//------------------------------// // Capitulo Treinta y Tres // Story: Cuatro // by Dirty Bit //------------------------------// Capitulo Treinta y Tres Encumbrance The Friendship Express had just reached Ponyville and arrived in front of the station, leaving a small blanket of steam as it slowed to a stop. All Twilight can do now is go back and study at the library while waiting for the results on Celestia's method involving Cuatro. When she had thought back to it, she grew worried about the success rate of her pale friend regaining his memories 'There I go again! I should just be happy that Princess Celestia is trying to help Cuatro after her first attempt didn't go so well. Besides, I still have to tend to my studies back at home...' She shook off her worry and made a beeline for the library. Twilight felt the snowflakes decorate her mane and face accompanied with a light breeze. It was comforting for a short moment before Twilight shivered "I probably should've brought a scarf..." She thought out loud on the way home. As she trotted back, she was met with Pinkie Pie zipping in front of her with a wide grin "Hi, Twilight!" Her grin disappeared as soon as it came when she decided to look around "Huh? Where's Cuaty? Is he not with you? Or is he playing hide-and-seek?" Twilight chuckled at Pinkie's random question and chose to enlighten her as she trotted back "He's staying in Canterlot so the princess could help with trying to restore his memories again! Isn't that wonderful?" Pinkie's smile instantly returned upon hearing the news "Really? That's so splendorific for words!! This calls for a party once he gets back!" She replied as she pronked next to Twilight, traveling at her side. Twilight continued "It gets better...I've heard from Luna that she and Cuatro danced together! Here we thought he wasn't such a good dancer at his welcome party, but all he needed was a push in the right direction!" Pinkie gasped and stopped before catching up to Twilight with a toothy grin "Did he enjoy it!? Please tell me he enjoyed it! Cuz if he did, he's one step closer to putting on a good smile!" Twilight held a thoughtful glance "Honestly, I couldn't tell. In fact, he sounded a bit disappointed when I talked with him and Luna." Pinkie blinked before she nodded "Aaaaah, I gotcha!" Before Twilight could ask why, Pinkie held up a hoof "Not yet, Twilight! You'll know soon enough!" She said as she continued pronking back with Twilight to the library. Twilight looked ahead "If anything, I'm anticipating Cuatro's memory retrieval to be a success! We all know that Princess Celestia takes each of her magic sessions seriously!" Pinkie rolled her eyes "Nooooo~, YOU take them seriously! Princess Celestia knows what she's doing!" Twilight shook her head with an amused smile "Oh, Pinkie..." When they had finally reached the library, she opened the door and spoke up "Spike! I'm home! And Pinkie's gonna visit for a moment!" "What about everypony else, huh? Or did you not tell them yet?" Twilight looked ahead and noticed a very cross Rainbow Dash standing in the middle of the main lobby with a nervous Spike fidgeting his claws next to her. Twilight arched an eyebrow "Rainbow Dash? What are you doing here? And what exactly are you talking about?" She asked innocently. Rainbow Dash bared her teeth "Don't play dumb with me, egghead! You mind telling me why you've been keeping a secret from us this whole time?" Spike held out his claws with pleading eyes "I swear, Twilight, this isn't my fault! I didn't know about this once I got back!" Pinkie tilted her head innocently, oblivious to the tension flooding in the room "Didn't know what? Is there a surprised planned?" Rainbow Dash huffed "Allow me..." She stepped to the side to reveal the Element chest sitting behind her, though her narrowed eyes were kept on Twilight, demanding for a firm and detailed explanation. Twilight gasped and shifted her glance between Rainbow Dash, Spike, and Pinkie, who eyed the chest curiously "Hey...Isn't that?" "Yeah..." Rainbow Dash interrupted as she opened the chest and revealed the elements "They're here...and in Twilight's lab to boot! How long have they been in here anyways!?" She snapped in a commanding tone. Twilight never thought that her secret would be exposed so soon despite the fact that her friends were bound to know the truth sooner or later. However, she had to keep to her agreement with Celestia and leave out the explanation on how the elements were primarily issued to her in case Cuatro chose to go berserk. She sighed "Look, I know this seems shocking to you-" "Shocking!?" Rainbow Dash interrupted loudly "You have the only thing that helped us save Equestria twice sitting in the basement of your house! Why wouldn't it be shocking!? No, scratch that! Answer my first question! How long did you have these and why didn't you tell us sooner?" Twilight took a deep breath before answering "I've had them for about four days now. I was even confused to why they were given to me, but I just left them in my basement until a large situation would turn up!" Pinkie turned to Twilight "But nothing big really happened except for when Cuaty went manticore crazy on those dragons the other day!" She paused before thinking it over "Say...He was pretty scary that time. You don't think that he's..." Rainbow Dash was catching on to Pinkie trailing off in her theory and managed to figure it out herself "But that can't be the real reason, could it? I mean, sure he went overboard that time, but Cuatro's our friend! And he's even got amnesia, so I doubt he would even remember being some kind of..." Her eyes slowly widened "monster..." Her ears flattened 'Oh, Celestia, please let me be wrong...' She thought to herself fearfully. Spike, calmed down from his anxiety from the elements being discovered, piped up "You know, I kinda thought the same thing when we got the elements, but Cuatro couldn't possibly be the problem! He fought to protect us, after all!" Pinkie grinned "Yeah! And besides, we still have to see how he acts when he gets his memories back anyways! I'll bet he won't act all down in the dumps once that happens!" The party pony stated, optimistic about the situation at hoof. Twilight found her courage from Spike and Pinkie's defense and chose to reveal a truth that she had kept to herself "I thought about it, too...And if there's one thing that I remember from spending time with Cuatro, it's that he trusts us. And I trust him, too! Not only that, I planned to make sure that what we teach him in terms of friendship would guide him and make him a better stallion, maybe even the best in Equestria!" Rainbow Dash snorted "Pretty easy coming from somepony keeping so much secrets from him! What else have you been hiding, hm?" She asked, still agitated with Twilight's ulterior motives. Twilight frowned in guilt "It's only the elements, and I feel very bad about that..." She steeled herself and spoke in a firm tone "But it's better this way! Do you know how he would react if he found out about the elements?" Pinkie nodded knowingly "I see where Twilight's coming from. Cuaty would be pretty peeved if he found out the elements were for him!" She then poked a hoof to her chin "Actually, he'd probably be curious about them and peeved if we tell him that they were meant to be used on him!" She shrugged as if she ran out of ideas. Spike spoke up again "You shouldn't even be attacking Twilight about this, Rainbow! The princess sent them to her, after all!" He rubbed his stomach with a unpleasant frown "Didn't like having to deliver the mail, though..." He muttered in displeasure. Rainbow Dash quirked an eyebrow "Hey, you're right! Does she know something about this? Did she just want to give them to us for safekeeping in case Equestria would be in danger?" Pinkie looked around "No danger here! Nothing but us ponies!" She turned to Spike "And a dragon, too!" Twilight shook her head, figuring out how to explain this to her friends. She decided to roll with Rainbow Dash's convenient theory and pass it off as truth for the sake of holding up her agreement with Celestia "Yeah. I wouldn't blame her wanting to give the elements to us after that whole mishap with Discord! We were lucky to get them back and working that time!" Rainbow Dash sighed "Don't remind me...I still can't believe I thought ONE cloud was Cloudsdale!" The group shared a small laugh before Rainbow Dash held a serious face "As for the elements, you can't just keep them from us forever, Twilight. That was totally uncool!" Twilight bowed her head in apology "I know, and I'm very sorry for that. It was nerve-wrecking to just receive them from the princess, but all she wants is to make sure Equestria is safe with our help!" Pinkie crossed her forelegs "Well, we can't exactly call it OUR help if you kept the elements to yourself!" She spoke in a comically stern tone "Let's go the others about this so they know, too! Wouldn't wanna knock them out of the loop since we're in this together!" Twilight, feeling that it couldn't be helped anymore, decided to agree with Pinkie on the matter "Right. But we'll need them to come here in the library so we can all be together about this! Pinkie, can you-" "One step ahead of you, Twilight! Leave it to me!" Pinkie interrupted with a mock salute as she galloped out of the library in search of Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash shook her head in amusement "Deja vu, huh? Only difference is that Cuatro's not around..." She paused "Say, why didn't he come back with you from Canterlot?" Twilight looked outside from a window "He's staying with Princess Celestia when she offered to try and get his memories back again. All we can do is wait for him." Rainbow Dash smiled "Really? Well, that's our princess for ya! I hope he does get them, though..." She approached Twilight and looked outside the window with her "You know...I really wanted to learn that Sonido thingy of his. Sucks that I had to push him too far to where he won't now!" She spoke in a wistful tone. Twilight smiled and patted Rainbow Dash on the back "Don't worry. I'm sure he can forgive you and teach you some other time if he felt like it." Rainbow Dash smirked herself "Here's hoping you're right..." They looked outside, and the cyan pegasus could've sworn she had noticed a glimmer of green light that stretched into the sky from a far distance "Huh? What was that?" Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash "What's wrong, Rainbow?" Rainbow Dash pointed out the window "Over there! South of Ponyville and very far away!" Twilight followed Rainbow Dash's hoof and caught the light herself. Spike was curious himself and joined the two mares in gazing outside. It looked so familiar to her eyes with how it towered into the sky at an unimaginable height... ...And then it hit her... With eyes wide as dinner plates, Twilight stared hypnotically at the distant green light while Spike and Rainbow Dash studied her expression "Uhhh, Twilight? You okay?" Rainbow Dash asked in confusion. With no response, she nudged the unicorn out of her trance "Hey! Equestria to Twilight!" Twilight shook herself and looked at Rainbow Dash "Are they back yet?" Rainbow Dash directed her gaze towards the front door "No, and that surprises me that Pinkie would be late like this. Unless she chose to give them the full story before coming here." She held a disappointed frown "Have fun trying to explain everypony else about the elements..." Twilight sighed "Don't remind me." She looked out the window to see that the green light had vanished "Well, in any case, I owe you and Pinkie an apology." 'Maybe Cuatro, too, if he were to find out as well...' Rainbow Dash gave Twilight's shoulder a friendly jab with a hoof "Don't worry about it right now! Let's just get down to business and wait for the others to get here!" Twilight nodded and chose to trot up to her sofa and sit down, waiting patiently for her friends to arrive. Spike decided to grab some food, with Rainbow Dash joining him in the kitchen. When she was alone in the main lobby, Twilight could now think to herself about what has happened. She had seen many things from the window of her home, but that green light meant one thing, and one thing only: Cuatro is out there somewhere...and he is fighting again... To be continued...