#33

"Look at that!" Moonglow cried. She pointed down at the Earth's surface, at a large mound positioned on the edge of the poisoned area. As they drew closer, they were able to see that it was more than just a mound.
"It's the creature," Krys said quietly. "They succeeded..."
"But where are they?"
They glanced at each other, then they both began scouring the area for some clue as to where Stormy and Brian had gone.
"Oh, no..." Moonglow pointed to a spot not far from the creature. There in the dirt were the two gloom guns.
On-X landed and Moonglow slipped down to retrieve them. "Something's happened to them," Krys said. "Something bad."
As Moonglow climbed back on, On-X spoke up with his broken voice. "Atmosphere...dis-urbance...dete-te-tected."
Krys frowned. "What kind of disturbance?"
"Break in...dimensional boundary."
Both riders gained anxious expressions. Moonglow hugged the guns to her chest while Krys looked around. "Whatever's doing this," he said softly, "may have just taken them."
"Let's get out of here. There's...nothing we can do right now." She looked down with shame at those words.
Krys sighed, but urged On-X up into the sky. "You're right. We need to get the guns back. Rainbow's their only hope now."
Moonglow closed her eyes tightly and rested her forehead against his shoulder. Once they were off of the surface, she handed the guns over to Krys. "This won't take long."
With On-X hovering in place, Moonglow began the mental process of encoding a message in the stars.

Rainbow reached out to Starlight's neck. "Are you alright, old friend?"
His ears twitched back, head lifting up proudly. "All the dimensions in the Universe could not tire me. Just keep the rainbow steady, and I will keep running."
She smiled gently, but his words seemed to bring something to Alpha's mind. "How is it you've sustained the rainbow so long? You hardly use the star sprinkles at all now."
She glanced back wtih a sly grin. "I've a friend who specializes in making the stars brighter."
His brows lifted. "Astral reserves?"
"I guess you could call them that," she said with a laugh.
"Rainbow..."
She turned forward again. "What is it, Starlight?"
"That star, there," he said while motioning off to the side with his muzzle.
She watched as the star winked irregularly. "It...I think it's a message!"

"Erng..."
"Are you alright, Stormy?"
She slowly sat up, and was quickly aware that her surroundings were moving. She was in some sort of cage...
"Best not to move too much..." Brian was positioned a short ways from her, in another hanging cage. "I'd say don't look down, but, well-"
She did just that, and stifled a scream as she instinctively grabbed the bars of the cage. They were hanging, alright. A good three hundred feet up in the air, overlooking some sort of ravine. The closest solid land was fifty feet up, thirty feet over. They were thoroughly suspended.
"Yeah, I knew you'd look."
She turned towards him, fear etched across her face. There was fear in Brian's, too, but not as strong. "Skydancer?"
"Haven't seen him. Or heard him, which likely means he's no where near here," he said. "Any idea where we are?"
She slowly looked around, but shook her head. "It looks like a hundred thousand other worlds... How are we going to get out of this one?"
"Rainbow will come," Brian said with conviction.
Stormy glance at him again with a frown. "Brian..."
"She will, Stormy. You can't give up on her already. She always pulls through."
"Just because she's got a belt and some pretty rocks doesn't mean she's invincible!"
"That's not why, Stormy."
She blinked, looking at him with a furrowed brow.
"She won't fail because of her heart, not because she's Rainbow Brite. I think..." He grabbed one of the bars and looked off to the side. "I think she became Rainbow Brite because of her heart. She's strong, and smart, and filled with love and compassion. She doesn't get discouraged, even when all the odds are against her, even when it seems like there's no hope to be had. The worse things get, the more determined she becomes. She doesn't give up. Only the ones that give up get defeated."
Stormy listened silently to his words. When he finished, tears had begun to fall down her cheeks. "You're right. I gave up on her... I- I should have believed in her. I was wrong."
He looked at her compassionately. "For both our sakes," he said quietly, "I really hope so."