Episode 11: San Francisco School Troubles
In the city of San Francisco, in Midpoint's apartment, Cozy Glow had a backpack, which was being loaded with pencils, notebooks, pens, colored pencils, and a single apple. It was Midpoint who was loading the stuff.
"Now, I know your nervous, but this is your first day of school here in America," Midpoint said. "But just so you know, it's always good to make a good impression on the first day of school."
"So, what's with the apple?" Cozy Glow asked.
"It's for your homeroom teacher," Midpoint said. "I taught you all you need to know about the modern world. Even, how to use a cell phone."
"But, I don't have a cell phone," Cozy Glow said.
"You sure?" Midpoint asked. He then held out a cell phone for Cozy Glow. The phone was in a protective case with an attachable holster for the phone.
"Golly!" Cozy Glow said.
"And here," Midpoint said as handed her some ear buds and a battery charger for her phone. "I installed some of the music you came to enjoy as you're here. Don't listen to the music during class."
"Okay," Cozy Glow said. Then the two of them headed out the door. They went into the parking lot of the building, and in front of the elevators was Sherman in the car.
"Remember, the first impression should be a good impression," Midpoint said. "So, I don't want to receive a call from your teachers about you causing any trouble."
"I'll try my best," Cozy Glow said as they got into the car. The car then started moving out of the parking lot and went through the city. The car stopped in front of an elementary school. The back door opened up and Cozy Glow got out of the car, grabbing her backpack.
"Have a good first day at your new school," Midpoint said.
"I will," Cozy Glow said, closing the door. She then looked at the school with a smile on her face. She looked at all the students who were all surprised at Cozy Glow arriving. Cozy Glow got nervous after the car pulled out. She then exhaled and then smiled. She then headed for the school.
She was about to walk into the front door of the school but was stopped when a hand was placed on her shoulder, and a voice said, "Hold it right there." Cozy Glow looked up at the man who stopped her. "Where do you think you're going, troublemaker?"
Cozy Glow's eyes shrank in fear while her mind was shouting, "How did he know?!"
Cozy Glow was looking up at the man who was giving her a stern look. Cozy Glow stood there in fear. She gulped and tried moving away.
"Oh, no you don't," said the man. "I'm not going to let some freak distract any of my students here in this school. I don't know how Alex Lynol got the school board to let you come to school here, but I don't like it."
"You're... the principal?" Cozy Glow asked, nervously.
"That's right," the man said. "I might as well keep my eye on you. If you cause any trouble here in my school, I'll throw you out. Do you understand me?!"
"Y-yes sir," Cozy Glow said. She then walked into the school, being watched by the other students there. She looked back at the front door and thought, "This hasn't happened in my other schools in Equestria. Why would he do that?" She then put her backpack on the ground, and pulled out her class schedule. She saw that her first class was in room 113. She walked over to that classroom, and there was one man there. She walked into the classroom.
"Whoa," the teacher said. "You must be Cozy Glow. I heard that we were going to have an Equestrian join the class. Which might make it weird for everyone, since you are the first nonhuman student in the school for years."
"What?" Cozy Glow asked. "What do you mean?"
"Years ago, Principal Hunter thought it would be a good idea to make the school a humans only school," said the teacher. "Oh, I'm Mr. Smith, by the way. You can call me Smitty. Anyway, they were convinced that the school would be better if the Mobians would be sent to a different school, that way they wouldn't distract the human students from their studies with there powers and extra appendages."
"Why?" Cozy Glow asked.
"Don't know, Cozy Glow," Smitty said. "Anyway, let's get you standing in front of the class. The bell's gonna ring soon." Then the school bell rang. Then all of the other students came in and sat in their assigned desks. "Good morning, class."
"Good morning, Smitty!" the class called out.
"We have a new student joining us," Smitty said. "Say hello to our first student from Equestria, Cozy Glow. Now, everyone, please treat her as any other student here in class." Smitty then looked down at Cozy Glow and said, "Go on. Pick out an empty seat." Cozy Glow nodded, and headed for an empty seat, the other kids looking at her. She sat at her seat, looking at the front of the class. "Alright, class, let's get started with spelling."
The students then took out their notebooks. Cozy Glow looked around and did the same. Luckily, Midpoint taught her how to write with hands.
After class, Cozy Glow headed towards the restroom. She did her business, washed her hands, and headed out of the bathroom. She then headed outside to enjoy recess. She saw a swing set. She looked around and headed for it. She sat on the swing, looking at all the other students playing on the playground. She looked at all the students. She sighed and started swinging on the swing. Just then, she was grabbed just as the swing was about to swing forward.
"What the heck?" Cozy Glow asked, looking at who grabbed her. It was the principal, giving her a sour look.
"Do you mind telling me why you have this in your backpack?" the principal asked, holding out a switchblade.
"What? That's not mine!" Cozy Glow debated.
"Don't you dare lie to me," the principal said. "I knew your kind was trouble from the start. You are expelled."
"WHAT?!" Cozy Glow asked. "But I didn't..."
"Get out of my school!" the Principal shouted. Cozy Glow's eyes started filling with tears. She then ran into the school, crying all the way down the hall.
Later, Cozy Glow arrived at Shadow Appliances, and she told Midpoint about what happened.
"A switchblade?! Seriously?!" Midpoint shouted. "No way! I never gave you a switchblade!"
"He accused me of sneaking it in my backpack," Cozy Glow said, crossing her arms. "It was humiliating. And yet, it would seem that I am the only Mobian in that school."
"I talked to the school board about letting you into that school," Midpoint said. "I done everything to make sure you'll be a good student there. But then that principal accuses you of sneaking in a switchblade."
"I didn't even do anything illegal," Cozy Glow said. "I guess I'm just gonna have to attend another school."
"I'll call the Secretary of Education," Midpoint said. "We'll see about getting you back into that school."
Back in Equestria, Twilight was sitting in her throne room, handling all of the paperwork for any problems across Equestria. Just then, Nicole came in.
"Oh, hello, Nicole," Twilight said. "Is there something you wanted to talk about?"
"Somehow, none of the Freedom Fighters don't know either, the highlights on MC's face are glowing," Nicole said. She then looked down at Twilight's hips and said, "Looks like it's not just his face that's glowing."
Twilight looked down and saw a faint glow coming from her thighs. Twilight looked at Nicole, grinned nervously and said, "Excuse me for a second." She then stepped out of the throne room, and headed into the restroom. She then ran back into the throne room and said, "Send MC here." Nicole nodded.
MC then came in through the portal, the orange on his muzzle glowing. He then asked, "What's up with this, Sparkles?"
"It's a sign of a Friendship Problem that needs to be solved," Twilight answered. Spike then came in with some folders.
"Alright, Twilight," Spike said. "I got the folders ready for the orders to be sent away." He then noticed MC in the room. "Oh, hey, MC. What brings you here?"
"He's here for this," Twilight said, putting her hand on the Cutie Map. Then the map started glowing, and a globe of the entire planet appeared over the entire table. The globe then rotated, and then the globe went down into the table, showing Twilight's Cutie Mark and MC's head hovering over the city of San Francisco.
"San Francisco?" MC asked.
"This is a first," Twilight said. "A friendship problem outside of the Equestrian Continent? This must be very interesting."
"So, this map just sends random people to a certain place to fix a Friendship Problem?" MC asked.
"Yep," Spike said. "Whoever is called to that place has to find that problem, and fix it."
"Okay," MC said. "Guess we're going to the city by the bay."
"I guess so," Twilight said.
MC then looked over at Spike and asked, "Have you been eating dog food?"
Spike's face then went red, making Twilight laugh. Twilight then tried stopping, but she still kept laughing as she was saying, "Spi... Spike... haha ha ha... I... I told you to... haha ha... I told you not to... haha ha... not to smuggle... haha... dog treats... haha ha... from Canterlot High... haha ha!"
"I can't help it!" Spike said.
MC then looked over at Twilight and asked, "Do I even want to know."
"I'll... haha ha... I'll tell you on the way to San Francisco," Twilight said, trying to stop laughing. Then the two of them headed to the portal to Knothole. When Spike looked around, he went to a secret compartment he had installed under his small throne, and pulled out a bag of dog treats. He then pulled one out, and ate it.
"No one has to know," said Spike.
"I know!" came Nicole's voice, scaring Spike.
The Spirit of Freedom landed at the helipad at Shadow Appliances. Twilight and MC headed out of the Spirit of Freedom, and headed inside.
"Hopefully, Alex is in a listening mood," MC said.
The two of them walked in and headed for the front desk. Twilight then said, "Hello, Julia. We're here to see Alex Lynol. Is he in?"
"Well, he's upset today," Julia said. "Today, he got Cozy Glow into school, but she was expelled for something she didn't even do."
"What?" MC asked. "On her first day at school?" MC then looked over at Twilight and asked, "You don't think that's why we've been sent here, do you?"
"Only one way to find out," Twilight said. "Let's go talk to them."
Julia then handed MC a key card, and then he and Twilight walked towards the stairs, heading to the CEO's office. They walked in and they saw Midpoint on the phone talking to someone while Cozy Glow was sitting in a chair on the other side of Midpoint's desk.
"Thanks for listening to me, Mister Secretary," Midpoint said. "Goodbye." He then hung up. He then noticed Twilight and MC. "I take it that Julia told you about what happened?"
"We heard," Twilight said. "But why was she expelled on her first day of school?"
"I was expelled because the principal at my school accused me of bringing a switchblade to school," Cozy Glow said. "But I didn't bring it to school."
"I packed Cozy Glow's bag myself," Midpoint said. "I even made sure that she didn't have any weapons on her right before we dropped her off."
MC sniffed and said, "You two speak of truth. Something dirty must be afoot in those school walls."
"Are you sure?" Twilight asked. "Why would we be sent to settle something like this?"
"Cozy Glow is on the brink of reforming," MC said. "No way she would be responsible for bringing a switchblade to school. Besides, under Penal Code 21510 PC, California law makes is illegal to even do anything with a switchblade. We're gonna have to get to the bottom of this. What school did she attend?"
After the final bell of the school, the students of the school left the school grounds. After the last student left the school grounds, Twilight, MC, Midpoint and Cozy Glow headed for the front doors.
The Principal of the school looked out the front door window, gasped, and then he locked the door.
MC gave a grimace and said, "He locked the door."
"H'oh, boy," Midpoint said. "He's trying to keep us out."
"Pathetic," MC said. He then looked up and saw a security camera. MC then asked, "There are security cameras all over the school, right?"
"Yes," Midpoint said. "Oh, I get ya. Follow me." Midpoint went around the building, the others following. They then went to a security box. "This is it."
MC pulled up the lock on the box. He then lifted his left hand, bared the claw from his index finger, and put it into the locking mechanism of the lock. He then unlocked it, and then he opened the security box.
"Why didn't you use your claws to cut open the box?" Twilight asked.
"I didn't want to make a mess," MC replied. Midpoint then put a small device in and plugged it into an outlet.
"Alright," Midpoint said. "Let's get back to my office and see what's in store for this place." The four of them left.
They then went back to Shadow Appliances. The group went over to Midpoint's computer. The group looked into the security cameras. They saw the footage of Cozy Glow walking towards the school.
"Okay, we see Cozy Glow heading towards the school," Twilight said.
"Now we see Cozy Glow talking to the Principal," Midpoint said. "No sign of any trouble going on there."
"Fast forward to when they headed out to recess," MC said. "And show the camera outside of Cozy's first class." Midpoint nodded. He then fast forwarded the footage. "Stop," MC said. Midpoint stopped the footage. "There." Midpoint showed the footage of the principal walking past the classroom, not going into it. "He didn't even go into the classroom."
"And he's holding the switchblade," Twilight said. "It was all a setup."
"But why would he do that?" Cozy Glow asked. "Why would he frame me?"
"We're gonna find out," Midpoint said. "I'm gonna call the secretary of Education and..." He was then interrupted by the sound of Julia on the intercom.
"Mr. Lynol, it's the Secretary of Education on the phone," Julia's voice came from the intercom.
Midpoint then pushed a button on the intercom and said, "Thank you." He then answered the phone. "Hello? Good day, Mr. Secretary. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Okay. Thank you." He then hung up the phone and looked at Cozy Glow. "You're back in school. He'll be on the next flight to here and we'll be meeting in the morning."
"But, what are we going to do about the principal?" Twilight asked. "He's going to have to explain why he kicked out Cozy Glow for an untrue reason? Sure, Applejack would have been able to help out, but she wasn't called by the map."
"I think it's time for that school to be on the news," MC said.
Midpoint then grabbed the phone and said, "Time to report this to the local news channel." He then dialed a number.
Later that night, MC and Twilight joined Midpoint and Cozy Glow at the Diner by the mall.
"This is going to be an interesting day tomorrow," MC said.
"The Secretary of Education got Cozy Glow back into the school," Midpoint said. "And I've let the news do a special report on the subject on letting an Equestrian attend a US school, which if the principal tries to cross a line, he'll be seen as the most hated man in San Francisco."
"How are we going to expose the principal for who he really is?" Cozy Glow asked.
"Principal Hunter is gonna mess up," Midpoint said. "But, he's going to try to hide it when he's being recorded by video cameras." Midpoint then held out a flower pin. "And we're gonna have one of the students wear this special pin, with a built in video camera."
"So you can record the misdeeds of what he's doing if he does it," MC said.
"That's actually smart," Twilight said. "Do you think that we'll be able to get the principal to expose the truth?"
"Only one way to find out," Midpoint said, raising a glass. "For tomorrow, we shall expose the principal for who he really is. A racist man."
The others brought up their glasses, and they collided them with each other. MC was the only one raising his glass with his left hand.
The next day, Principal Hunter was on the computer, trying to erase Cozy Glow's name from the list of students. But he wasn't getting it off the list for some reason.
"C'mon," Principal Hunter said, typing on his computer. "Why won't you come off?" Then on the computer, the words "REQUEST DENIED" appeared on the screen. "Oh, c'mon!" Then one person came into the office, getting the attention of Principal Hunter. "What do you want?"
"Principal Hunter, I am the Secretary of Education. I heard that you attempted to kick out an Equestrian transfer student for something she didn't do."
"That girl snuck in a switchblade," Principal Hunter said. "She's dangerous!"
"Guess you didn't get the information on her past," said the Secretary of Education. "She was a very troubled young one who's on the path of reforming. And she's being watched by a young man who is smarter and younger than you."
"So what?" asked Principal Hunter. "I will not let that Equestrian be let on school grounds."
"Yes, you are," said the Secretary. "She has been reinstated under my watch. As long as I'm the Secretary of Education, I will not let you kick her out."
Principal Hunter groaned in anger. Just then, a news van pulled up outside in front of the school. The Principal got surprised at that. When he looked over at the Secretary, he saw that he was leaving the office. Principal Hunter growled and said, "I won't stand it. The only creatures on this world that deserve to go to school should be humans only. I'll make sure of it."
Later in the day, Cozy Glow was walking in through the school hallway, heading for her homeroom class. Then one reporter walked up to her.
"I'm Charlotte Loraine, reporting live from San Francisco Elementary School," the reporter said. "And our top story for the day, an Equestrian is attending school here. And here she is. Excuse me? Can we get your name?"
"Cozy Glow."
"Well, Cozy Glow, how do you feel about attending a school here in the United States of America?" Charlotte Loraine asked.
"Well, I was doing fine yesterday," Cozy Glow said. "But when I was enjoying recess, the principal came out, accused me of bringing a switchblade, and kicked me out."
"What?" Charlotte Loraine asked. "Why?"
"I didn't," Cozy Glow responded. "He didn't even walk into the classroom to find it. If you don't believe me, watch the security footage. Do it, Alex."
In the news van, Twilight, MC and Midpoint were sitting at a computer there, about to splice the footage into the news. They showed footage of Cozy Glow walking out of the girls bathroom, and Principal Hunter walking down the halls, following Cozy Glow.
"As you can see, he didn't even go into my classroom there," Cozy's voice came from the TV in the van.
"I do see," came Charlotte Loraine's voice. "He didn't even go into the classroom to do inspection."
"And now, the coup de grâce," Midpoint said.
MC then put a flash drive into the computer, and a file showed up, and it showed footage of Principal Hunter talking to a student in the classroom. Who he didn't know had that special pin with the camera.
"You wanted to see me, Principal Hunter?" came a student's voice.
"Thank you for coming, Marcy Philips," came Principal Hunter's voice. "I need you to do something for me. I want you to plant this bag of marijuana into that Cozy Glow's backpack."
"What?" Marcy Philips's voice asked. "Why would you do that? She hasn't done anything wrong?"
"It's not just that Equestrian," came Principal Hunter's voice. "It's about every intelligent creature that's not human. Only humans belong in schools around the world. Humans should be humans and animals should be animals. We cannot live in a world where animals act like humans. It's time to show the world that Mobians and Equestrians cannot be trusted, and only humans should be the only intelligent beings on our planet."
"You're insane!" Marcy Phillips said.
"Sure," said Principal Hunter. "But if you don't do it, I'll be sure to hold you back. You won't be able to graduate from this elementary school for a long, long time." He then started laughing evilly.
"And there you have it," came Charlotte Loraine's voice on the screen. "Clear evidence of a principal using illegal actions to keep Mobians and Equestrians from attending school, possession of illegal items, and blackmailing students. And now, a word from the Secretary of Education."
The cameraman turned the camera to show the Secretary of Education. He then said, "Well, I believe that there should be one more person on TV." Then he started walking towards the Principal's office, with the cameraman, Charlotte Loraine and Cozy Glow following. The Principal saw the four of them coming in.
"What's going on here?" Principal Hunter asked.
"Principal Hunter, for possessing illegal items, blackmailing your students, and racism, you're fired," said the Secretary of Education.
"You can't fire me!" Principal Hunter said. "I have to do what's right for my species!"
Then the sound of police sirens came to the attention of Twilight, MC and Midpoint. All of them smirking.
"This guy's going to jail," MC said.
Later that night, at the sports grill and arcade, Twilight, MC, Midpoint and Cozy Glow were having dinner at a booth there. They were also watching the local news.
"And with that, Principal Hunter has been arrested for his crimes."
"You see that?" MC asked. "Racism is one of the biggest friendship problems in the world."
"I can't believe that there are creatures that are like that," Twilight said. "Come to think of it, Chancellor Neighsay was like that when I opened up the School of Friendship."
"There are creatures who are like that, Twilight," Midpoint said. "No matter what skin tone you are, what species you are, or even what certain abilities you have, we're still intelligent beings."
"Humans, Mobians or Equestrians, we should treat each other as equals," MC said, holding up his glass.
"I'd toast to that," Twilight said as she, Midpoint and Cozy Glow tapped their drinks with MC's drink.
Midpoint then saw something on MC's face and said, "Your face is glowing."
MC then looked down at the highlights on his muzzle, glowing in the opposite direction that it was glowing earlier. Twilight was looking at her thighs and smiled.
"Looks like our mission is complete," Twilight said.
"Well, in the morning, we'll head on home," MC said.
"Thanks for helping out," Cozy Glow said. "I'm sure that we're gonna have a better principal now."
"Oh, you will," said Midpoint. "Now, why don't you go on into the arcade and get some tickets. Save up enough tickets, and you can get a nice prize." Midpoint held out about $100 with 20 dollar bills, and Cozy Glow nodded, taking the money, and heading for the arcade.
"Guess Cozy Glow is really reformed," Twilight said, smiling.
"But, I'm still keeping an eye on her," Midpoint said. "We can get dessert after we leave." The three of them nodded and finished up their meals."