#12

A few minutes later, Rainbow made it downstairs. Everyone was gathered there, Starlight and On-X both laden down with bags of star sprinkles.
"It's a good think those aren't heavy," Rainbow muttered to herself. She put on a smile once she was noticed, to reassure the fact that she was healed up, and had every intention to carry this out. Violet approached her with what looked like a very sleek headset.
"This is the two-way," she said, then held up what looked like a wrist watch. "This is the transmitter. Push this button to talk. You can switch the channels you're talking to with this button. There are four channels; your headset is number one, Krys' is number two, Brian's is three, and then the fourth channel will connect you to the station I set up here. You can only talk to one at a time, remember that."
Rainbow nodded as she took the two-way. "I understand." She slid the headset on, then snapped the transmitter onto her wrist. She noticed the worried look on Violet's face, and offered a supportive smile. She rested her hands on Violet's shoulders, bringing her gaze up to meet hers. "They'll work. Don't you worry about that."
"I'm more worried about you, Rainbow."
A wince passed over her eyes, but she quickly forced that off of her face, pulling Violet into a hug. "Stop that. You hear? I need you focused on analyzing that poison."
"But-"
"No buts, Violet. We all need to turn to the tasks at hand. The Earth is more important than me. All of you need to remember that. The Wearer of the Belt is ever changing, but there is only one Earth."
Violet's eyes squeezed shut and she returned Rainbow's hug tightly. "You don't think you'll make it, do you?"
"Honestly, I don't know right now. But then again, there have been many times when I wasn't so sure of the outcome. Who knows; this may be even easier dealth with than the Princess." She stepped back and held Violet out at arm's length. "No one can tell. But at least this time, we can all work together."
Violet nodded, brushing the tears from her cheeks.
"Good girl." Rainbow turned and headed over to Starlight, who met her with an affectionate nuzzle. "Rested up, Starlight?"
"Of course. I'm always rested for a romp across dimensions."
Rainbow smiled and patted his head, then turned to face everyone. "Remember your objectives. Try not to get too distracted. And please don't let Dismal get in the way of all of this."
That got a few smiles, and Stormy pounded a fist into her palm. "Don't worry, Rainbow. We've got Rainbowland well guarded."
Rainbow laughed at that. "I'm glad! Well, then..." She glanced over at Krys. "Shall we get moving?" He nodded and vaulted up onto On-X. Rainbow's gaze travelled around the room, until finding the someone she was looking for. "Coming, Twink?"
His eyes lit up and antennae perked. "You mean it?"
"I think Red's got things well-looked after. I'll need your help."
He grinned and hurried over, reaching Starlight just as Rainbow swung up onto his back. She leaned down and helped him up behind her.
"Heads high, everyone. And keep each other up to date." With that, she called upon a rainbow, and Starlight started off at a run. On-X's thrusters kicked in and they rocketted after Starlight. Within minutes, Rainbowland was only a twinkle in the distance, as they passed into the next dimension.

#11

That caused a bit of unrest among the kids, but Rainbow lifted her hands to quiet them. "I'd say that's evidence enough to investigate. Did you try to follow the trace the other way?"
"We started to, but I realized how long we'd been gone and thought it best to tell you before trying to find the origin. There's no telling how far away it is."
"I see. Well, goo, I'll come with you. Who knows, maybe the origin is the 'beginning' Orin's looking for."
"What should we do, then, Rainbow?" Red asked.
"Exactly what you've been doing. Keep the star sprinkles coming, keep the stars charge, the rain falling, and stick to researching a way to heal the Earth. Brian, I want you to stay here unless it's absolutely necessary for you to go back to Earth. We don't know how that poison is going to effect humans and I don't want you in the way when we find out."
"Sure thing, Rainbow."
Rainbow levelled a gaze at everyone in the room. "Keep your spirits up. Keep this place, and the Earth, as beautiful as you can. Don't lose hope, and don't let the Earth lose hope. We'll fight this, and so long as I'm in charge, we'll beat this."
They offered her smiles and affirmative words and nods, letting her know they understood.
"Good. Violet, those two-ways are ready?"
"Yes, Rainbow, whenever you are."
Then I think it's about time I get off my butt," she said. "You're all dismissed. I'll want to leave as soon as possible."
With that, everyone got up, put their chairs back against the wall, and left Rainbow to get dressed. All but Krys.
"You're sure about this?"
Rainbow glanced up at him. "About what?"
"Travelling so far from Rainbowland when your magick's on the fritz."
"My magick's fine, it's the belt that's damaged."
"You know that's not much of a difference, Rainbow," Krys said as he folding his arms over his chest.
She sighed and looked down. "I have no choice, Krys. I can't just sit back and watch the Earth die while I wait for the belt to be fixed. It may never be fixed. So instead, I'll find a way to work around it. It still works, just not as well. I'll be fine. I have to be."
He listened patiently to her speech, then slowly turned away. "I hope you know what you're doing, Rianbow."
"You still doubt me, after all this time."
"I don't doubt," he said as he paused at the door. "I worry." He glanced back at her, then continued through the door, leaving her to get dressed.

#10

"You all look like you're going to a funeral. Albeit, a colourful one," says a voice at the door.
"Krys!" the kids exclaim.
Rainbow smiled and motioned for him to come in. "All the players have assembled. The hunt for the Queen begins."
"And just what -is- the Queen?" Buddy asks.
"A good question," Rainbow replied as Krys takes a seat beside Moonglow. "Analogies aside, it is very important that we decipher just who our targets are here. Obviously, that creature is one of them. We can only assume based on his actions, not only what he's doing, but also his attacking me, that he is an enemy. The rel question is: Did someone send him? And if so, who? And if not, how'd he get there; why's he doing this?"
"An even more demanding question," Red piped up, "is how do we stop him?"
Rainbow nodded. "Right. Obviously, the straightforward approach won't work. Has any progress been made in repairing the Colour Belt?"
Indigo, Pink, and Canary all shook their heads. "We've worked on it around the clock," Pink said. "But no luck."
"Nothing at all?" They shook their heads again. Rainbow sighed. "I suppose it can't be helped, then. Try to focus on healing the Earth. We don't have time to tinker with the belt. We should be prepared enough for some time with the number of sprinkles that were harvested." She turned her attention to Krys. "Now, what progress did you make? Could you find any trace of Orin?"
"I'm afraid not," Krys said, though he didn't look too upset. "What I did find should give us somewhere to start, howerver."
"Oh?"
"While not very pronounced, On-X picked up faint traces of a warp between dimensions."
"You mean like an inter-dimensional wormhole?" Violet asked with interest.
"Something like that."
"How's that different from how we travel?" Rainbow asked curiously.
"Well, you and I travel across the dimensional planes very simply, the same way humans travel through space. Just as they travel from one quadrant of space to the next, so do we travel from one dimension to the next over. For you to get to me where I live, you would have to pass through twelve dimensions, one at a time. A dimensional wormhole, or a warp, is to say that you traveled directly from Rainbowland to my world, by bending the plane of dimensions, folding them until our worlds 'touch'. All you have to do then is, say, cut a hole out and step through."
Rainbow lifted her brows in surprise. "I didn't know that was possible."
"It isn't easy," Violet said, "but it's most certainly possible."
"Very few, and very powerful, people have the technology," Krys said gravely.
"So what makes you think this warp is connected to the creature on Earth?" Rainbow asked.
"Well, because we followed the trace to Earth's dimension."

#9

Five days passed, during which Rainbowland seemed a ghost town, save for two places: the mines, and the Colour Castle. Red oversaw the mass excavation of colour crystals, and Blue kept close tabs on the conversion of those crystals into star sprinkles. In the castle, the kids are hard at work searching for some way to combat the poison soiling the earth. Violet was immersed in the various prototypes for very long distances two-way communication, a few breakthroughs proving promising. moonglow spent the nights using the sprinkes given her to transfer a reserve to the stars, while Storm used hers to create an early frost all across the Earth, drenching the soiled patches with inches upon inches of rain. On Earth, Brian was doing his best to gather as much information on the incidents as he could, though it wasn't very hard, because it seemed that across the board, no one knew anything. Krys had left soon after putting Rainbow to bed, and nothing yet had been heard from him, no word on his progress in finding Orin.
On that fifth day, Brian returned with what hard facts he could gather, met by a small crowd of sprites. They welcomed him, then led him into the castle and up to Rainbow's room. There, the kids were gathered on chairs around Rainbow's bed. She was propped up by soft pillows, looking much better than she had.
She looked up when she saw him, a smile lifting on her lips. "Welcome back, Brian." Puppy Brite leapt down from the foot of the bed and ran over to Brian, welcoming him in his own way, while Kitty remained curled up beside Rainbow.
He knelt down to pet Puppy. "Thanks, Rainbow. You look much better." He stood again and took the seat Canary offered him.
"Thank-you; I feel much better. We were just discussing the progress that's been made. I see you haven't been slacking off."
He held up the notebook with his observations, handing it to Violet since she'd know best what to do with it. "The creature's moving at a constant speed, not slowing down or speeding up. And from what's been released, no one's been able to replant anything."
"I see. Let's hope this is similar to radioactivity, because if that's so, the Earth should heal itself over time."
"And if it's not?" Lala asked.
"Then it'll be up to us to refertilize the earth," she replied simply. She gently scratched Kitty's ears. "I guess all we're waiting on now is word from Krys."
Violet spoke up, rubbing the back of her neck, "Maybe he should have waited for me to finish the two-way. Then we could have tested it better."
"It'll be fine, Violet. Nothing you've invented so far has failed to do what you inteded it to," Rainbow said with a smile.
"First time for everything," Stormy chimed in, she sitting in one of the windows on the other side of the room.
Rainbow shook her head. "Cynical, as usual."
"You may want to watch what you say, Stormy. Your rain and frost haven't done anything to slow down the spread of poison," Violet said as she looked up from Brian's notes.
That didn't sit well with anyone.

#8

"Moonglow?"
"Yes, Rainbow?" She, too, looked surprised, not expecting her job to come into play.
"See if you can find a way to put some energy reserves in what moons and stars you can. If we can't get the belt fixed, I don't want to think about running out of power out in the middle of no where."
"Sure, Rainbow."
"Violet, see what you can scrounge up in the way of two-way communication free of our power. If our power's what's being attacked in all of this, then we can't rely entirely on it anymore."
"Maybe I can piggyback a signal off of a sattelite around Earth."
Rainbow smiled. "Whatever you have to do, Violet. Red."
"Yes, ma'am?"
"I need you and Twink to organize another major mining expedition. This is going to be big. I'll need a large stash, for Starlight, On-X, Krys, and myself to carry. Stormy will need a reserve to experiment with the rain and snow. moonglow will need them for creating a...what would you call it, Violet?"
"An astral reserve?"
Rainbow smiled again. "Sounds good. And the rest of you are going to need a constant flow to fight the poison. I want you to keep a close eye on the effect the poison has on any of these counterattacks. I want you to abort everything if it starts doing what it did to my belt. The last thing we need is a..."
"Main system malfunction," Violet chimed in.
"Right."
Red spoke up. "It's going to take a few days to harvest that many starsprinkles."
"That's fine. Brian, you head back to Earth and see if you can't find anything out before I leave."
"Sure."
"Violet, if you could-"
"Already thinking up blueprints, Rainbow."
"Great."
"And I'll take On-X and see if I can't get a lead on where Orin's got to," Krys piped up."
"Good idea."
Starlight spoke again, "And you, miss, will be in bed until the moment we have to leave. Twink and I can keep you informed and everyone in line."
Rainbow nodded and smiled good-naturedly. "That sounds like a plan."
Krys turned to face her. "Then let's get you back to bed." He bent down and lifted her up off of her feet, cradling her in his arms.
She blushed and her eyes widened a bit. "Erng, you don't have to-"
"You dragged yourself downstairs. Just let me do this, and I'll forgive you for that."
"O-okay."

#7

Everyone exchanged glances. Krys patted On-X's neck and said quietly, "We need to reprogram you without the capacity to tell ridles."
"Not riddle. Orin says that all things become clear when one returns to the beginning, and is resolved in the end."
"But what does that mean?" chirped Twink.
A new voice would come from behind Starlight. "Have non of you ever wondered where you came from? Where our power stems from, our authority over colour and life?" Rainbow stood in the doorway of the castle, leaning heavily on the frame, still in quite a bit of pain.
"Rainbow!" came the chorus from the crowd. Krys hurried to her side since he was closest, and slung his arm around her to support her. "You shouldn't be up."
"The universe is in too much danger for me to be laying around."
Red spoke up before Krys could protest to Rainbow's words. "What did you mean before?"
"Well, I'm not th efirst 'wearer of the belt', right? The power I received all that time ago isn't my own. It comes from somewhere. It started somewhere. Isn't it the same for all of you? Where did you all come from, and where does your power come from? What if it's the source of our power that is meant in the 'Beginning'. Orin said that all things become clear in the beginning. What if he means that once we find the beginning, we'll know our true problem?"
There was silence as everyone took this in and deciphered it for themselves. It made sense.
"But how do we even begin to look for the beginning?" Violet asked. "We have nothing to work with to trace a line of evidence back. None of us remember far enough back to know any sort of source of our power. We've been here for as long as we can remember, supporting whoever wore the belt."
"We may not know anything, but Orin does. I found him last time, and I'll find him again."
"With our help, this time," Krys said forcefully as he looked down at her.
She smiled a bit and nodded. "Right." She turned her gaze to Brian. "I need you to go back to Earth and see if you can't find out the first spot that wasted away, and how fast compared to now. We need to know if he's building momentum. Also, if anyone on Earth has been able to regrow anything on those plots. If you find anything, you get back here where it's safe."
Brian looked a bit surprised at that last part, but by the look she gave him, he could only nod. "Okay."
Rainbow then turned her gaze on the kids. "I need all of you to look into finding a way to heal the poisoned earth. Stormy?"
She looked up in surprise. She hardly ever got asked to do anything. "Yes?"
"Your rain is going to be important for those patches. And actually, I think a frost or snow on the existing healthy plots might actually protect them. It's early for winter, but the humans are confused as it is. I don't think a little snow will shock them too much."
"Okay..." She looked a bit surprised, but didn't question.

#6

By the time they returned to Rainbowland, everyone was gathered outside of the Colour Castle. There were plenty of confused and concerned faces when they saw Brian and Krys. As soon as Krys hopped off of On-X with Rainbow in his arms, there'd be an upraor.
"What happened?"
"Rainbow!"
"Is she okay?"
"What did this??"
Starlight stomped his foot, rearing his head back. "Enough!" There was silence at once. "All your questions will be answered, in time. But right now, Rainbow is hurt, and she needs rest."
Keeping quiet, they all stepped aside to make a path into the Castle. Red stepped forward, motioning for Krys to follow. "I'll show you where her room is."
Once Rainbow was laid down on the bed, Red headed back outside. Krys hung back at the door, gaze settled on Rainbow. "You keep doing things on your own. But we're here now. Don't you eve think of taking on the universe by yourself." He watched her for a moment longer, then turned and headed outside.
The kids and sprites were gathered around Starlight in front of the Castle. Once Krys rejoined them, Starlight cleared his throat to end the murmering.
"I'll do my best to explain what is going on, but frankly, Rainbow and I both don't really have any insight as to the cause of any of this. But I'll tell you what I know. The large patches of death are being caused by some creature that's poisoning the Earth. It seems it's as we are, and cannot be seen by humans."
Brian nodded. "The news hasn't said anything about what's causing it all."
"We confronted it, and at once fell under its attack. The poison, which leaks from its feet, has proven to have an adverse effect on the rainbow, and even damaged the belt."
"That's why you couldn't get through to Rainbowland?" Krys asked with a frown.
"We suspect so. Also, the creature has an immense physical strength. The rainbow, even before damaged, could not restrain him. On top of that, he was able to use the rainbow to chase after us."
Lala clasped her hands over her chest. "How are we going to fight this? Do we even know if the creature's working on its own?"
"We don't know much of anything. The biggest problem right now is the belt. We don't know the extent of its damage, or even how to fix it."
Krys spoke up then. "Do you think Orin would know? He seemed to know quite a lot about the belt the last time he met Rainbow."
"That's a good point. But we haven't heard from Orin in hears."
On-X's broken voice chimed in. "Orin is on mission. Journey to find beginning and end."

#5

"Run, Starlight! My magick's running out!"
"I'm trying! Only a little farther!"
Rainbow ducked down against Starlight's neck as a giant hammer swung by overhead. "He's caught up!"
"The raingbow is giving out!"
"We're not close enough to Rainbowland for the kids to help yet!" She ducked again, grip tightened on his mane. "You have to keep running!"
"I'm sorry, Rainbow!"
Before she could respond, the hammer swung by again, this time lower. It slammed right into Rainbow's side, knocking her clear off of Starlight.
"Rainbow!" Starlight leapt off the remnants of the rainbow and fell after her.
It was an agonizing few seconds of falling into nothing. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, there was a flash of light, as Krys appeared on On-X. He dove after them, reaching his hand out towards Rainbow. With a blast of energy from On-X, they were below her, and Krys pulled her into his arms. Moments later, a rainbow arched beneathe them and collected Starlight. Running along the new rainbow was Brian. He hurried over to Starlight as he got to his feet.
"Are you alright, Starlight?"
"Yes, I'm fine." He shook out his mane, then looked up at Krys as On-X landed on the rainbow. "Is she...?"
"She's just unconscious. By the look of that blow, I'd say she's got a few broken ribs, too." He held her gingerly across his lap. "Let's just worry about getting to Rainbowland."
"The rainbow will do the work for us," Brian said.
Starlight finished checking himself for injuries, then looked over at them. "What are you three doing here, anyway?"
Krys and Brian glanced between each other as if they weren't quite sure themselves. Krys spoke up first, looking down at Rainbow.
"I think the weapon she gave me a few years ago allows some kind of link between us. I came because I felt I had to."
Brian nodded. "I was in my room and suddenly the key Rainbow gave me started glowing. I felt called here, so I came."
"Whatever the reason, it's lucky for us you both made it."
((Happy Thanksgiving, all you American readers.))

#4

She slowly sat up, groaning faintly. "Nothing broken..." She leaned forward and looked down through the branches, hand poised as she tried to figure out the best choice of action. It was strong, and the more it moved around, the more those feet poisoned the Earth. "Its feet..." Well, it was worth a shot. She reached for the last of the star sprinkles she had on her. She waited for the perfect moment, while the creature's back was to her, then sent the rainbow down. It quickly wrapped around one foot, then moved to the other to do the same.
The creature let out a screech and turned to face Rainbow. It began to run towards her, and with each step, the rainbows around its feet began to discolour, becoming shades of green, then fading to gray, before finally melting away. As it happened, it would effect the belt, the star losing its colour.
She grit her teeth as she felt her power weakened, and quickly began to look for an escape. "Starlight!"
Just then, Starlight slid to a stop at the far side of the tree. "Here, Rainbow!"
She scurried through the branches and leapt out of the tree, straight onto Starlight's back.
"Run! We need room!"
He at once took off, not even sparing a breath for a smart comeback. The pause to collect her, however, was plenty of time for them to become viable targets for the hammer again.
"Ride low, Rainbow!"
"Right!" She leaned down to hug herself to his neck, reaching back only to grab a handful of star sprinkes, just in case they were seperated again. Lucky for her. With the next swing of the hammer, it passed right over Starlight's back, just behind Rainbow, low enough to catch the saddlebags. They were knocked off his back and fell to the ground, a moment later trampled under the creature's feet.
"Ah! The star sprinkles!"
"Rainbow, what do you usggest we do?"
"Give me a second!"
"I can run as long as you need!"
She smiled faintly, then closed her eyes. She could let Starlight worry about running. She needed a plan. But what could they do with a handful of star sprinkles?
"We have to get home. There's nothing we can do here."
"Then let's go." Starlight veered around and began to run towards an open area.
Rainbow furrowed her brow as she tried to summon the rainbow from home. "Something's wrong! I can't reach them!" As they came into the open, she used her handful to create her own rainbow. "Go!"
Starlight leapt onto the rainbow and climbed to safety. It was only minutes before they were free of the Earth and heading home.
"What happened?"
"I'm not sure. I think when I used the rainbow on its feet, that poison somehow infected the belt. Let's just hope the connection comes back when we get closer. We don't have nearly enough sprinkles to get home."
"Then I'd better hurry." As if he'd been standing still all this time, he charged forward with new gusto. "You're okay?"
She blinked, then leaned forward. "I'm fine..." She smiled and lowered her head to his mane. "And you?"
He glanced back at her, but just looked forward again. "I'm alright."
"Good. I'm glad."
"Keep trying to contact Rainbowland. We'll get home."
"Okay."
Just as Rainbowland became visible in the distance, the rainbow began to falter.

#3

As the rainbow arched over the Earth, something on the surface caught Rainbow's eye. She sat up, a signal for Starlight to stop.
"What is it, Rainbow?"
"Down there... Look, there!"
Below them, something was causing quite the commotion in a patch of forest. Animals were scurrying from the site, and right before their eyes, the trees began to die, almost melting away, curling into the brown earth. The patch of brown began to spread, as if a disease was ravaging the forest.
"Whatever is causing this, it's right down there!"
"You're right!"
Rainbow hunched over Starlight's neck, grabbing handfulls of his mane. As she willed it, the rainbow veered down towards the earth. "Run like the wind, Starlight!"
"As always, Rainbow!"
Within minutes, Starlight touched down among the ruin, and was at once running towards the trembling trees marking the retreat of their aim.
"Whatever it is, it's big!"
Rainbow frowned and reached for a handful of starsprinkles, hand then poised in front of the belt. "Keep your wits, Starlight. I have a bad feeling about this."
"I wonder why."
"Oh, be quiet."
In the next few seconds, they'd see it. A huge creature that walked upright, dragging behind it a hammer that looked to be almost as big as he was.
"Rainbow, what is it??"
"I'm not exactly sure. But look at his feet."
They were bare, but oozing from between the hair that covered the top of them was a black...something.
"I'd bet anything that's what's killing everything. And considering the military isn't doing anything, I'm guessing no one on Earth can see him."
"But how'd he get here?"
"Don't ask me. Let's just worry about stoping him!"
"Hold on, then!" He started forward with new gusto, and they had circled around in front of it within seconds. While starlight ran, Rainbow turned to face the creature.
"Please, stop!" Granted, being noticed and addressed got the creature's attention, it wouldn't stop him. Much worse than that, it would give the creature something besides trees to aim at with that giant hammer. Rainbow let out a yell as Starlight lurched forward to avoid that hammer.
Rainbow activated the belt, a rainbow shooting out and circling around the hammer, trying to pull it from the creature's grasp. It stumbled forward, but in the next moment, it dug its feet in and pulled the hammer back. The sudden, unexpected movement jerked Rainbow off of Starlight's back, sending her flying into the canopy above them.
"Rainbow!"
Her rainbow dissapated as she tried to recover. On the ground, Starlight was forced to keep running as the creature barrelled after him. He began to circle around, gaze continuing to return to the tree Rainbow had landed in.

#2

Starlight kept up his tireless gallop. "You're sure we should be going alone?"
"Yes, I'm sure."
"You think something else is happening, don't you?"
"'Fraid so. I've never seen anything like this during the years we've been doing this. I'm not sure what we're up against."
"And you don't want anyone else hurt. Guess that means we won't be finding Brian."
"Not if we don't have to. But his town is near one of the places this is happening, so we may not have a choice."
They found one of the now devastated areas, Starlight landing on the brown earth.
"What is this...?"
Rainbow slid down off of his back, feet crunching the dead grass. "No fire did this, that's for sure."
"Then what?"
She slowly looked around, then crouched down, taking a handful of the earth and bringing it to her nose. She took a deep breath, but whatever she smelled didn't please her. The dirt slipped through her fingers as she stood back up.
What is it, Rainbow?"
"Poison. At least, I think so. IT's like nothing I've ever encountered."
"Pesticides, maybe?"
She looked up at him. "If it is, it's a new kind. And it's not being used how it should. Let's check out another spot."
She squng up onto his back and conjured up a rainbow. A few minutes and they were in another patch.
"It looks the same..." Starlight glanced back at her.
"Yes... I think it's safe to say these incidents are all related." She hopped off his back again, doing the same as before. "Definitely the same stuff."
"What do you suggest?"
"Let's check out a few more sites, then we have to get to the bottom of this."
A few more sites, before Rainbow had seen enough. They'd be standing on her rainbow over yet another site.
"It really is worldwide. Who could be doing this?"
"Perhaps we should find Brian. Maybe the humans know something about this."
"Let's hope so. Come on, it'll be dark there soon."
"Don't worry. Even the sun cannot outrun me."
"Oh, Starlight. Just run."
((Short. Tomorrow's will be longer.))

So it begins.

Rainbow sat draped over the back of the bench by the starfruit trees, a dreamy look on her face. Indigo was reclined under the tree, her voice floating on the breeze. As the song came to an end, Rainbow smiled.
"Indigo, your voice seems to get sweeter every day."
She blushed and smiled at Rainbow. "Thank-you."
"You're quite welcome."
"There you are!" Twink hurried over from the road, Lala and Red with him.
Rainbow sat up and looked over, offering them a smile. "What is it?"
Lala speaks up, gesturing with her hands. "There's some sort of disturbance of Earth."
Rainbow's smile fades as her brows furrowed. "What sort of disturbance?"
Red speaks this time. "We can't really tell from here. All we know is that large patches of forests and fields are dying all over the planet."
Rainbow rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Sounds like a rash of forest fires."
"That's what we thought, too," Red said. "But at such a large scale, and so widespread?"
Rainbow stood and brushed herself off. "Guess I'll have to go investigate myself. Let's get back to the Colour Castle to let everyone else know."
At the Castle, Rainbow had everyone gathered around the console. Starlight can be seen outside the door with Skydancer.
"How long will you be gone, Rainbow?" Canary asked, looking as worried as everyone else.
"Cheer up, everyone. I won't be too long. I just have to see what's causing all of the trouble on Earth, and see if there's anything I can do now to stop it."
Twink and a few other head sprites hurried in with a couple of saddle bags filled with star sprinkles. "Will this be enough, Rainbow?"
She smiled and took one of the bags, lifting it over her shoulder. "This should be plenty, Twink." She looked over at everyone again, sympathetic smile on her lips. "Everything will be just fine."
Twink stepped forward. "We should get going before it all gets worse."
"You're staying here, Twink."
"What??"
"If I can't do anything on Earth now, I'm going to need you hear to keep things running right. Okay?"
He gave her a discouraged look, but nodded. "Yeah, okay."
She smiled again. "Good." She headed for the door as everyone else looked on with worried faces. She turned at the door, Starlight standing behind her. "Heads high, everyone. I'll be back as soon as I can." She swung up onto Starlight.
"Goodbye, Rianbow," they all said together, waving as Starlight took off on the rainbow she called upon.
Twink watched, the kids gathered around him. "She'll fix everything... Rainbow always fixes everything."