//------------------------------// // The Plan // Story: Being Brave Part III // by artman7391 //------------------------------// "Are the handpicked honor students rehearsing their questions!?" Asked Stiffson "SIR! YES SIR!!" Said the entire school staff. "Is security in place?!" "SIR YES SIR!!" They replied back. "Are all the classrooms cleaned and organized?!" "SIR YES SIR!!" They replied once more. It was a rather important morning for Stiffson Academy, for today, the head of the U.S. Department of Education was visiting the school district. As with every visit, the schools around the area were preparing to show their most excellent of achievements for all to see. And why not? This visit was a special one: Whoever had the most outstanding achievement in education would be awarded a blue ribbon by the head herself. This was one opportunity Stiffson did not want to miss. So rather than be just mean and ruthless, they added it to a whole new level today by enforcing the following: 1. All students were to have a 100% grade today, or they would be expelled. 2. No lunch is to be served today to avoid bathroom breaks. 3. All clothing is to be firmly pressed and packed, those who fail will be given a expulsion. 4. No noise, regardless of health; or be suspended. 5. Double the hall monitor guards. 6. NO UNKNOWN PERSONS. 7. NO SMILING. Yes, this was one day that could make it or break it for them, or so they thought. The principal and staff had found themselves in the conference room, which looked more like a business executive house. Every teacher and worker was standing up in a straight line, like an army of cadets ready to charge into battle. Principal Stiffson had given himself the position of a commanding officer. Though they seemed cool and calm, a bucket of sweat fell down the teachers necks. They had been yelled at one too many times in the past few days, and they could not afford a pink slip, especially on an occasion like this. "Dr. Discord!" Stiffson called. No one answered. "DR. DISCORD!!!!" He shouted again, to which a tall, yet skinny man jumped out of the line in panic. "Yes, sir?" Dr. Discord asked as he made a little soldier salute. Of all the members of Stiffson Academy, none looked more different than the science teacher, Dr. Discord. He sported the style of what looked like a Doc Brown wanabee with mix matched clothing. It was he who seemed the most eccentric, given the fact he had a small secret behind his sternness. Though he acted harshly in public, inside him was a science clown ready to give real knowledge to children all over. He wanted to add a sense of nonsense and wonder to general studies, and not confound himself to one topic. He had a versatile amount of knowledge, but in many ways drove him mad, probably because despite his eccentricity, Stiffson chose him as his right hand man: lounging the school for any disobedient students. Though he wished to end this cycle of brutality and discipline, he was afraid to speak up for fear of losing his job. As was for a few other teachers. If Sombra's magic didn't incase them with hatred, it enveloped them in fear. "Have all the students with a record in violation been taken care of?!" Asked Stiffson. "Most definitely sir." Discord replied nervously. "They're all locked in the detention room. The visitor will not even no they're there." "I knew I would count on you to discipline those hopeless causes." "As is a pleasure to be working with you." Discord lied through his teeth, to which Stiffson snapped his fingers commanding him to get back in the line. "Now what about...." Stiffson shivered for a moment "C-Canterlot High?!!" Everyone murmured and made a few grunts as they tapped their notepads and stretched their jackets in nervousness. If there was one place Stiffson Academy had a harsh rivalry with, it was Canterlot High. It was everything they weren't. An education metropolis for minds big and small. Not only that. It was a place where everyone was accepted, with a bountiful splendor of fun, compassion, and above all, friendship. This was one place Stiffson could not afford to lose to. "Maybe she won't come to their school." Suggested a teacher as he raised his hand. It was at that moment the principal swiftly walked up to him and slapped him across the cheek. "YOU IDIOT!!" He shouted. "IT'S A VISIT THROUGH THE ENTIRE SCHOOL DISTRICT! SHE'LL BE THERE!!" Stiffson took a moment to compose himself and started again. "Now look." He continued. "The future of my academy is at stake. Not to mention our personal careers. CANTERLOT HIGH MUST NOT BE ALLOWED WITHIN 3 MILES OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION! Is that understood?" Everyone nodded in nervous approval. "Maybe we could just blow up the school and blame it on a delinquent?" Another teacher suggested. "SILENCE!!" Stiffson shouted. "And that is tempting, but I have a better idea. DISCORD!" "Yes sir?" Discord replied as he shakily walked up to Stiffson's tall presence. "Take this serum to the back side of our rival school." Stiffson said as he took out of his front pocket a vial containing a strange blackish green serum. "What does it do?" Discord asked. "If you pour it down the inner pipes of Canterlot High, it will stench up the entire school with an unbearable scent. It will shut them down within a week." "But am I supposed to." "DONT QUESTION ME! Just pretend you're a plumber or something." "Whatever you say sir." Discord replied in defeat. "I'll get my disguise and be out by late afternoon." To which he turned around and walked out of the room." "...and not later!" Stiffson hollered out the door. He turned around to see everyone staring at her. "Why are you all still here!?" He shouted "Don't you have students to teach?" Everyone frantically ran out the door, leaving Stiffson to collect his thoughts. "No one will ever know." he said in a harsh breath as he took a glass of brandy to his mouth. However, as private as this plan sounded, the staff weren't the only ones listening in. At the edge of the window, a tiny microphone was placed earlier by Vinyl Scratch on the sill, recording every moment of the conversation. The sound and image was transmitted wirelessly through the air and towards the shack of Cory and friends. It was in there every student at Canterlot High was honing in on a large screen projected onto the wall, recording Stiffson's dastardly plans. Cory, of course, was front and center of the large crowd of students, each one had a walkie talkie supplied by Vinyl herself. in the middle as a large table with a diagram of Stiffson academy, and on the side was the IPAD on a kickstand, where Cory's Equestria friends we're still connected, hearing what he had to say. "Alright Cory." Said Katie who was sitting next to him. "What's the plan?" With a look of confidence, Cory marched up to table as everyone gathered around him. "The entrance to the school is exceptionally guarded today." He started. "So we'll need to find a way to sneak through security and expose the inner workings. Everybody is splitting off into three teams." Then he took out a pencil and started to draw on the diagram. "Team A." He continued. "You will sneak in through the school entrance pretending to be new, incoming students. You will be transported via bus driven by Vinyl Scratch. "But how are they gonna think they're new students?" Rachel asked. "This is where Sunset Shimmer steps in." Cory replied. "Sunset? You've visited the administrative office before haven't you?" "I sure did." Sunset replied as she rubbed the back of her head. "I was awarded an honorary student by Stiffson. A position I truly regret." "Well in these circumstances we're gonna take it as an advantage." Cory assured her. "You will be the one to pretend to escort the children to the school. If there's one unscheduled visit Stiffson accepts, it's honorary students. Once inside the building, Pinkie and Tony will give you the signal get out your phones and record all that you see." He reached into Vinyl's backpack and took out a bag of 3 dozen or so mini cams, handing each one to a member of team A. "While you guys are exposing the truth of Stiffson, Sunset will distract the head staff by convincing them to give her a tour of the place. Sunset, I know you may not like it, but I need you to pretend to be your old, nasty self, just so we don't blow our cover. Can you do that?" Sunset thought for a moment. She was so enveloped by her new friendships, she couldn't even bear to think about who she used to be. "Don't worry." Cory said. "It will just be pretend." After a moment or two, she nodded her head. "I think I can." "Alright." Cory replied back " Applejack, Joanna. You two will be on Team A as well. We're gonna need some bodyguards to take down any hall monitors who might be suspicious." "Yee haw!" Shouted Human Applejack as she did a high five with Joanna. "Finally! some action." Joanna Added. "In addition," Twilight added ".. like the fight from earlier, you four may be able to knock out some of Sombra's dark magic from them." "Mom." Cory continued as he turned to Twilight. "You and Spike will be leading Team B." "Why?" Spike asked. "Because we'll need some people to infiltrate the back end." He explained. "Mom and her team will disguise themselves as custodians and health inspectors. If they ask, tell them you we're authorized by the school district to come." "But back up a second." Applejack interrupted. "Aren't we gonna need some disguises or something?" "After all, it would be kinda weird to have a bunch of kids doing school maintenance." Joanna added. "First of all.." Cory said. "I know a bunch of times where we had to maintenance around the school. Second, this is where Rarity and Camden come in. You two are good with makeover's aren't you?" "As is one of our most exquisite specialties." Human Rarity bragged as she poofed her hair. "GASP. So is mine." Pony Rarity said. "Really!!?" Human Rarity squeeled. "Really Really. We should collaborate sometime." "I concur." "GIRLS!" Cory shouted. "Focus. Now, the assignment for you is to make Twilight and Team B look like a group of older custodians and health inspectors. Camden. I'm putting you in charge of makeup. Rarity, you're the costumes. Are you two able to pull it off in 90 minutes?" "Hey. We can do it with our eyes closed." bragged Camden. "Besides, we got costumes from school plays that will fit right into the plan." Cory gave him a thumbs up of approval. "Now, when the staff turns to leave after accepting your approval, Mom and Team B will sneak wires through the main cable system. Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, this is where you three come in." "ALRIGHT!!" The three of them said as they all made a high five. "Pretending to be volunteers for a junior maintenance program, you will all sneak in through the air ducts." Cory continued as he pointed to what looked like a series of tunnels in the school. They're empty and spacious so don't worry. Once you reach the main shaft, which located right above the administrative office, You will answer Mom and Team B from outside via walkie talkie and send the cables through. Once you grab onto them, attach them to the main security system. This will block out all cameras in the school. Once the transmission is out, Sunset, who will still be in the administrative office, will give Team A the signal from her phone. From there, everyone on that team will e-mail all video information onto a camera I put in Mom's backpack. Spike will then hop out and take the camera up the main shaft and attach it to the wires, thus exposing the videos to the Head of the U.S Department of Education, who will probably be there by then." Cory then turned to his Equestrian friends on the IPAD. "Now just because Stiffson academy has it's flaws doesn't mean they're dumb." Cory said to them "So, we're going to need to some decoys to trick them as where the culprits are. This is where you five come in." "AWESOME!" Pony Rainbow Dash cried. "Just what I was thinking." Human Rainbow Dash replied. "Spike will have a second camera with him and place it on intercoms which all over the school walls. This will trick Principal Stiffson into thinking you guys are already inside. While security searches team A will unlock the detention classrooms. Luckily, we have Sunset to misguide security so won't go near it. After Team A moves outside with the other students, Twilight will give the signal outside, the cameras will be switched on, and Stiffson will finally be exposed as they truly are. " "Yeah, but there's still one thing." Said Spike. "How are we gonna stop that counterpart of Discord?" "This is where Team C comes in." Cory replied as his finger pointed to the road from outside. "Rainbow Dash, Katie. You two will be leading one half of the team disguised as police officers..." "With uniforms from your's truly." Camden added. "At about halfway between Stiffson and Canterlot, your team will stop and stall Dr. Discord long enough for our exposure to work." "AWESOME!!" Human Rainbow Dash replied as she did a high five with Katie. "Took the words right outta me."Pony Rainbow Dash replied. "Meanwhile, Fluttershy and Rachel will be in charge of the second half of this team." "Oh. What will we be doing?" asked Rachel. "You will stall Dr. Discord even further by having him sign a pretend petition on the side of the road and force him to wait for a few critters to cross the street. This will give the Head of Education more than enough time to check out Canterlot High before Discord gets the chance to ruin it..." "I don't mean to interrupt," Human Fluttershy intervened "But I think we'll need to do more than just stall Dr. Discord." "She's absolutely right." added Pony Fluttershy "The Discord in our world was reformed after showing him the kindness of friendship. gasp Why don't you two ask human Discord why he took the position at Stiffson. "Really?" Asked Rachel "I don't know about that." "I'm pretty sure deep down inside that mean, thick, shell of his is a real sweetheart." Pony Fluttershy assured them. "It worked when I tired it." "Well, it's a long shot," Cory thought "But given the time we have, it's worth a try." Everyone nodded in agreement. "Alright!" He continued with a rather confident voice "The plan is set. If anything backfires, we each a walkie talkie to inform the other. Everybody understand?" Everyone made a second nod of agreement. "There is one question." Twilight asked as she raised her hand. "What will you be dong?" Cory stood up and looked at the open world outside the shack. "I need to settle a score with an old foe of mine." He said. Both Twilight and Cory's friends looked at each other with a rather parental concern. "Are you sure you're up for that?' Twilight asked as she walked towards him. "You could risk more than just your plan." Cory thought for a moment and then looked up at her. "Mom." He started "This isn't just something I have the urge to expose. I have to do this. It's why I followed you here in the first place. Because not only will it prove my studies and training were all worth while, but will show I have something worth living for." "What's that?" Asked Pony Applejack. "A family of friends." He replied. "So who's with me." "We're with you pal." Said Tony as his old friends approached him. "Friend to Friend" "We're with ya too." Said human Applejack. "Aw shucks. Sister's gotta help her brother." Pony Applejack added. "I'm with ya also." "Master to student." Said Pony Rainbow Dash. "We're all right behind ya. "I'm with ya Cory." Added Human Rainbow Dash. "You the man Cory." Said a Canterlot high student. "I'm with ya Cory." Said another "ALRIGHT CORY!!" Said Pony and Human Pinkie Pie. "I'm so with you Cory." Said Spike "yay." Said Pony and Human Fluttershy. Soon everyone made a circle with an "I'm with you." and a "We're on your side." Sunset thought for a moment and walked up to him as well. "I'm with you too Cory." She said affectionately. "You and your mom are an inspiration to me." Cory smiled back and gave her a wink. "Everybody and Everypony," Said Cory as he put his hand in the middle of the circle. "Let's finish this the way it should be. TOGETHER!!" Everyone immediately put their hands in as well, including the Mane 5, who placed their hooves on the monitor. Then they all looked at Sunset, who grew a smile as she finally put her hand in. Then, they all threw their hands and hooves in the air and began the mission.