Awesome As I Wanna Be

Chapter 25: Shine Like Rainbow

Boom! An enormous, ear-splitting sound echoed around the crater. Everyone within a fairly wide radius shook greatly on the spot. Many fell over and tried to avoid the cracks forming in the ground. The actual building of Canterlot High though appeared undisturbed by this second earthquake while the rest of the world suffered. Pearl made a note of that as she tried to determine what had happened to Rainbow. There had been no indication that a premature death had befallen her student but no one would be able to tell until the magic cleared.

The magic in itself was nothing like Madam Gradient had ever seen before. She'd never actually seen magic as an object, a concrete noun. It was always an abstract noun, something you couldn't see, an emotion or feeling. Not something you could ever truly experience unless you were using it or being helped by it. Pearl had seen many children across the years in the village but she'd never stopped to think and question what it actually felt like. That was something that she did envy, as just a simple prophet, with no children of her own, Pearl could never experience what it felt like to have magic. Only ever see what good someone else could do with it. Yet she was always determined to help those kids master their powers to the best of their abilities. Madam Gradient only hoped that she hadn't failed with Rainbow this time.

Despite the loud noise and growing cracks, nothing was happening inside the crater. The magic wasn't being absorbed into something or someone. Rainbow was flying out in colour, charged with a new strain of her magic. Only the outside, magicless world seemed to be affected by something. That thought made Pearl hope that Rainbow had caused it rather than Obsidia giving a warning of her arrival. Another thing or things that had yet to appear were Rainbow's friends. Including everything that had happened in the past twenty minutes, not a single girl had come out to see what all the fuss was about. Surely they could sense when one of them wasn't quite right.

A scream cut across the grass and pulled people away from their panic over the cracks and crater. However many people suddenly wished that they hadn't turned around and a proper panic ensued as they became to shout and run. A dark, navy mist was approaching the school. It was coming closer to any living or at least organic objects. The mist would engulf its target, act like it was squeezing it, allow a brightly coloured substance to escape, capture it and then move on. For the actual target itself, they were left encased in this frozen goop, having lost something that may or may not be of some significance to their being. It was absolutely terrifying.

For everyone except Madam Pearl Gradient, that is. She recognised the misty goop from one of the history books back in the village. It supposedly was what destroyed the Iridescent tribe all those years ago. Obsidia's weapon of choice. It found any Rainbow inside of people: Their hope, dreams, joy, desires and sucked it right out of them. It was also supposed to be really rather painful. Everything good about the world taken out of you in a matter of seconds, only something so truly terrible could so radically change your world view like that. The mist did just that, you just didn't actually go through the experience but felt like you had. Therefore, it varied from person to person but the basics of it was the same: You suffer, Obsidia takes your Rainbow, makes it evil and gains power. A twisted, sick way of defeating your enemy; let the world defeat them for you.

Desperation was beginning to settle into her bones now though. There were no good magic users in sight and this latest development was literally ground-breaking. A Goddess hell-bent on watching the world suffer and burn had sent a weapon to a school filled with only teenagers and a few adults. Plus, there was just a large crater of other-worldly magic just resting in the remnants of a portal to another world. Unless Rainbow was guarding it from the inside, it was just right for the taking. That amount of positivity and joy turned into negativity and suffering would only have one outcome: Obsidia would be completely unstoppable.

The mist was getting closer, it seemed to sense the panic and fear of its running victims. Like a moth to a flame, it didn't stop if objects got in front of it, just continued to its destination. The Equestrian magic. There was no one to stop it in the eyes of Obsidia and frankly that's how it looked to everyone else as well. Something wasn't right, far from it. Madam Gradient took a few steps closer to the crater in hopes of distracting the mist's attention but it still didn't slow down. If anything, it sped up, as if Obsidia realised that she'd had a change of heart and wanted to make her pay. You didn't turn your back on a Goddess filled with dark magic and not pay a very heavy price. Even if that price was your life.

Little rocks loosened slightly underneath her boot at the edge and a few smaller cracks appear beneath her. The debris from her sudden pressure tumbled into the multicoloured mass below. Panic began to settle in her throat as Pearl looked back from the growing gaps in the ground and the very dangerous mist. Hope and time was running out, there was nothing she could do. "Come on Rainbow, don't fail me now." Madam Gradient whispered as she braced herself for impact with the approaching goo; raising her arms to cover her face and close her eyes tightly.

...Nothing. A few moments passed and she didn't feel the gooey mist engulf her and suck out her Rainbow. Carefully, Madam Gradient opened her eyes to see what state the world was in. The speed of sound at sea level is about 300m/s. Therefore, it varied depending on how much higher than sea level you were. Should anyone surpass such speeds, a sonic boom happens as you break the sound barrier. It's a really loud boom sound that echoes for miles around and everyone can hear it. Except the person who caused it. They are now going faster than the speed of sound. They can't hear anything because they are going to fast for the speed to catch up with them. It's probably a very strange sensation, to go so fast that you can't hear anything.

It took a moment for Pearl's eyes to readjust to the light. She was stood at the opposite end of the school, close enough to still be able to see Obsidia's mist but basically at the back of the school. There, many students and staff had gathered for what seemed to be a long time. They all looked terrified. Madam Gradient, being a teacher herself, knew it would be good to calm them down but couldn't really understand why they all seemed torn between screaming and cheering. It wasn't until that she looked over her shoulder she saw why.

Rainbow Dash was plastered to the sky, the brightest sky blue ever seen. Her wings had increased in size and could now fold across her entire body. Her pink eyes glowed with a pulsating power with every flap of her wings that seemed to gimmer and shine in the light. Across one of her eyes, there was a large, bright, multicoloured lightning bolt that marked her face. The insignia on her neck that Pearl had shown her in the prison infirmary had also grown and was a lot more prominent. Rainbow's neck had gained swirling rainbows etched onto it that crossed at different areas for a mesmerising effect. Pearl observed that the same pattern was running along her arms, hands and legs as well. That was all she could see however she suspected that the pattern ran across the entirety of Rainbow's body. Her clothes were jet black, like the night sky or Obsidia's heart. However neon rainbow lines ran from the hem of her skirt to the straps on her shoulders. They curved around the middle section of her bodice though as in the centre of that there was a giant spiral of flames, amber crystals, sunlight, leaves, water, storm clouds and golden jewellery. Each were in a different shade that corresponded with which hair colour controlled them. Her boots were in a similar style with the jet black and neon lines however they were sprinkled with something that looked like little mini stars. Speaking of her hair, the cause of all of this madness was wild and free. Much longer than it had ever been, it was vibrant and flowing in the breeze and curled at her heels. A slight fringe fell just above her eyes and the colours were clearly sectioned. Around her waist, it cinched and then exploded back out lower down, like a tail. Just behind her fringe, two little bright blue ears were visible. Iridescent Evil, more like Iridescent Loyal. The perfect balance of herself.

I hope you enjoyed this rather long chapter, Rainbow's done a massive power/pony-up. When I was describing her, I imagined that she looked so cool! I wonder if she will fight the mist now... I will probably update again tomorrow but not the day after that as that is my brother's birthday. Adiós.