#23

Yet another crumpled wasteland was passing by as Rainbow and Starlight continued on their aimless search.
"How many does that make?" Starlight asked. All of this time, and his gallop had yet to tire.
Rainbow, however, was having a great deal of trouble keeping her spirits high. "Six, I think. Oh, Starlight, what are we gonna do? At this rate, by the time we find anything helpful, Earth will be just another pile of dust! We need something now, here, not eight dimensions over!"
"It'll be alright, Rainbow. We'll find something. You'll save Earth, and the rest of the universe, just like you always do."
"I'm not so sure, Starlight. We've been looking for days, and still nothing." She looked off to the left, while Starlight tilted his head to the right.
A few minutes passed, before Starlight's ears perked forward. "What's that?"
Rainbow turned her head to look as Starlight slowed to a stop. "What's what?" She followed his gaze out beyond the last crumpled remains of the planet. Something glinted as they rubble rotated and floated along. "Let's check it out," she said, though with little hope. She veered the rainbow around and it began to maneuver around the debris. Starlight quickly chased after it, while Rainbow kept her attention on the out-of-place bit of rubble.
As they drew closer, hope suddenly popped back into Rainbow's heart. "It's a ship," she said as she sat up. Starlight's gait extended at those three little words. In no time, the rainbow reached the little ship, and Starlight moments later. Just as Rainbow peered inside, a little face appearing in the window. "Orin!"
Starlight backed up a couple of steps as the old sprite opened the ship's hatch. "Rainbow Brite! Bless my soul, little lady, am I glad to see you. I was afraid I would never reach you in time."
"In time?" Rainbow asked. "You know of Earth's poison?"
He motioned around them. "It would only have been a matter of time before this horror reached you. It has come then?" he asked glumly.
"It has," Rainbow said softly. "Is there nothing that can be done to stop it?"
"not as you are," he replied in the typical Orin fashion. "But there is something."
Rainbow and Starlight both perked at that. "What kind of something?" Rainbow asked.
"These creatures do not come on their own, but the one who sends them..."
"Don't you know?" Starlight asked in a slight frustration. Rainbow gently patted his shoulder to calm him.
"I know only that the cause is far bigger - no, older - than myself, or you, Rainbow. The only way to stop him is to travel to the beginning, then seek out the end."
Rainbow frowned. "On-X said you looking for the beginning. What does that even mean? The beginning of what?"
"The beginning of you, and of all of us who watch over the order of the universe."
"Does such a thing exist?" Starlight asked, with only slightly less frustration.
"Oh, yes, he does," Orin said matter-of-factly.
"He? The 'Beginning' is a person?" Rainbow asked with intrigue.
"He most certainly is. And he's waiting for you, Rainbow."
"Then you know where he is? Will you take us to him?"
"I can only point you in the right direction. There are other I must warn."
"If you pass by Rainbowland, will you tell the others that I'm safe, and that I know now where I have to go?"
"Of course I will."