#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.