And so it's time for another chapter! I've actually had this one done for a few days, and chapter 4 was just finished last night. I wanted to create a backlog of chapters for here though. Currently, chapter 4 is only available in 2 select locations, but will be up here next week. By that time, chapter 5 should be completed. I'm really working to finish this story because I've noticed the trend on here is stories go unfinished. I don't want that to be the case with my story so I'm working hard on it when I can. Right now, it's pretty often, but we'll see what the future holds. Any and all feedback is welcomed from you; I'd love to know what you think of the story so far. Enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 3 - Colorful Exchanges

The Color Kids were shocked as Tickled Pink related the observations that both see and Stormy had made about Rainbow and her actions as of lately. "…something's going on, that's for sure," she said, finishing off her tale.

"She did seem off the other day, but I just figured it was because we're so busy. It's Spring, and helping with the process of the rebirth of life on Earth can be tiring," answered Shy Violet.

"Is this one of Murky's plans?" asked Red Butler. "He's never been smart enough for much."

"And what can we do to help her?" asked Indigo.

Tickled Pink had no idea how to answer her friends' questions, and told them so. "I don't know. If it's Murky's, it's really good. If not… there's someone we don't know about in Rainbow Land."

"What do we do now?" asked Buddy Blue.

"I say we observe her every day activities and personality," answered Shy Violet. "Like an experiment of sorts. If it's an unknown foe, we need to see what we're up against."

"I agree," added Lala Orange. "If she's changed, she wouldn't like knowing we were watching her."

"What about Moonglo? She doesn't know any of this," spoke up Canary Yellow.

Tickled Pink thought for a second. Canary was right. Moonglo most likely hadn't seen what she and Stormy had, and she hadn't been present for the battle. She was off somewhere in Rainbow Land resting to restore her energy. It occurred every so often that she needed to sleep deeply during the day to recharge, and today just happened to be the deep sleep day. Nothing would have woken her from that slumber until her internal clock alerted her to sunset. She was about to speak when she saw a ribbon of rainbow fly past the room.

"Moonglo will either find out on her own, or I'll tell her. Rainbow's back and so we've got to keep quiet. Act like nothing's out of the ordinary and don't speak of this. She can't know…." Tickled Pink suddenly went silent as she saw the rainbow land outside the castle. She followed the Color Kids as they ran outside of the Color Castle to meet their beloved Rainbow. They were met with Rainbow's stern voice.

"Why is it every time I return, each of you come running? Does it look like I need help?" she asked from atop Starlite, who was unusually quiet. Tickled Pink noticed Twink was shaking nervously behind her. Rainbow slid off Starlite, but suddenly lost her balance, landing on her knees. Gone were the stern words and a tired voice spoke to them. "Leave me be… I need sleep… do…whatever."

Everyone turned to watch as Rainbow trudged toward the castle, slumped over and dragging her feet. Tickled Pink put a finger to her lips, knowing that someone would want to discuss what they had all just witnessed. She was saved the trouble of saying anything when a pounding of hoofbeats were heard. Turning toward the bridge, Tickled Pink was glad to see Stormy had returned home. She couldn't read the look on Stormy's face or what she felt inside. She knew Stormy dreaded the confrontation between herself and the Color Kids for what'd she'd done with Murky and Lurky. She caught Stormy's eye, and smiled.

Stormy slid off Skydancer's back and stood beside him. "Well, both of them are back in the Pits. Who knows how long they'll stay there though."

"We're sorry about earlier, Stormy," apologized Indigo. "We had no idea."

"Yeah," agreed all the Color Kids, nodding and smiling at her.

"Well, at least I don't have to defend myself. That's a relief. I saw Rainbow had returned. Good or bad?"

Tickled Pink put a finger to her lips. "Not good, but best to not talk about it."

Stormy nodded. "Got it. I'm off okay?" She climbed aboard Skydancer again and the two took off across the bridge and into a patch of trees. Starlite took off after them, without saying a word.

Indigo knelt down next to Twink and rubbed his fur. "It's all right Twink. We'll figure it out. Just keep an eye on her, all right?"

Twink looked up at his friends. "Rainbow's so mean to everyone. What's wrong with her?"

"We don't know, Twink," said Buddy Blue.

"When we do, we'll solve the problem right away," added Shy Violet.

Twink nodded. "All right. I just hope she's okay."

"Go check on the sprites in the Color Cave, Twink. Keeping busy will do us all some good," replied Lala Orange.

"Right," agreed Red Butler. "We should get back to work to work too. Color must be spread and we can't slack off." Each of the Color Kids nodded in agreement with him and they headed back toward the Castle.

Murky finished drying off and strutted to a nearby chair, taking a seat. "That should do it, Lurky. They have no idea what just occurred, but it was such a stupid idea that they cannot tie my brilliant plan to my idiotic one."

"But… Murky…what if they did?" asked Lurky.

Murky glared at him from his spot. "They have nothing to pin to us, banana breath. Even if they suspect that something's up with Rainbow, they can't see it and there's no evidence either. We're scot-free for now."

"So what do we do next, Murky?"

"We wait until she's a bit weaker and then we capture those Color Brats. Without her to help, they won't stand a chance!" He laughed to himself and closed his eyes, dreaming of the day when he'd finally have Rainbow Land under his rule. "Yes, I can see it now… a colorless land, the Pits expanding across the land. Oh think of it, Lurky! The sprites under my control, doing as I bid them!"

"Murky?"

"Can I control the horseys?"

"What? Oh you can have one of them!"

"Goody!" cried Lurky. He stood there in thought for a moment before speaking again. "Hey Murky?"

"What?" asked Murky, annoyed at being interrupted yet again.

"Wanna play ping pong?"

The Color Kids did their best to keep busy and continue processing the color crystals as they would on any other day. They were tense, wondering if Rainbow would show up and what she would do if she did. However, the afternoon passed without incident and they all breathed easy as nighttime settled across Rainbow Land. The sun drifted below the horizon and the sky darkened, but not for long. Soon, a smattering of stars began to appear across the sky, bright and colorful and cheery. The moon took the place of the sun and shined its light upon the Color Castle. Shooting stars and comets decorated the sky, as the inhabitants of the land settled in for a relaxing evening and a dream-filled sleep. Sprites and Color Kids alike watched the evening sky, enjoying the peaceful scenery before them.

However, one usual observer wasn't at her window this night, or anywhere to be seen. Moonglo had kept an eye out for her all evening, but she had never appeared. She knew this wasn't like Rainbow because she never missed a chance to look at the night sky, unless she had official business to attend to elsewhere. Usually when that happened, everyone knew about it, but tonight…she had no idea. She decided to find out why, and landed gently on the ground before the entrance to the Color Castle. She walked inside, and made her way to the doorframe of Rainbow's room. Out of curiosity, she peeked inside and found Rainbow sitting cross-legged on her bed, facing away from the door. "Rainbow?" she called softly to announce her presence. She received no reply.

Frowning, she walked across the room, and heard Rainbow speaking to herself in soft tones. She couldn't make out what she was saying. Upon reaching the bed, she tapped Rainbow's shoulder. "Rainbow?"

In quick defense, Rainbow's arm shot out to push away whoever was touching her. Moonglo backed away quickly, shocked. When Rainbow turned to face her, she could see something wasn't right. Dark circles lay lightly under her eyes, which were not the brilliant blue they usually were. "What is it?" she asked, clearly annoyed at being interrupted.

"I… I just came to see why you weren't looking at the night sky as you normally do," spoke Moonglo nervously. "I was worried about you."

Rainbow pointed at her. "There's no need to worry about me. I'm quite fine, as you might see. Besides, is there some rule I have to watch the night sky every night?"

"Well…no…but…"

"Then why does it matter? It's all the same junk up there – stars, moon, and whatever else you find."

Moonglo was taken aback, and could feel tears forming, but she didn't want Rainbow to see her cry. "It's never quite the same," she whispered.

"Well, unless the stars do something strange, it's all the same junk. Junk that fills a sky that could just as well be dark and empty."

Moonglo's hand flew to her mouth. "Rainbow, the night isn't supposed to be dark. It's supposed to be bright and beautiful for all to see."

"Hmph. You're just saying that because the night sky is your job."

"Yes, a job I love. Just like you love your job spreading color here and on Earth," replied Moongo.

"Earth doesn't need my colors. No one appreciates the color in the world anymore, and certainly not those on Earth. They wallow in their depression, greed, and ego. Color? They don't need me."

"That's not true!" Moonglo stamped her foot in sudden anger. "The color chases away the darkens, brightens and beautifies the Earth, and puts a smile on faces. The Earth needs you, Rainbow, to remind them of the happiness they carry inside."

Rainbow stood and jumped off the bed, quickly turned to face Moonglo accusingly. "All you're doing is making excuses for them and everyone else. No one needs color! Not you! Not them!"

"If no one needed color," began Moonglo softly, "then no one would need you and you wouldn't exist, nor would the Color Kids…but you do exist, and they do too…"

"Well, then how about I fix that problem?" asked Rainbow, glaring at her. She wasn't enjoying being confronted, nor did she enjoy the excuses she was hearing.

"Wha-What are you talking about?" asked Moonglo.

Rainbow's fingers went behind her back, deftly unbuckling her Color Belt. "No one needs color, so no one needs me!" She pulled the belt away from her waist, and held it out. "So I don't need this Color Belt anymore."

Nervously, Moonglo dared to reply, not wanting to voice the fear she saw coming true before her very eyes. "Are you saying…."

"That Rainbow Brite is no more!" With that remark, Rainbow tossed the Color Belt across the room, watching as it smacked against the doorway to her room and clattered to the floor. Rainbow made no move to retrieve it. She merely turned and climbed back onto the bed, settling back into a cross-legged position. "Now leave me alone."

Moonglo stood stark still, unsure of what to do. She couldn't believe that she had seen Rainbow denounce the Color Belt and deny that she was in charge of bringing color to the world. She took one step forward. "Rainbow?"

"I told you! That's no longer my name. Now leave." Rainbow did not turn to look at her.

Tears began to fall as Moonglo ran out of Rainbow's room, upset at what she had just witnessed. She headed for the main castle door, where Nite Sprite had come to wait on her. Stormy was just crossing the bridge to the Color Castle and was about to call out to her to get her attention. Before she could, Moonglo disappeared into the night sky, and he followed her, knowing that she was upset and something was wrong. Stormy was quite certain that Moonglo hadn't even seen her.

Stormy frowned; she'd glimpsed Moonglo's teary face before she'd disappeared and knew that Moonglo had found out about Rainbow and the changes that had suddenly appeared. The others may tiptoe around her, but I'm not going to put up with this. I'm going to see just what's going on she thought to herself as she marched toward the entrance to the Color Castle and to Rainbow's room. It was one thing to tell off Starlite; his ego needed to be brought down a notch. It was an entirely different story to do the same thing to Moonglo and upset her.

Her footsteps led her to the door of Rainbow's room. Glimpsing inside, she saw Rainbow sitting on the bed, bathed in moonlight, and facing away from the door. She watched Rainbow for a few moments. She didn't want to cause more trouble than was necessary; she didn't argue as much anymore after the Winter season ended. However, that didn't mean that her temper was gone for good. She reasoned that she had to confront Rainbow in the manner Rainbow had talked to their friends because being as kind as Moonglo had didn't work well at all. It probably wasn't the best way, but she wasn't letting Rainbow get away with treating people that way.

Meanwhile, as if to prove Rainbow wrong about the night sky, Moonglo began adding more color. She made the moon more golden, multitudes of stars began to appear in red and blues, and shooting stars raced across the sky. For all her effort, Rainbow never once turned toward a window to glimpse at the night sky, even after the moon glow bathed her room in moonlight. She stayed in the same position, mumbling to herself. The Color Belt lay discarded, its color fading slightly because of Rainbow's denouncement.

And so we have Rainbow's denouncing of the Color Belt. What occurs from here on out is yet to be seen, but I can guarantee you'll enjoy it. Much of the research I do for this story is based on what occurs in the show. I have access to a few sites that provide me with information I desire as well. If I can't find research to back up something I create, then I make my best judgment call on whether or not it would fit within the realm of Rainbow Brite. If you have any questions, just ask me and I'll answer as best I can. As always, if you catch mistakes, let me know. Until next chapter!