the idea. It was a house, not a home. Rainbow and her parents were planning to change that problem very soon, they liked to spread their personality.

The garden where her training was to take place was the one out back. Away from prying eyes who didn't understand magic and became fearful of it. That was the last thing that anyone needed. There were a series of bright, neatly plotted flowers that lined the trimmed hedges that evenly ran the length of the iron fence. Not a branch, leaf or petal out of place. It could drive someone a bit erratic crazy if they thought too much on the perfection of this place. 'No matter,' Rainbow grinned to herself. 'I'll soon mess all this perfection up. Rainbows aren't meant to be perfect, they are meant to be wonderful products of unpredictable nature.' With that thought in mind, she channeled her energy into shooting a large ball of light at her mentor.

Madam Gradient easily ducked and rolled to the side of the orb but smiled, impressed by her technique. "There was a time when you failed to even aim properly, much less contain the amount of power you use. You've improved." She made a little note in the book beside her and nodded at Rainbow to try something else. These little exercises were ones that Rainbow could easily and secretly proudly do in her sleep. Every morning they use to practise control in target practise before actual lessons began. If Madam Gradient said she had improved, Rainbow had improved.

After a few dozen shots of light, fire and water, Pearl held up her hand for a break. Rainbow gladly complied for shooting beams of energy over and over again of different elements would drain anyone. It had also been a while since she'd practised and needed to give her muscles time to readjust. Taking a large gulp of water, Rainbow nodded towards the notebook. "How did I do?" She thought she did pretty well, actually.

Madam Gradient looked over her notes. "Not bad, not bad at all. Your a little rusty but that's to be expected." She grinned as Rainbow spluttered in indigence

"RUSTY?! How dare you! You were struggling to dodge some of those attacks." She gestured get bottle out to the ground where scorch and damp marks were scattered across the now messed up lawn.

Madam Gradient sat down beside her. "Rainbow, you were very good at doing those little shots. But they took a lot out of you. The most advanced spells you've done in the last few years are as follows: Spontaneous combustion at uncontrollable moments, a slight copying spell through a terribly hackable account that was more computer skills than magic, healing spells to minor injuries that you created and half-controlled water induction. Have I missed anything?" She was looking at her student like one would look at a someone a little slower, trying to explain the basics of something easy.

Rainbow crossed her arms in frustration, turned away, and huffed. "No, but they were all perfectly controlled." She took it personally that her teacher thought that she had such little control over her own powers gifted to her at birth.

Madam Gradient sighed and rubbed her temple. "True, you have grown in power and control. However Obsidia has had many, many years to plan this whole thing. It will take a lot to beat her in a fight." She smiled at her student but it turned to a frown off of her expression. "Something wrong?"

Rainbow narrowed her eyes at her. "You called her Obsidia, not Spirit or Goddess. Obsidia. Is that her actual name?" Pearl realised that she had slipped up and looked away. That was all the confirmation Rainbow needed. "How do you know? From what you've said, she doesn't sound like a person to make small talk with." Perhaps everyone had been right to be suspicious of her sudden change in nature.

Madam Gradient stared out towards the sky, growing bluer with the rising of the sun. "Your friend Twilight, she tried to do research on a people and it's history when the world doesn't know they exist. You all call her the smart one. Fluttershy, the animal lover, has rescued the most wild and untamed animals from potentially dangerous settings. You call her the timid one. You, Rainbow Dash, have looked inside yourself and worked out what type of person you are and what type of person you want to be. You've managed to successfully wield two sets of magic that don't gel together. All your friends call you is the athletic one." She turned to Rainbow whose mouth was hanging open slightly. "Everyone spends their entire lives trying to fit labels and descriptions onto people so tightly that they don't notice when they change. I spend your childhood education helping you to grow your magical prowess so that you can be more prepared. I have spent a great deal of time with the enemies to either side and because I've let it slip that I know her true name, you immediately rethink if I'm actually trustworthy. Surely you can see a flaw in that?" Rainbow didn't really know what to say as the words just spoken to her were blowing her mind.

Clearing her throat, she looked away from her teacher who was giving her a pointed look. "You have burned down my home and AJ's barn; you have tried to destroy Pinkie's livelihood and broke into Sunset's home, weakened Rarity's trust in me. Maybe you're right-

"I am always right."

"MAYBE we do fit labels unnecessarily and incorrectly onto people. But it's based off of opinions formed from actions. The actions you've done have questioned your loyalty to us. Therefore-"

"Why do I have to have loyalty to you?" Madam Gradient interrupted her rant with a held up palm and turned to her.

Rainbow blinked. "What?"

She sighed and repeated her question, slower this time. "Why do I, Madam Pearl Gradient, have to have loyalty to you, Rainbow Dash, and your friends? Is it because you are the goodies, the ones going to save the world? I know you yes, but I don't know your friends. I don't know that what you do to destroy Obsidia won't create an even stronger villain in the process. There are consequences for every action, Rainbow and I would rather not have any links whatsoever that connect me to the group who could potentially plunge us into another fight. So NO, I don't need to explain myself to you. I will do as I please." Standing up, the woman brushed off her outfit and picked up her bag. "I think that concludes our training for today." Madam Gradient turned and started to walk away.

Rainbow remained sat on the bench for a long time after she was long gone. It was an extremely good point that she'd brought up. In fact, the issue Madam Gradient mentioned was the majority reason for their fights: The Sirens saw the rainbow they used to defeat Sunset, Twilight noticed the increased energy readings from the battle with the Sirens, her attacks caused the portal to Equestria to break which spread magic to their world which found its way to Gloriosa Daisy. And to the mirror of Juniper Montage and to everyone else. Their actions had consequences and each time their works became more and more magical. Obsidia's magic was totally different to Equestrian magic, if that got out into the world... Rainbow shuddered to think of what might happen.

Beside her, her phone buzzed. Knowing who it was, Rainbow expected Madam Gradient to have turned against them and attacked another thing or person close to them. Instead, she was surprised by the message. 'You have a lot to learn about people Rainbow, but lesson one is this: People will often answer you if you just ask. Gods and Goddesses are no different.' Rainbow sighed for she did know people, they weren't a mystery. However the answer to her question was a lot simpler than she originally thought. Perhaps she did still have a lot to learn. Well, she had time.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I enjoyed the pair of them ranting at each other. I wonder what will happen next? I'll update again tomorrow, adiós.