//------------------------------//
// 11. Corner Cowering 101 
// Story: One year 
// by PonyFromSpace 
//------------------------------//

11. Corner Cowering 101

Scootaloo stretched her wings when they left the spa.
"So, did you enjoy it?" Storm asked.
The filly nodded happily, "I sure did. Thanks, Storm."
"Now you go to your friends and show off your tail," the mare replied, "And tomorrow, I'll take you all out for ice cream."
"Yaay!"
Storm watched gladly as Scootaloo trotted away. She was a bit worried about what these kids would get themselves into, but at least Stride was with friends.





On the way home, Storm gazed at the streets and realised they were nearly empty. Where did everypony go? Suddenly, the entire colour spectrum caught her eye. It was Rainbow Dash, that mare who'd dropped a cumulonimbus on the school for some reason. Storm had no idea which reason, but the Element of Loyalty must've had one, right?

"Ma'am," Rainbow uttered urgently, "I'm afraid you're going to have to go inside. Monster on the loose and all that."
Storm's eyes broadened.
"Monster?"
Rainbow nodded and glared at the sky, "Some mad centaur called Ti'rek. He's been sucking magic from everypony he comes across, so you'd better get inside."
"But Stride and is friends... Do the crusaders know?"
Rainbow Dash saluted as if she was talking to a major.
"Don't you worry about it, ma'am, I'm on it."
With a huge explosion of rainbow colours, she shot across the sky at a speed Storm could never have flown. Even though she was thoroughly concerned, she felt a bit more comfortable with one of the most powerful ponies in Equestria looking to it that her child would be okay.





Stride looked out the window, Apple Bloom was in the thinking corner and Sweetie Belle was practicing magic on a flower pot. 
Her green aura exploded the pot and now she was covered in dirt.

"Sweetie Belle, be careful! Ah'm trying to think of something for crusading here!" Apple Bloom whined. 
Stride sighed, "I've got no ideas either."
"Then maybe you should come sit in the thinking corner."

He turned his head and looked at the thinking corner. It wasn't very big. Having to sit there, close to Apple Bloom... 
He didn't like sitting close to ponies.

A large explosion of colours filled the sky. He recognised the sonic rainboom from pictures. He'd never seen one for real. After all, there was only one pony who'd ever pulled it off, far as he knew. But there was no show in Ponyville today, was there? Why would there be a sonic rainboom now? Why would Rainbow Dash want to fly that fast?

He heard a knock on the door. Sweetie Belle opened it with magic and there stood aforementioned pegasus mare. She looked exhausted, her sweaty multicolour mane sticking on her forehead.

"You guys can't leave the building, okay? Don't go close to the windows either."
All ears in the room perked up, "Why?"
Rainbow looked up at the sky.
"Some macho man called Ti'rek is going about wrecking things."
She grinned at the foals, "I'm going to take him down."
After that, she turned dead serious again, "But it's too dangerous for you kids to go outside, so please stay inside, don't go near the windows, don't show your face."

"You can do it, Rainbow Dash!" Apple Bloom said.
"Don't you worry about it," the blue mare smiled, "Oh, and uh, Applejack and Rarity will be there too, just so you know it," she said switching her gaze between the fillies in the room. Apple Bloom seemed confident about it, but Sweetie Belle was now worried.

"Where's Scootaloo," Rainbow asked, scanning the room.
"She's at the spa with mom," Stride answered.
Rainbow grimaced, "The spa? I was just there. No Scootaloo."
The crusaders switched glances. Apple Bloom tilted her head back, 
"Then they must've gone somewhere else. Or perhaps Scootaloo's on her way here?"
"I'm on it," Rainbow said with a hint of worry in her usually confident voice.





Luckily, Rainbow Dash was not only one of the quickest fliers in the trade, she also had pretty good eyes. 
She soon noticed Scootaloo on the road towards Sweet Apple Acres.
"Hey, squirt!" she exclaimed, "Up here!"
She landed near her 'little sister' and gave her a firm hug.
"Look, kid, you need to get to your clubhouse as quickly as possible and stay there. Your friends will explain the rest, okay?"

Scootaloo first seemed confused, then she looked up at her hero, "There's something dangerous again isn't there?"
Rainbow nodded, "Yeah, but you know I can handle it!"
She hugged Scootaloo, but the filly wasn't convinced.
"Just be careful," she said.
Rainbow nodded, "You know me!"
She flew off in another burst of light. Scootaloo felt something bad was about to happen.





Arriving at the clubhouse, Scootaloo saw someone she didn't expect to see there. Stride was in the corner, as small as he could make himself, as he stared at their visitor. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle however seemed completely fine with the dragonequus' presence.

"Oh, hello there dear Scootaloo," Discord said kindly, "I thought one was missing."
He turned towards Stride and pointed, "Now who is this guy?"
"S- Stride," Stride replied.
Discord pinched his chin and thought deeply. Suddenly, the top of his head came off and another Discord popped out, "Of course! Early Stride! I remember that name!"

His big self disappeared and his small self flew towards the colt, "Your mom and dad were really persistent on my help. I'm afraid however I'm useless for your cause."
Discord poofed back next to himin full size and wearing a lab coat. He rubbed throught Stride's mane with his talon.
"After all, I'm not a doctor."
Scootaloo frowned, "What are you talking about?"
Discord's coat went up in flames, "Oh, so you don't know? Never mind that."

He turned around and watched the fillies, "I'm going to have to ask you to stay indoors."
Sweetie Belle nodded, "Rainbow Dash already said that."
Discord's face turned to something unbefitting of the dragonequus: confusion.
"She did now? Oh, she must've known he was coming then. Oh well. Don't go out until I come get you, okay? Don't listen to anypony else."
Apple Bloom lifted a brow, "But what if Big Macintosh comes for us?"
Discord shook his head, "No ponies. Only trust me if you want to survive this."

Scootaloo was glad to see good old Discord, but the more he spoke the more him being there concerned her.
"What's going on, Discord?"
The spirit of Chaos teleported outside the window, "I'm sorry, fellow crusaders, but I had to choose," after which he disappeared.





It was Sweetie Belle who spoke first, "What was that all about?"
Stride got up, "How do you know Discord?!"
Scootaloo shrugged, "He's an honorary crusader. Didn't we tell you?"
"You most certainly didn't."
"Do y'all think he's goin' to betray us?" Apple Bloom jumped in.

Sweetie scratched her back, "It would explain why he'd apologise. Or specifically tell us not to side with the ponies."
Stride shook his head, "So what do we do?"
Apple Bloom sighed, "Ah guess we wait..."
They gathered in the corner away from the windows. Stride suddenly didn't mind sitting close to anypony anymore. 
An explosion rocked the ground.

Scootaloo jumped towards the window even though she was told specifically not too. A large cloud of smoke arose from the direction of town.
"Guys, I think that's the Ponyville."
Her friends soon joined her at the window.
"This is bad," Stride remarked.
"Where's Rarity? And Applejack and Rainbow Dash..." Sweetie Belle added.

They saw some light at the horizon, but they had no idea what was going on. The sky went darker. The lights stopped.
"What's happening?!" Apple Bloom exclaimed.
They heard a knock on the door.
"Don't answer it," Sweetie said.

A familiar voice sounded, "It's me, Big Macintosh."
"Is that really you, brother?" Apple Bloom uttered.
"Eeeeyup."
No doubt.

Apple Bloom trotted towards the door. Discord had said not to listen to ponies. They were however all pretty sure ponies were a better bet than Discord when it came to trust. Apple Bloom opened the door and Big Mac came in. His red coat was covered in mud. His mane was messy and his eyes stood troubled.

"What happened?" Apple Bloom asked, "Is everypony okay?"
Big Mac shook his head, but before he could say anything, a rainbow coloured wind struck them. 

They all felt happy for some reason, but they had no idea why.
Looking outside, they saw the sky had cleared. It wasn't clear what had happened, but the idea everything was fine was overwhelming. 
The smoke was still rising from where the town should be. Next to town, something peculiar happened. They ran outside and past the orchard, seeing the explosion must've happened somewhere near the Golden Oak Library, judging by the direction the smoke came from. Stride hoped it wasn't his home. His parents had to be fine. With a strange noise, a large crystal construction rose from the ground near town. It was a crystal castle.

"It's so sparkly," Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
"It's hideous," Stride added.