Chapter 3: Loyalty
Taro, Faust, and Silus woke up on the floor of the spa's basement. Taro stood up and shook the other two. "Come on, we have to get moving."
Faust looked up at Taro. "But it's day time. We can't move around too much in the day."
"I'm not worried about it. The sooner we can stop him, the better. Come on, Faust. We're off to Cloudsdale to get the first element."
"What about me?" Silus asked.
"You can't walk on a cloud, so we're going to have to leave you behind. We'll come back after we revive Loyalty," Taro replied, leaving with Faust.
"So what are we going to do with everyone living in the spa basement?" Faust asked.
"Well, we could start restoring the town, then they could move out of the spa, making a new town. It'll be just like old times. But let's worry about that later, let's fly."
The city came into view soon and the duo landed on the cloud. Taro looked around and saw all of the pegasus ponies walking and flying through the city as if nothing was happening on the word below them.
"Look at them, I don't even think they know anything about what's going on below them. It's like they've forgotten," Faust pointed out.
"Yeah, I can see that. Come on, let's get to that shrine. It's over this way." Taro and Faust walked until they came to a gray stone shrine with a red lightning bolt on the top. The shrine had a stone disc under the stone rod that protruded from the center, and, atop the rod, sat the bolt.
"Wow," Faust said as her eyes lay upon the stone.
"Yep. Now, let's get Loyalty back," Taro suggested.
"What is it with you wanting the element so eagerly?" Faust asked.
Taro stopped. "Honestly, I'm surprised I've never told you about the elements. The living forms of the Elements of Harmony were my best friends. They were the first ones I met when I arrived in Equestria."
"Oh, that's it?"
"No, not really. Loyalty was different. Loyalty was... Rainbow Dash."
"Oh, I see. After not having her for so long..."
"Yeah. Anyway, let's see here." Taro walked around the shrine. "How do we... Oh." Taro stopped behind it. "Well... That's easy."
"What? What is it?"
"It's a button that says to push it in emergencies."
"What..." Faust walked over to Taro and looked at it. "Huh..."
"Well, let's do this." Taro gently pressed the button, causing a beam of light burst from the stone. The energy was so powerful, it blasted Taro and Faust back a few feet. As Faust flapped her wings to stabilize, Taro grabbed at his fedora, keeping it on his head.
"What the heck is up with that?" Faust said over the blast.
"Well, it should be bringing life. It's most likely using up a bunch of energy to open the gate. It's actually quite impressive how it's only this bad. I would expect..." Taro quieted as the blast and light faded, revealing a cyan pegasus lying on the ground. Taro opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out.
The pegasus looked at him. "Taro?" she asked.
Taro's mouth sat open. "Taro, is that..." Faust started.
"It worked..." Taro said quietly. "It actually worked."
The pegasus stood up and walked toward Taro. "Wow..." she said. "What..."
"Rainbow Dash..." Taro said.
"What..." she said again.
Taro straightened hi hat and bent down to hug her.
The two embraced each other. While hugging, Rainbow said again, "What..."
"Are you going to finish that..."
"What are you wearing?"
Taro face-palmed. "Almost two-thousand years apart and THAT'S what you say?"
"Yes," Rainbow Dash replied calmly.
"I missed you," Taro said, hugging her again. He soon stood and straightened his fedora. "Alright, one down, five to go. Faust, let's go back to Silus and head for Canterlot to get Twilight."
"Fill me in, Taro. What's happening now?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I don't entirely know. Something with a jump into time from a forest and Silus and I got sent forward. Point is, we need you six to defeat him. I'm powerless against him now," Taro explained. "Now we need to get back to Silus and start our way to Twilight's shrine."
The three landed near the spa and already ponies were coming out into the sun to rebuild Ponyville. On top of the spa, Silus was moving clouds around.
"Hey, Silus, what's up?" Taro shouted to her.
"Oh very funny, on a building, 'what's up?'" she replied.
"Actually, I meant that. What happened while we were gone?"
"I managed to convince everypony to restore the town. I'm just working some magic to conduct some weather around here. It's too dry, it's not good for the land."
"What? A unicorn is a weather pony?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Silus looked down. "Hey, you got loyalty!"
"The names Rainbow Dash. Heard o' me?" Rainbow gloated.
"All too much from Taro," Silus replied jumping down to them. "Plus we met a few years ago."
"Not for her," Taro said.
"Right," Silus said. "Several hundred year ago."
"Now then. Let's get moving. We need to get to Canterlot. Faust, are the trains working still?"
"Yeah, but not very many ponies use it."
"That's fine."