#30

"You're sure we have to stop here?" Rainbow asked Alpha, glancing back over her shoulder at him. Before them stretched the surface of a dark, desolate world, much like the surface of the world they'd just come from. Only this time, the few openings inside that Rainbow could see were pitch, empty, no secret world tucked away. it looked lonely, and most of all uninhabited.
"Is there even anything here?" Starlight asked as he stepped off of the rainbow and onto the surface.
"I assure you both that something of great importance lies here," he said as he rested a hand on Rainbow's shoulder. "Waiting for you."
She blushed slightly and looked forward again, coughing to try to regain her composure. "Yes, well, shall we try to find it, then?"
Alpha nodded, and Starlight began to walk forward.
"You said you made the belt," Rainbow said as she looked around for some clue to something she didn't know anything about.
"That's right," he replied, glancing at her a moment.
"Can you tell me...who the voice was that brought me to it? And to Rainbowland? The Light..."
"I'm afraid that I can't. You will one day come to understand, though. That, I will tell you."
She sighed softly and looked back at him, meeting his gaze. "Is everything with you just one big riddle?"
He smiled, a bit sheepishly, which came as a surprise, and laughed lightly. "I'm afraid so, Rainbow Brite."
She tilted her head slightly at him. "You can just call me 'Rainbow', you know."
He smiled a bit sadly. "Perhaps that is why."
"Why...?"
He hesitated in continuing, before suddenly turning his head to look out at one of the caves. "There. Go there."
Starlight flicked an ear back, but waited for a nudge from Rainbow's knee before actually heading that way. "There aren't any crabs here, are there? Or giant lizard men, or robots, or anything?"
"No, nothing like that. We've already passed the defenses."
"Defenses?" Rainbow asked curiously. "How?"
"Because of me. I'm the only one authorized to come here."
"Authorized?" It was Starlight's turn. "You make it sound like you're some great, top secret, military experiment."
"We're no great experiment...but to fall into the hands of the wrong person, the hands of anyone but Rainbow Brite, would spell disaster for much of the Universe."
"We?" Rainbow frowned. She was beginning to feel like a parrot. "Is it a person we've come for? Someone like you?"
"Not exactly like me, but, yes, you've got the general idea."
While they were talking, a stone whizzed through the air and smacked Starlight inthe neck. Any other horse would have gone running, but Starlight only shook his mane out and glanced into the darkness of the cave. "I thought you said we were already past the defenses."
Before Alpha could answer, another rock came flying. "Rainbow!" Starlight shouted as he tried to back out of the way. But he was big, and the cave had grown tight.
She saw it, but had no time to duck or block it. However, a pale hand appeared in front of her face, catching the golfball sized stone.
"That's enough!" Alpha cried out into the shadows. "Stop this now, Omi!"
"No!" shouted someone in the darkness. "Go away!" Another rock smashed into the wall just beside Starlight's nose.
"Omi, it's me, Alpha! Cut this out!"
"I know who it is! Go away!" Rainbow shouted as a rock smacked into her knee, hand quickly covering the spot.
"What's the meaning of this, Omi?!"
Starlight finally managed to retreat behind a corner. he looked back at Rainbow. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, yes, I'm fine." She frowned as another rock hit the wall just past their defenses. "He's a child..."
"I won't go with you! I don't want to!"
"Omi, this is the Rainbow Brite!"
"I KNOW what she is! But SHE doesn't even know! I won't go with her!"
Rainbow frowned and glanced back at Alpha. "I don't know what?"
He smiled sadly to her, but didn't answer, instead calling out to Omi, who was still sending rocks out at them. "She needs us, Omi! She'll remember, I promise!"
"You can't know that! I won't go, I won't be used again!"
"Used?" Rainbow was thoroughly confused by now. Finally, she just shook her head and put the confusing things behind her. Right now, that wasn't important. She swung her leg up over Starlight's head and dropped down from his back.
"Rainbow??" Starlight looked at her with worry, but she just patted his nose.
"Stay put."
"Rainbow Brite, you shouldn't..."
"Alpha, please. I have to," she said with conviction. She stepped around the corner, and it didn't take long for the first rock to strike her. She winced as it hit her shoulder. "Omi, I'm not sure who you are; I don't even know who Alpha is. I don't know why I'm out here, what I'm looking for, or what I'm supposed to be stopping." Another stone hit her in the chest, right under the collar, but she didn't stop. She even took a few steps forward. "But I do know something. I know that the people I'm supposed to protect, and my home, with the people who depend on me, are all in danger. I know that whatever is doing this has something against me - against Rainbow Brite. I have to stop it, no matter what. But I know I can't stop it alone. I know I need Alpha's help, and he says I need you, too."
"No!" A rock hit her right in the face, just under her eye. She stumbled back a couple of steps and fell to one knee, hand lifted over the wound. A trickle of blood fell through her fingers, falling to her knee. But she didn't stop.
"I also know...that I would never use someone. I can only ask that you help, not for my sake, but for the sake of my home, and the Earth, and the rest of the Universe. Please...for their sake. Help me."
There was silence, and no more rocks were throw. A minute passed, and slowly, a small boy dressed in black stepped out of the shadows. He carried a slingshot in one hand, but she almost didn't notice that. Instead, her eyes were drawn to his ears - or where his ears were supposed to be. Instead, there peeking out of a head of thick, raven hair, was a pair of pitch wings, the feathers thin and delicate to match his hair. The tips nearly came down to his shoulders. If he had ears, they were hidden under the hair, or behind the wings.
"You won't use me?" he asked quietly. Tears streaked his face, and he sniffled ebtween his words.
She quickly shook her head and smiled warmly to him. "Never."
He relaxed, and reached out to touch her cheek where the rock had hit her. "I'm sorry."
Her smile grew. "That's alright."
Before she could do anything about it, he threw his arms around her neck. She laughed lightly and hugged him close. "I'll take good care of you, I promise."
Starlight stepped over to them, and Rainbow stood up. "Can we go home now?" he asked as he dipped his head down. Alpha reached down and helped Rianbow up onto Starlight in front of him.
"I believe so," she said. She reached down and lifted Omi up in front of her, keeping her arms protectively around him.
"Good. The more dimensions we put between this place and us the better." With that he took off at a canter, weaving his way back out of the cave and into the sky.