Authors Notes: A special thanks goes out to Imagi and all the other people
who believed that my first story was good enough to merit a sequel, again,
thanks. This is my sequel to "A Darker Shade Of Blue" so if you haven't
read that story I highly suggest that you do so now, or else you might not
know what happened, and that wouldn't be good now would it? Please note
that I had been working on this story for a couple of days and just didn't
hammer it out when I read that people wanted a sequel… really I didn't know
it would be that well received, honest… Anywho, I must correct an error on
my part that was made in my previous story, apparently Brian's eyes were
ALWAYS blue, in my story I put they were hazel… I really apologize for this
but hey, let's just pretend that it never happened, and even then I can
assure you that his eyes in my story became a deeper blue then they were in
the cartoon. Also I am assuming that the sprite Dee Lite belongs to Tickled
Pink, but this was never specified in the show/books or anything else that
was legally made with the Rainbow Brite name. Rainbow Brite and all
characters used in this story, with the exception of: Tempest, Cobalt,
Twilight, the Midnight Cove, and the Keeper of Color, those are all my
creations. Apologies must be made to onyxmoon, I most sincerely apologize
for using your Lady Brite character without giving you credit for creating
her and more importantly without knowing that you did… so very sorry. Also,
I added a part to the story so that it would clear up what might have been
considered a "plot hole", sorry for that too. Oh and to clear up any
questions about Brian's color kid costume *pokes Imagi*, let's just all
assume that he had time to change back into his regular clothes, not the
funeral tux… didn't even think about him still wearing that, whoops.
Prologue
Krys was officially scared. The Princess had come back with more force than ever before, and this time it didn't look like he could win. The boy had always been a stubborn fellow, and even now he refused to admit defeat. All Krys cared about was the fact that he knew that Orin was safe in a spot that no one would be able to find him. On-X had taken the wise sage over to a secluded asteroid that no one, save Orin himself, knew existed. Krys bravely walked over to the Princesses ship, knowing that he could be making the biggest mistake of his life. However, Krys was a hero, and so long as he made sure that whatever evil was plaguing his home was eliminated, nothing else mattered, not even his own life. Two guards ran up to Krys, but the boy easily put them on ice using the power of the prism. He found it odd that the Princess would only have two guards protecting her royal flagship, but he knew that the rest of them were busy attacking what was left of the resistance that the people of Spectra had amassed since the attack. He slowly walked up the stairs and saw the Princess looking at herself in the mirror, vain as ever.
"I look so beautiful don't I?" She asked, stroking her diamond.
"Of course your highness, there is not a person as beautiful as you in the entire galaxy." Count Blogg said from behind her.
"I know!" The Princess boastfully replied. She heard someone walking up the stairs and quickly turned around. "Who is it? I wasn't expecting anyone! They had better have a present for me!" Her face grew more sinister the moment she saw Krys standing in front of her. "Oh, it's you; you never have a present for me!"
"But this time I do have a present for you," Krys said, holding back all fear that he felt as he held up his prism, "your death!" The Princess began to laugh.
"You really think your little toy can harm me, let alone kill me? You foolish child."
"I know it can defeat you, and it will!" Krys yelled as he fired the prism at the Princess. All she did was wave her hand and the beam stopped. "What? How?"
"I told you it wouldn't work. Now feel my power!" The Princess again waved her hand as energy ran from the diamond to her hand and from her hand to Krys, trapping him in a bubble. "Color cannot get through that bubble, so the rainbow energy that powers it won't work!" Krys didn't listen and attempted to fire, but it didn't work. "I told you!"
"Should we execute him your highness?" Blogg asked.
"No, let's keep him as a prisoner. He may come in use for our next target."
"Our next target your highness?"
"Yes, Rainbowland!" The princess looked over at Krys and turned back towards Blogg. "Seeing this parasite gave me an idea, after we conquer Spectra we will take over the land of the girl who ruined my plans the first time, that brat Rainbow Brite!"
"An excellent idea!"
"I know, I always come up with the best ideas." Again she turned to look at Krys who was hitting the bubble, his mouth moving. "Foolish child, you can hear everything that we say, but your own voice cannot be heard outside that bubble." Krys had an idea, but he only had one chance, and he had to do it right. Krys feigned defeat as he sunk into a ball, covering his body in at an angle so that the Princess and Count Blogg would not see him press a button on his belt. The button was a direct communication to On-X.
"On-X, go to Rainbow Land, tell Rainbow that the Princess is coming, hurry!" He pressed the button again and prayed that his horse would make it in time.
Chapter One
The potato sack race between the Color Kids was about to start. All of the kids were talking with their sprites. Rainbow Brite looked at her friend Brian, grabbed his hand and smiled softly. "This is your first Sprite Festival as a Color Kid Brian, isn't it exciting?"
"Yeah Rainbow it is. I'm still reeling with my duties as the keeper of the night skies, but even you get some time to have fun, and you have a much busier day then me." He winked at his dearest friend and they both chuckled.
"Brian, Rainbow, come on the race is about to start!" Red Butler yelled from the start line.
"He's really intent on beating you Brian." Rainbow said looking at the other kids.
"Yeah, I know he is…" Brian's eyes drifted over to the color castle where Stormy was leaning against it, her hand gently placed on her horses' side. Rainbow snapped her fingers in front of Brian.
"Hello? Brian, you there?"
"Huh?" Brain said as he turned his head back to Rainbow. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that Rainbow, I was just thinking about something else. Let's go." Rainbow nodded and they walked over to the crowd. Brian walked over to Cobalt, who was looking uninterested. "Something wrong Cobalt?"
"I just don't see why we have to do this Brian. It's so…. Barbaric."
"It's just a potato sack race Cobalt. Besides, Rainbow and the Color Kids have been doing this for years. We are part of that group now, it's our tradition too."
"If I would have known that being your sprite required unwarranted physical exertion I probably just would have stayed hidden." Brian smiled lightly.
"Don't worry Cobalt, this only happens once a year, just like Christmas."
"If I remember my teachings correctly, doesn't one receive presents during this "Christmas"?" Brian sighed, wondering why Cobalt was being so difficult.
"Fine, if you do this I'll let you sleep on the bed with me instead of on the hammock like Twink."
"Do you promise?" Cobalt asked, looking up at his charge. Brian nodded. "Very well, let's get this over with."
"On your mark!" Starlight yelled carrying a small green sprite with a checked flag on his back. "Get set… GO!" The sprite waved the flag and the kids were off. Stormy watched the race commence with her usual reserved glare. Red didn't beat Brian… but Buddy did, in fact Buddy won the sack race with Rainbow a close second.
"Great job Buddy!" Rainbow said, giving her friend a victory hug.
"Thanks Rainbow. You put up a great race, it could have been either of us." Brian walked up to Red and smiled.
"Looks like neither of us won the race Red." Red glared at Brian and then walked away.
"He didn't take that very well." Cobalt said to Romeo, Red's chief sprite. Romeo told him something in sprite and ran off after his master. Cobalt looked up at Brian. "Romeo says not to take it personal. Red's just a very competitive person and he hates to lose, he actually holds you in high regard."
"Yeah, I know." Brian looked back at the castle and could still make out Stormy next to Skydancer.
"Something wrong Brian?" Cobalt asked.
"It's Stormy," Brian said softly "I think she might be sad about something. I just don't know what."
"Stormy angry? That never happens!" Cobalt said sarcastically.
"I meant more then usual, she seems… preoccupied."
"Brian!" Canary yelled from behind. "The three legged race is about to start, come on!"
"No thanks Canary, I don't feel up to it right now." Brian yelled back. Cobalt looked at Brian, perplexed.
"What are you talking about? You spent the last couple of days saying how great you were at that race, you wanted to do that event more than anything else."
"I know," Brian began "but making sure that my friends are feeling okay is more important to me then some race." Brian began walking back to the castle, Cobalt walked the other way.
Stormy was petting Skydancers' mane. "You excited about the horse race later?" Her steed bowed his head slightly. "Well we'll show Rainbow and the rest of them how much better you've gotten since last time." She gave a slight smile.
"Stormy?" Brian made her name a question. Stormy's smile dropped as she turned around.
"What do you want?" She said with a hint of venom.
"I just wanted to see if you were alright." Brian remained unmoved, getting this type of reaction from Stormy was natural and he had grown used to it in the time he had known her.
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"You seemed like your mind was on something else completely."
"I'm fine Brian." Stormy said as she jumped on her horse. "Come on Skydancer, let's go on a warm up run around Rainbow Land!" Skydancer reared up and ran off.
"Are you really okay Stormy? Are you really?"
Chapter Two
Stormy and Skydancer ran for what seemed to be an eternity, all around Rainbow Land and even into some of the closest areas of the pits. Skydancer stopped at the waterfall for some water and Stormy walked over to wash her face. "Do you really think I looked like I was preoccupied Skydancer?" Her steed remained in the same position, gulping down the sweet water. "I'll take your lack of reaction as a no, and I couldn't agree with you more." Stormy gave a sigh of refreshment and jumped back on Skydancer. "Let's go back, we don't want to miss the race and show them all up!" Skydancer gave a nod and began running full speed back to the castle.
Canary and Spark turned out to be the winners of the three legged race, and Red was still none to pleased. That event was the last one that any of the color kids could participate in, except Brian. Rainbow was on Starlight and Brian was on Twilight. "So Twilight," Starlight began in his regal voice, "do you really think you can beat the most magnificent horse in the whole universe? I've never been beaten at this race track! You might be my distant relative but it takes years of experience to get as good as I am!"
"I thought you spent most of those years frozen in the pits…" Brian said under his breath.
"What was that Brian?" Starlight asked.
"Uh, nothing, just telling Twilight to do his best." Brian patted his horse on the head.
"It's a pity we couldn't get in touch with Krys and On-x, I know how much they love coming to Rainbow Land, especially for the races." Rainbow said.
"A pity… right." Brian said softly. Krys had always seemed to be exactly like Red when it came to Brian, they both liked him, but there was no way they would ever show it. Krys still didn't know what happened to Brian, his awakening. "Hey Rainbow, did Stormy seem a little… odd today?"
"You noticed it too?" Rainbow asked surprised. "She seemed a lot more reserved today, like she was thinking about something but didn't want to tell anyone."
"Yeah, I asked her if she was alright and she said she was. But I still feel like she isn't telling us something."
"We have to trust her Brian. If she says she's feeling fine we should believe her. I wonder where she is, she never misses a horse race."
"And I'm not about to start now!" Stormy slowly trotted up on Skydancer and got into her starting position. "You both ready to lose?" Rainbow and Brian both nodded then turned their heads to the track. Violet looked at her watch and pointed a pop-gun into the air.
"GO!" The three horses left a huge cloud of dust that didn't clear until they were almost done with the first lap. When it did clear Starlight was in the lead, with Twilight and Skydancer neck and neck behind them. After the second lap there was no change. The third, and final lap seemed like it would be the same, until Starlight stumbled a bit, causing him to slow down. The reaction startled Brian, who slowed down a bit to make sure they were okay, but Stormy kept on going, and she won. She turned around to see who was behind her, but saw no one directly behind her, all she saw was a crowd a couple of yards behind. Her and Skydancer ran to the crowd to see what was happening.
"What happened here?" Stormy asked as she pushed through the crowd of sprites. She saw Starlight shaking in pain, with Rainbow patting him on the head. "Is he going to be alright?"
"I'll be fine!" Starlight said, wincing in pain. "You would have never beaten me if I didn't trip over a rock!"
"Are you saying that I put a rock there so that I would win?" Stormy yelled, the horse remained silent. "Oh I get it, you just can't deal with losing so you have to make some little story up about sabotage just to keep your mountainous ego in check!" Everyone just looked at her. "Fine! I don't need to take this! Come on Skydancer, we're leaving!" Stormy got on her horse and ran off. Silence again loomed over the crowd.
"She seemed really angry." Tickled Pink finally said, clutching Dee Lite's hand.
"Just give her time to blow off some steam Pink." Patty O'Green said confidently. Brian sighed and got on Twilight.
"We should probably get going Moonglo, the people back on earth probably want the night to come." Moonglo nodded and turned invisible. "I'll see you all when I get back. Come on Cobalt." Twilight leaped into the sky and soon enough they were out of sight.
Brian spent the entire time thinking to himself, while dropping star sprinkles into the air, changing the shade of the sky. Cobalt knew that Brian was thinking about what had happened at the track but he chose to remain quiet. Moonglo did her job well and made the night sky gorgeous as ever. Brian was on his way back to Rainbow Land when he stopped off at the Midnight Cove, his area of Rainbow Land. The cove was formed where the rainbow river met the blue zone, and it was the darkest spot, perfect for the Color Kid of the darkest star sprinkles. Brian didn't know why he stopped at the cove, but he felt like he needed to. "Why are we here Brian?" Cobalt asked, but Brian quickly shushed him.
"Don't you hear that?" Brian asked.
"Hear what?"
"I don't know… it sounds like… crying." Twilight quietly walked around the cove, and then they saw Stormy sitting down near the river, crying.
"You feel alone, don't you little one?" Stormy jumped at the voice, looking around.
"Who said that?"
"I did…" A ball of light appeared in front of her.
Chapter Three
"Who, what, are you?" Stormy asked the glowing ball.
"The Color Kids and Rainbow Brite know me as the Keeper of Color."
"Why are you here?"
"To help you, the honorary Color Kid, in thanks for helping keep the color out of the hands of evil, follow me Stormy." The Keeper of Color flew into the clouds and Stormy jumped on her horse and followed. Brian, Cobalt, and Twilight looked up into the sky, astonished.
"I've heard of the Keeper of Color," Cobalt said, "She was the one that brought Rainbow Brite to Rainbow Land and appointed all the color kids, except you. I never thought I would meet her." Brian jumped back on Twilight. "What are you doing Brian?"
"Come on, we're going to follow them!" Brian held out his hand and Cobalt jumped on the horse.
Stormy followed the ball of light deep into the clouds, normally she would feel a little bit unnerved but the Keeper of Color did not give Stormy a reason to be suspicious. The ball stopped and Skydancer reared to a halt. "Why did we stop?"
"I wish to know why you are sad Stormy."
"I'm not sad!" She barked back.
"You were crying when I appeared before you."
"I was, uh… I had something in my eye." Stormy said softly.
"You can say whatever you want out of your mouth Stormy, but your heart will always tell the truth." Stormy frowned and looked at the ground. She knew that the Keeper of Color was right about her being sad, but she hated showing weakness.
"Alright," She finally said, "I just don't feel welcome in Rainbow Land."
"All of the Color Kids consider you their friend Stormy, why don't you feel welcomed?"
"Because there are a lot of things that they can do that I can't, each of them have a friend that they can always talk to, they each have a sprite to call their own. I have Skydancer, but he can't talk back. I almost always feel alone."
"But you aren't alone Stormy," Cobalt said as he and Brian caught up with them on Twilight, "And you aren't the only one who feels like that, I do too."
"Cobalt…" Brian said.
"What are you talking about Cobalt?" Stormy asked.
"That feeling of being an outcast, I feel it too. It's not easy being forced into an environment all of a sudden and expecting to be accepted, but you get used to it. Besides, at least the Color kids like you, most of the sprites don't talk to me unless they need too. Regardless of how much you think you are alone, you never are, all of us will be there if you need us." Brian and Stormy looked at the dark blue sprite, stunned by what he just said.
"The sprite of the child of light and darkness speaks the truth Stormy, you are never alone." The Keeper of Color said. "However, I have chosen to grant your hearts deepest desire." The ball of light became so radiant that everyone turned their heads. "Stormy, in thanks of everything that you have done to help the color remain vibrant I present to you Tempest, your very own sprite." Almost immediately after his name was called a shy sprite peeked out from behind the ball. His fur was the same color as Stormy's hair, and his antenna were topped off with thunderbolts like the one that she had on her belt. "Hopefully he'll be able to help you fill the void that you have been feeling as of late." The ball of light lost an alarming amount of shine for a brief moment.
"Umm, is everything alright Keeper?" Brian asked.
"You all must return to Rainbow Land now!"
"Is everything alright?" Stormy asked.
"I don't know for sure, but I feel as if an evil presence is there."
"It's probably just Murky and Lurky again, when will those boneheads learn that they just can't win."
"Please," The Keeper of Color said with a high amount of panic, "You need to get back there now, GO!" Stormy and Tempest got on Skydancer and sped off.
"We'll make sure nothing bad happens to Rainbow Land Keeper." Brian said as he and Cobalt jumped on Twilight. "I promise you that!"
"I hope they can aid the others in time."
Rainbow was wondering why Brian had not returned from Earth yet, Moonglo had returned at least an hour ago. She hoped that he was safe as she stared into the night sky. A familiar darkened figure flew past as she was looking up. "It's On-X!" She yelled as the horse landed on the bridge in front of the castle. "On-X why are you here? Where is Krys?"
"Danger Rainbow Brite, danger!" The horse said in its computerized voice.
"Danger? What Danger?"
"The princess is coming."
Chapter Four
"The princess is coming? Where is Krys at? Why isn't he with you?" Rainbow asked quickly.
"Krys sent me to warn you, Rainbow Brite… don't know where he is now." Rainbow ran into the castle and up to the console. She hit the distress button and within minutes the kids were all downstairs, wondering why Rainbow was so nervous.
"Rainbow, is everything okay?" Canary Yellow asked as soon as she got down the stairs.
"The princess is on her way to attack Rainbow Land!" All the kids gasped at the mention of the evil princess and began talking at once. "Calm down everyone! She'll surely beat us unless we stick together."
"Wait," Indigo said as she looked around, "where is Brian at?" The kids started looking around and they too noticed that Brian was missing.
"Maybe the princess has him!" Twink said nervously.
"Don't believe that, any of you! Brian is safe, I just don't know where he is. All I know is that the princess is on her way to Rainbow Land."
"Wrong Rainbow Brat!" A voice said from the castle entrance, the kids all turned around and saw the princess staring at them with her evil eyes. "The princess is here, and soon enough I'll have all of those lovely color crystals just for me!"
"Violet, try to find Krys, tell him what happened!" Rainbow ordered her friend and Violet ran towards the console, only to be stopped by the princess laughing.
"You think that little annoyance Krys can help you all? Fools!" The princess snapped her fingers and two guards came up holding Krys.
"Krys!" Rainbow screamed as she saw her friend battered and drifting into and out of consciousness.
"Rainbow," Krys said weakly as he tried to raise his head, his face shaking with pain, "I tried to stop her, but I couldn't do it alone. I'm sorry." Rainbow was openly weeping as the kids looked on with shock.
"Why are you doing this? You are just torturing him!" She asked.
"Well I could have just killed him, but I felt he would have more use to me like this." Again the princess snapped her finger and one of the guards put a knife to Krys's throat. "Now give me that color belt or your little friend won't live to see the morning, and then you and all your little friends get into the cage. And just so you know we know all about Moonglo's power of disappearance, so if she isn't in the cage with you Krys WILL die!" Rainbow nodded and undid her belt buckle.
"Come on everyone, we need to do this for Krys." The kids nodded and willingly walked into the cage. When they were all in the princess had the guards toss Krys in there with them. All of the kids and Rainbow ran over to Krys, worried. The princess laughed triumphantly.
"Now with all of you in this cage we can take all of those lovely crystals, in fact my guards have been gathering them since we landed here. They will all be mine! And with you all in here Spectra will be mine for the taking!" The princess fondled the diamond around her neck. "This little diamond has more power than all the other diamonds in the world! But I will still have them all, all of them will be for me!" Count Blogg was at her side.
"Wait your highness! There are only ten people in here excluding the warrior. There should be one more in this cage!"
"Who isn't in this cage brats? Tell me now!" The princess demanded.
"Me!" Brian yelled as he came up to the castle.
"And me too!" Stormy yelled next to him.
"What? There are two other color kids?" The princess yelled at Blogg, who remained silent. "Get in the cage now!"
"Oh get bent you old hag!" Stormy shouted back.
"No one talks to me like that!" The princess yelled as she shot familiar pink rays from her hands.
"Stormy!" Brian yelled as he jumped off of Twilight and directly in front of the path of the rays.
"Brian, don't!" Stormy screamed. But it was too late, the princesses' power had hit Brian and he collapsed in pain.
"That energy was meant for you!" The princess screamed. "No matter, he was going to be hit after you anyways. Now stay still!"
"I don't think so!" Stormy yelled as Skydancer stopped moving and let Stormy and Tempest get off his back.
"What do you think you are going to do little girl?" The princess asked tauntingly.
"You've caged up almost all my friends and hurt two of them to an extent that we won't know until one of us gets rid of you. I guess that falls to me, but that's okay." Stormy grinned and the princess looked on with little interest. "So what am I going to do?" Stormy said slyly. "This is what I'm going to do." Stormy's eyes lost color and she raised her hand into the air. Lightning came from the previously clear skies and struck the princess.
"You've got some power little girl!" The princess said as she wiped some blood from her mouth.
"You know nothing of my power you shameless, mean, spoiled, disillusioned person!" Stormy yelled as two more bolts came down and hit the princess, who screamed in pain.
"Don't just stand there, help me!" The princess ordered Blogg as she got up off the ground, still being hit by lightning. Blogg nodded and ran behind Stormy.
"Help her Tempest!" The Keeper of Color's voice said in the sky. The sprite nodded and, mimicking his masters actions, summoned the fierce winds to push Blogg back.
"Enough of this!" The princess stood up and grabbed her diamond, only to have it hit by another bolt, shattering it into hundreds of smaller pieces. "Noooooooooooo, not my diamond!" The princess collapsed on the ground and tried to gather the pieces up. Stormy walked up to the princess and laughed.
"You are beaten princess, now let my friends go or I swear I will strike you with so much lightning that you will never get your hair to do anything but stand up straight!" Stormy smiled as a hint of lighting came from her finger tip.
"Fine! You might have beaten me today, but I'll be back!" The princess ran back into her ship, and all her followers followed after her. Tempest walked up to Stormy's side and she patted him on the head.
"And we'll be waiting, won't we Tempest?" The sprite nodded and they both smiled.
Chapter Five
"Stormy, I don't want to ruin your moment of triumph, but could you get my color belt so I can break open the cage and get us out of here?" Rainbow said from inside the cage. Stormy nodded and looked at Tempest.
"Go see if Brian is alright Tempest, I'll help the kids out." Tempest nodded and ran over to the fallen color kid. Stormy ran over to a tree next to the cage where the princess had left the belt, probably to taunt Rainbow by keeping it just out of arm's length. "Is Krys alright?" Stormy asked as she handed the belt over.
"He should be, if I can get him to the infirmary soon." Violet said.
"So who's the sprite Stormy?" Red asked.
"That's my sprite Tempest…" Stormy said confidently.
"But only color kids can have sprites, can't they?" Canary asked.
"I'm technically not a color kid and I've always had my own sprite." Moonglo said.
"So who gave you a sprite?" Patty asked. Stormy looked up at the sky and smiled.
"A friend Patty… a friend."
"See Stormy, I told you, you are never alone." Cobalt said as he, Tempest, and Brian walked up. Rainbow put on her belt and used the rainbow to push the cage open. All the color kids swarmed Stormy with thanks and words of good will.
"Yeah… I'll never be alone again."
Krys woke up to the welcome gaze of Rainbow at his bedside in the infirmary. He looked around and saw Stormy as well. "What happened?" Krys asked weakly. "Is the princess gone?" Rainbow nodded and clutched his hand. "How? The last thing I remember is all of us being put into a cage and the princess waving around your color belt."
"Stormy and Brian beat her while you were out." Rainbow said.
"Brian?" Krys asked shocked. "What can that human do against the princess?"
"You should give Brian some credit Krys, he's a Color Kid now." Stormy said.
"A human as a Color Kid? Now I've heard everything." Krys said as he fell asleep.
"You know," Stormy said looking at Rainbow, "He hasn't heard everything. We haven't told him that Brian has a horse now…" The two girls both muffled some laughter as they let their friend rest.
"How is he doing?" Brian asked as he walked down the stairs.
"He should be fine," Rainbow said, "but he's not to happy about you being a color kid." Brian groaned and rolled his eyes. Violet walked in from her lab with I.Q. and Tempest by her side.
"Stormy, your sprite is marvelous!" She said excitedly. "He has traces of powers like yours, truly baffling!"
"I don't understand one thing." Brian said. "Why isn't Tempest able to talk like Twink and Cobalt?"
"Well, it's actually quite simple Brian." Violet said.
"Can we get the condensed version please Violet, not something that we'll need a sugar high to sit through?" Stormy requested.
"Of course Stormy," Violet said, "Twink and Cobalt were able to speak because their charges did not know the sprite language. You've been visiting Rainbow Land for so long that you've picked up the sprite language, which is why Tempest can't speak any other tongues, he doesn't need too." The others let out an "oh" collectively and Tempest nodded. Starlight walked into the castle.
"Stormy?" He said lightly. Stormy turned around and looked at the horse.
"Hey Starlight, feeling better?" She asked.
"Yes, I am." The horse said as he turned his head. "Stormy, this isn't easy for me but… I was… wro-, wron-."
"Wrong?" Stormy finished for him.
"That would be it. Can you forgive me?"
"Sure I can, just do me a favor alright?"
"Name it!"
"Keep your ego in check."
"I don't have an ego!" The horse said defensively while the others just looked at each other and laughed.
Prologue
Krys was officially scared. The Princess had come back with more force than ever before, and this time it didn't look like he could win. The boy had always been a stubborn fellow, and even now he refused to admit defeat. All Krys cared about was the fact that he knew that Orin was safe in a spot that no one would be able to find him. On-X had taken the wise sage over to a secluded asteroid that no one, save Orin himself, knew existed. Krys bravely walked over to the Princesses ship, knowing that he could be making the biggest mistake of his life. However, Krys was a hero, and so long as he made sure that whatever evil was plaguing his home was eliminated, nothing else mattered, not even his own life. Two guards ran up to Krys, but the boy easily put them on ice using the power of the prism. He found it odd that the Princess would only have two guards protecting her royal flagship, but he knew that the rest of them were busy attacking what was left of the resistance that the people of Spectra had amassed since the attack. He slowly walked up the stairs and saw the Princess looking at herself in the mirror, vain as ever.
"I look so beautiful don't I?" She asked, stroking her diamond.
"Of course your highness, there is not a person as beautiful as you in the entire galaxy." Count Blogg said from behind her.
"I know!" The Princess boastfully replied. She heard someone walking up the stairs and quickly turned around. "Who is it? I wasn't expecting anyone! They had better have a present for me!" Her face grew more sinister the moment she saw Krys standing in front of her. "Oh, it's you; you never have a present for me!"
"But this time I do have a present for you," Krys said, holding back all fear that he felt as he held up his prism, "your death!" The Princess began to laugh.
"You really think your little toy can harm me, let alone kill me? You foolish child."
"I know it can defeat you, and it will!" Krys yelled as he fired the prism at the Princess. All she did was wave her hand and the beam stopped. "What? How?"
"I told you it wouldn't work. Now feel my power!" The Princess again waved her hand as energy ran from the diamond to her hand and from her hand to Krys, trapping him in a bubble. "Color cannot get through that bubble, so the rainbow energy that powers it won't work!" Krys didn't listen and attempted to fire, but it didn't work. "I told you!"
"Should we execute him your highness?" Blogg asked.
"No, let's keep him as a prisoner. He may come in use for our next target."
"Our next target your highness?"
"Yes, Rainbowland!" The princess looked over at Krys and turned back towards Blogg. "Seeing this parasite gave me an idea, after we conquer Spectra we will take over the land of the girl who ruined my plans the first time, that brat Rainbow Brite!"
"An excellent idea!"
"I know, I always come up with the best ideas." Again she turned to look at Krys who was hitting the bubble, his mouth moving. "Foolish child, you can hear everything that we say, but your own voice cannot be heard outside that bubble." Krys had an idea, but he only had one chance, and he had to do it right. Krys feigned defeat as he sunk into a ball, covering his body in at an angle so that the Princess and Count Blogg would not see him press a button on his belt. The button was a direct communication to On-X.
"On-X, go to Rainbow Land, tell Rainbow that the Princess is coming, hurry!" He pressed the button again and prayed that his horse would make it in time.
Chapter One
The potato sack race between the Color Kids was about to start. All of the kids were talking with their sprites. Rainbow Brite looked at her friend Brian, grabbed his hand and smiled softly. "This is your first Sprite Festival as a Color Kid Brian, isn't it exciting?"
"Yeah Rainbow it is. I'm still reeling with my duties as the keeper of the night skies, but even you get some time to have fun, and you have a much busier day then me." He winked at his dearest friend and they both chuckled.
"Brian, Rainbow, come on the race is about to start!" Red Butler yelled from the start line.
"He's really intent on beating you Brian." Rainbow said looking at the other kids.
"Yeah, I know he is…" Brian's eyes drifted over to the color castle where Stormy was leaning against it, her hand gently placed on her horses' side. Rainbow snapped her fingers in front of Brian.
"Hello? Brian, you there?"
"Huh?" Brain said as he turned his head back to Rainbow. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that Rainbow, I was just thinking about something else. Let's go." Rainbow nodded and they walked over to the crowd. Brian walked over to Cobalt, who was looking uninterested. "Something wrong Cobalt?"
"I just don't see why we have to do this Brian. It's so…. Barbaric."
"It's just a potato sack race Cobalt. Besides, Rainbow and the Color Kids have been doing this for years. We are part of that group now, it's our tradition too."
"If I would have known that being your sprite required unwarranted physical exertion I probably just would have stayed hidden." Brian smiled lightly.
"Don't worry Cobalt, this only happens once a year, just like Christmas."
"If I remember my teachings correctly, doesn't one receive presents during this "Christmas"?" Brian sighed, wondering why Cobalt was being so difficult.
"Fine, if you do this I'll let you sleep on the bed with me instead of on the hammock like Twink."
"Do you promise?" Cobalt asked, looking up at his charge. Brian nodded. "Very well, let's get this over with."
"On your mark!" Starlight yelled carrying a small green sprite with a checked flag on his back. "Get set… GO!" The sprite waved the flag and the kids were off. Stormy watched the race commence with her usual reserved glare. Red didn't beat Brian… but Buddy did, in fact Buddy won the sack race with Rainbow a close second.
"Great job Buddy!" Rainbow said, giving her friend a victory hug.
"Thanks Rainbow. You put up a great race, it could have been either of us." Brian walked up to Red and smiled.
"Looks like neither of us won the race Red." Red glared at Brian and then walked away.
"He didn't take that very well." Cobalt said to Romeo, Red's chief sprite. Romeo told him something in sprite and ran off after his master. Cobalt looked up at Brian. "Romeo says not to take it personal. Red's just a very competitive person and he hates to lose, he actually holds you in high regard."
"Yeah, I know." Brian looked back at the castle and could still make out Stormy next to Skydancer.
"Something wrong Brian?" Cobalt asked.
"It's Stormy," Brian said softly "I think she might be sad about something. I just don't know what."
"Stormy angry? That never happens!" Cobalt said sarcastically.
"I meant more then usual, she seems… preoccupied."
"Brian!" Canary yelled from behind. "The three legged race is about to start, come on!"
"No thanks Canary, I don't feel up to it right now." Brian yelled back. Cobalt looked at Brian, perplexed.
"What are you talking about? You spent the last couple of days saying how great you were at that race, you wanted to do that event more than anything else."
"I know," Brian began "but making sure that my friends are feeling okay is more important to me then some race." Brian began walking back to the castle, Cobalt walked the other way.
Stormy was petting Skydancers' mane. "You excited about the horse race later?" Her steed bowed his head slightly. "Well we'll show Rainbow and the rest of them how much better you've gotten since last time." She gave a slight smile.
"Stormy?" Brian made her name a question. Stormy's smile dropped as she turned around.
"What do you want?" She said with a hint of venom.
"I just wanted to see if you were alright." Brian remained unmoved, getting this type of reaction from Stormy was natural and he had grown used to it in the time he had known her.
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"You seemed like your mind was on something else completely."
"I'm fine Brian." Stormy said as she jumped on her horse. "Come on Skydancer, let's go on a warm up run around Rainbow Land!" Skydancer reared up and ran off.
"Are you really okay Stormy? Are you really?"
Chapter Two
Stormy and Skydancer ran for what seemed to be an eternity, all around Rainbow Land and even into some of the closest areas of the pits. Skydancer stopped at the waterfall for some water and Stormy walked over to wash her face. "Do you really think I looked like I was preoccupied Skydancer?" Her steed remained in the same position, gulping down the sweet water. "I'll take your lack of reaction as a no, and I couldn't agree with you more." Stormy gave a sigh of refreshment and jumped back on Skydancer. "Let's go back, we don't want to miss the race and show them all up!" Skydancer gave a nod and began running full speed back to the castle.
Canary and Spark turned out to be the winners of the three legged race, and Red was still none to pleased. That event was the last one that any of the color kids could participate in, except Brian. Rainbow was on Starlight and Brian was on Twilight. "So Twilight," Starlight began in his regal voice, "do you really think you can beat the most magnificent horse in the whole universe? I've never been beaten at this race track! You might be my distant relative but it takes years of experience to get as good as I am!"
"I thought you spent most of those years frozen in the pits…" Brian said under his breath.
"What was that Brian?" Starlight asked.
"Uh, nothing, just telling Twilight to do his best." Brian patted his horse on the head.
"It's a pity we couldn't get in touch with Krys and On-x, I know how much they love coming to Rainbow Land, especially for the races." Rainbow said.
"A pity… right." Brian said softly. Krys had always seemed to be exactly like Red when it came to Brian, they both liked him, but there was no way they would ever show it. Krys still didn't know what happened to Brian, his awakening. "Hey Rainbow, did Stormy seem a little… odd today?"
"You noticed it too?" Rainbow asked surprised. "She seemed a lot more reserved today, like she was thinking about something but didn't want to tell anyone."
"Yeah, I asked her if she was alright and she said she was. But I still feel like she isn't telling us something."
"We have to trust her Brian. If she says she's feeling fine we should believe her. I wonder where she is, she never misses a horse race."
"And I'm not about to start now!" Stormy slowly trotted up on Skydancer and got into her starting position. "You both ready to lose?" Rainbow and Brian both nodded then turned their heads to the track. Violet looked at her watch and pointed a pop-gun into the air.
"GO!" The three horses left a huge cloud of dust that didn't clear until they were almost done with the first lap. When it did clear Starlight was in the lead, with Twilight and Skydancer neck and neck behind them. After the second lap there was no change. The third, and final lap seemed like it would be the same, until Starlight stumbled a bit, causing him to slow down. The reaction startled Brian, who slowed down a bit to make sure they were okay, but Stormy kept on going, and she won. She turned around to see who was behind her, but saw no one directly behind her, all she saw was a crowd a couple of yards behind. Her and Skydancer ran to the crowd to see what was happening.
"What happened here?" Stormy asked as she pushed through the crowd of sprites. She saw Starlight shaking in pain, with Rainbow patting him on the head. "Is he going to be alright?"
"I'll be fine!" Starlight said, wincing in pain. "You would have never beaten me if I didn't trip over a rock!"
"Are you saying that I put a rock there so that I would win?" Stormy yelled, the horse remained silent. "Oh I get it, you just can't deal with losing so you have to make some little story up about sabotage just to keep your mountainous ego in check!" Everyone just looked at her. "Fine! I don't need to take this! Come on Skydancer, we're leaving!" Stormy got on her horse and ran off. Silence again loomed over the crowd.
"She seemed really angry." Tickled Pink finally said, clutching Dee Lite's hand.
"Just give her time to blow off some steam Pink." Patty O'Green said confidently. Brian sighed and got on Twilight.
"We should probably get going Moonglo, the people back on earth probably want the night to come." Moonglo nodded and turned invisible. "I'll see you all when I get back. Come on Cobalt." Twilight leaped into the sky and soon enough they were out of sight.
Brian spent the entire time thinking to himself, while dropping star sprinkles into the air, changing the shade of the sky. Cobalt knew that Brian was thinking about what had happened at the track but he chose to remain quiet. Moonglo did her job well and made the night sky gorgeous as ever. Brian was on his way back to Rainbow Land when he stopped off at the Midnight Cove, his area of Rainbow Land. The cove was formed where the rainbow river met the blue zone, and it was the darkest spot, perfect for the Color Kid of the darkest star sprinkles. Brian didn't know why he stopped at the cove, but he felt like he needed to. "Why are we here Brian?" Cobalt asked, but Brian quickly shushed him.
"Don't you hear that?" Brian asked.
"Hear what?"
"I don't know… it sounds like… crying." Twilight quietly walked around the cove, and then they saw Stormy sitting down near the river, crying.
"You feel alone, don't you little one?" Stormy jumped at the voice, looking around.
"Who said that?"
"I did…" A ball of light appeared in front of her.
Chapter Three
"Who, what, are you?" Stormy asked the glowing ball.
"The Color Kids and Rainbow Brite know me as the Keeper of Color."
"Why are you here?"
"To help you, the honorary Color Kid, in thanks for helping keep the color out of the hands of evil, follow me Stormy." The Keeper of Color flew into the clouds and Stormy jumped on her horse and followed. Brian, Cobalt, and Twilight looked up into the sky, astonished.
"I've heard of the Keeper of Color," Cobalt said, "She was the one that brought Rainbow Brite to Rainbow Land and appointed all the color kids, except you. I never thought I would meet her." Brian jumped back on Twilight. "What are you doing Brian?"
"Come on, we're going to follow them!" Brian held out his hand and Cobalt jumped on the horse.
Stormy followed the ball of light deep into the clouds, normally she would feel a little bit unnerved but the Keeper of Color did not give Stormy a reason to be suspicious. The ball stopped and Skydancer reared to a halt. "Why did we stop?"
"I wish to know why you are sad Stormy."
"I'm not sad!" She barked back.
"You were crying when I appeared before you."
"I was, uh… I had something in my eye." Stormy said softly.
"You can say whatever you want out of your mouth Stormy, but your heart will always tell the truth." Stormy frowned and looked at the ground. She knew that the Keeper of Color was right about her being sad, but she hated showing weakness.
"Alright," She finally said, "I just don't feel welcome in Rainbow Land."
"All of the Color Kids consider you their friend Stormy, why don't you feel welcomed?"
"Because there are a lot of things that they can do that I can't, each of them have a friend that they can always talk to, they each have a sprite to call their own. I have Skydancer, but he can't talk back. I almost always feel alone."
"But you aren't alone Stormy," Cobalt said as he and Brian caught up with them on Twilight, "And you aren't the only one who feels like that, I do too."
"Cobalt…" Brian said.
"What are you talking about Cobalt?" Stormy asked.
"That feeling of being an outcast, I feel it too. It's not easy being forced into an environment all of a sudden and expecting to be accepted, but you get used to it. Besides, at least the Color kids like you, most of the sprites don't talk to me unless they need too. Regardless of how much you think you are alone, you never are, all of us will be there if you need us." Brian and Stormy looked at the dark blue sprite, stunned by what he just said.
"The sprite of the child of light and darkness speaks the truth Stormy, you are never alone." The Keeper of Color said. "However, I have chosen to grant your hearts deepest desire." The ball of light became so radiant that everyone turned their heads. "Stormy, in thanks of everything that you have done to help the color remain vibrant I present to you Tempest, your very own sprite." Almost immediately after his name was called a shy sprite peeked out from behind the ball. His fur was the same color as Stormy's hair, and his antenna were topped off with thunderbolts like the one that she had on her belt. "Hopefully he'll be able to help you fill the void that you have been feeling as of late." The ball of light lost an alarming amount of shine for a brief moment.
"Umm, is everything alright Keeper?" Brian asked.
"You all must return to Rainbow Land now!"
"Is everything alright?" Stormy asked.
"I don't know for sure, but I feel as if an evil presence is there."
"It's probably just Murky and Lurky again, when will those boneheads learn that they just can't win."
"Please," The Keeper of Color said with a high amount of panic, "You need to get back there now, GO!" Stormy and Tempest got on Skydancer and sped off.
"We'll make sure nothing bad happens to Rainbow Land Keeper." Brian said as he and Cobalt jumped on Twilight. "I promise you that!"
"I hope they can aid the others in time."
Rainbow was wondering why Brian had not returned from Earth yet, Moonglo had returned at least an hour ago. She hoped that he was safe as she stared into the night sky. A familiar darkened figure flew past as she was looking up. "It's On-X!" She yelled as the horse landed on the bridge in front of the castle. "On-X why are you here? Where is Krys?"
"Danger Rainbow Brite, danger!" The horse said in its computerized voice.
"Danger? What Danger?"
"The princess is coming."
Chapter Four
"The princess is coming? Where is Krys at? Why isn't he with you?" Rainbow asked quickly.
"Krys sent me to warn you, Rainbow Brite… don't know where he is now." Rainbow ran into the castle and up to the console. She hit the distress button and within minutes the kids were all downstairs, wondering why Rainbow was so nervous.
"Rainbow, is everything okay?" Canary Yellow asked as soon as she got down the stairs.
"The princess is on her way to attack Rainbow Land!" All the kids gasped at the mention of the evil princess and began talking at once. "Calm down everyone! She'll surely beat us unless we stick together."
"Wait," Indigo said as she looked around, "where is Brian at?" The kids started looking around and they too noticed that Brian was missing.
"Maybe the princess has him!" Twink said nervously.
"Don't believe that, any of you! Brian is safe, I just don't know where he is. All I know is that the princess is on her way to Rainbow Land."
"Wrong Rainbow Brat!" A voice said from the castle entrance, the kids all turned around and saw the princess staring at them with her evil eyes. "The princess is here, and soon enough I'll have all of those lovely color crystals just for me!"
"Violet, try to find Krys, tell him what happened!" Rainbow ordered her friend and Violet ran towards the console, only to be stopped by the princess laughing.
"You think that little annoyance Krys can help you all? Fools!" The princess snapped her fingers and two guards came up holding Krys.
"Krys!" Rainbow screamed as she saw her friend battered and drifting into and out of consciousness.
"Rainbow," Krys said weakly as he tried to raise his head, his face shaking with pain, "I tried to stop her, but I couldn't do it alone. I'm sorry." Rainbow was openly weeping as the kids looked on with shock.
"Why are you doing this? You are just torturing him!" She asked.
"Well I could have just killed him, but I felt he would have more use to me like this." Again the princess snapped her finger and one of the guards put a knife to Krys's throat. "Now give me that color belt or your little friend won't live to see the morning, and then you and all your little friends get into the cage. And just so you know we know all about Moonglo's power of disappearance, so if she isn't in the cage with you Krys WILL die!" Rainbow nodded and undid her belt buckle.
"Come on everyone, we need to do this for Krys." The kids nodded and willingly walked into the cage. When they were all in the princess had the guards toss Krys in there with them. All of the kids and Rainbow ran over to Krys, worried. The princess laughed triumphantly.
"Now with all of you in this cage we can take all of those lovely crystals, in fact my guards have been gathering them since we landed here. They will all be mine! And with you all in here Spectra will be mine for the taking!" The princess fondled the diamond around her neck. "This little diamond has more power than all the other diamonds in the world! But I will still have them all, all of them will be for me!" Count Blogg was at her side.
"Wait your highness! There are only ten people in here excluding the warrior. There should be one more in this cage!"
"Who isn't in this cage brats? Tell me now!" The princess demanded.
"Me!" Brian yelled as he came up to the castle.
"And me too!" Stormy yelled next to him.
"What? There are two other color kids?" The princess yelled at Blogg, who remained silent. "Get in the cage now!"
"Oh get bent you old hag!" Stormy shouted back.
"No one talks to me like that!" The princess yelled as she shot familiar pink rays from her hands.
"Stormy!" Brian yelled as he jumped off of Twilight and directly in front of the path of the rays.
"Brian, don't!" Stormy screamed. But it was too late, the princesses' power had hit Brian and he collapsed in pain.
"That energy was meant for you!" The princess screamed. "No matter, he was going to be hit after you anyways. Now stay still!"
"I don't think so!" Stormy yelled as Skydancer stopped moving and let Stormy and Tempest get off his back.
"What do you think you are going to do little girl?" The princess asked tauntingly.
"You've caged up almost all my friends and hurt two of them to an extent that we won't know until one of us gets rid of you. I guess that falls to me, but that's okay." Stormy grinned and the princess looked on with little interest. "So what am I going to do?" Stormy said slyly. "This is what I'm going to do." Stormy's eyes lost color and she raised her hand into the air. Lightning came from the previously clear skies and struck the princess.
"You've got some power little girl!" The princess said as she wiped some blood from her mouth.
"You know nothing of my power you shameless, mean, spoiled, disillusioned person!" Stormy yelled as two more bolts came down and hit the princess, who screamed in pain.
"Don't just stand there, help me!" The princess ordered Blogg as she got up off the ground, still being hit by lightning. Blogg nodded and ran behind Stormy.
"Help her Tempest!" The Keeper of Color's voice said in the sky. The sprite nodded and, mimicking his masters actions, summoned the fierce winds to push Blogg back.
"Enough of this!" The princess stood up and grabbed her diamond, only to have it hit by another bolt, shattering it into hundreds of smaller pieces. "Noooooooooooo, not my diamond!" The princess collapsed on the ground and tried to gather the pieces up. Stormy walked up to the princess and laughed.
"You are beaten princess, now let my friends go or I swear I will strike you with so much lightning that you will never get your hair to do anything but stand up straight!" Stormy smiled as a hint of lighting came from her finger tip.
"Fine! You might have beaten me today, but I'll be back!" The princess ran back into her ship, and all her followers followed after her. Tempest walked up to Stormy's side and she patted him on the head.
"And we'll be waiting, won't we Tempest?" The sprite nodded and they both smiled.
Chapter Five
"Stormy, I don't want to ruin your moment of triumph, but could you get my color belt so I can break open the cage and get us out of here?" Rainbow said from inside the cage. Stormy nodded and looked at Tempest.
"Go see if Brian is alright Tempest, I'll help the kids out." Tempest nodded and ran over to the fallen color kid. Stormy ran over to a tree next to the cage where the princess had left the belt, probably to taunt Rainbow by keeping it just out of arm's length. "Is Krys alright?" Stormy asked as she handed the belt over.
"He should be, if I can get him to the infirmary soon." Violet said.
"So who's the sprite Stormy?" Red asked.
"That's my sprite Tempest…" Stormy said confidently.
"But only color kids can have sprites, can't they?" Canary asked.
"I'm technically not a color kid and I've always had my own sprite." Moonglo said.
"So who gave you a sprite?" Patty asked. Stormy looked up at the sky and smiled.
"A friend Patty… a friend."
"See Stormy, I told you, you are never alone." Cobalt said as he, Tempest, and Brian walked up. Rainbow put on her belt and used the rainbow to push the cage open. All the color kids swarmed Stormy with thanks and words of good will.
"Yeah… I'll never be alone again."
Krys woke up to the welcome gaze of Rainbow at his bedside in the infirmary. He looked around and saw Stormy as well. "What happened?" Krys asked weakly. "Is the princess gone?" Rainbow nodded and clutched his hand. "How? The last thing I remember is all of us being put into a cage and the princess waving around your color belt."
"Stormy and Brian beat her while you were out." Rainbow said.
"Brian?" Krys asked shocked. "What can that human do against the princess?"
"You should give Brian some credit Krys, he's a Color Kid now." Stormy said.
"A human as a Color Kid? Now I've heard everything." Krys said as he fell asleep.
"You know," Stormy said looking at Rainbow, "He hasn't heard everything. We haven't told him that Brian has a horse now…" The two girls both muffled some laughter as they let their friend rest.
"How is he doing?" Brian asked as he walked down the stairs.
"He should be fine," Rainbow said, "but he's not to happy about you being a color kid." Brian groaned and rolled his eyes. Violet walked in from her lab with I.Q. and Tempest by her side.
"Stormy, your sprite is marvelous!" She said excitedly. "He has traces of powers like yours, truly baffling!"
"I don't understand one thing." Brian said. "Why isn't Tempest able to talk like Twink and Cobalt?"
"Well, it's actually quite simple Brian." Violet said.
"Can we get the condensed version please Violet, not something that we'll need a sugar high to sit through?" Stormy requested.
"Of course Stormy," Violet said, "Twink and Cobalt were able to speak because their charges did not know the sprite language. You've been visiting Rainbow Land for so long that you've picked up the sprite language, which is why Tempest can't speak any other tongues, he doesn't need too." The others let out an "oh" collectively and Tempest nodded. Starlight walked into the castle.
"Stormy?" He said lightly. Stormy turned around and looked at the horse.
"Hey Starlight, feeling better?" She asked.
"Yes, I am." The horse said as he turned his head. "Stormy, this isn't easy for me but… I was… wro-, wron-."
"Wrong?" Stormy finished for him.
"That would be it. Can you forgive me?"
"Sure I can, just do me a favor alright?"
"Name it!"
"Keep your ego in check."
"I don't have an ego!" The horse said defensively while the others just looked at each other and laughed.