Being Brave Part III

by artman7391

Team B

Twilight and her team were stationed in the back entrance of Stiffson. With janitor tools in their hands and latex masks on their faces, A rather convincing makeover was provided by human Rarity and Camden giving them the impression of older low class citizens.

Meanwhile, Cory was just entering the Stiffson shaft when he got on his walkie talkie.

"Cory to Rarity and Camden, Cory is Rarity and Camden." He said as he climbed in "Is team b ready? Over."

"As they ever could be. Over." Rarity replied, who was sitting in a car with Camden that was parked a good distance away.

"Great. I'll meet the CMC over at the center of the shaft. I just hope our cover isn't blown. over."

"Relax Cory." Camden replied who was observing team B with is binoculars. "This disguise is fool proof. Even Stiffson won't recognize they're students. Over."

"Just make sure you two don't get caught by hiding in plain sight. Over."

"Not to worry." Rarity replied gleefully. "I have taken the liberty of making these gorgeous camo suits that will blend us right in with the school lawn, over."

It was then that rarity took out of one her shopping bags a pair of one piece jump suits hued with a camo colored scheme, yet a texture of sequins.

"Well you don't have to go all glitz and glamour on them." Human Applejack replied who just happened to be parked next to them. She, and the rest of Team A had returned from their part with the unconscious hall monitors tied up in the back.

"Who says a lady can't truly express herself on a mission?" Said Pony Rarity over the IPAD.

"Couldn't possibly have said it better myself." Human Rarity replied.

"This what you put up with?" Asked an exhausted Pony Applejack.

"Girl. You don't know half of it." Human AJ replied.

"Welcome to my world." Pony AJ added, to which they both laughed.

"Guys. Guys!" Cory interrupted over the walkie talkie. "There'll be time to get more acquainted later. Joanna, Applejack. Are all the Monitors down for the count? Over."

"The perimeter is clear." Joanna assured them. "You're free to enter. Over."

"Perfect. I just need you to give the signal from Team B. Over."

"Roger that. Over and out." Joanna added as she turned off her device.

"Can someone please explain to us who Roger is?!" Asked Pony Pinkie Pie.

"Yeah, what's so important about this Roger?" Human Pinkie added.

The other three slapped their palms to their faces in exhaustion. Then, after the coast was checked, Tony waved a white hanky in the air, giving Twilight, Spike and the rest of Team B the signal to move forward, but not before putting on his camo suit, sneaking forward and hiding the IPAD in Twilight's backpack.

Each one (CMC included), looked like a plumber, janitor, and/or electrician who had just got out of bed from their single apartments. Twilight, especially, blended in the most. Complete with a 50 something face mask, a hunched back, messy hair tied in a bun and a low class looking uniform, she would easily fit right in with any middle aged laborer.

It was now that Team B had reached the back entrance of the school and knocked on the neatly polished door. It opened with swift force as a rather portly lady stepped forward with Sunset by her side.

"How dare you touch your filthy hands on our door!!" She said in a snappy voice.

"Yeah, we just washed it." Sunset added in rather fakey snarl. "What are you doing here anyway?"

Twilight cleared her throat and spoke in rather deep, hick voice.

"Uh. We here represent the local electric company." She started as she read from a note card Cory gave her earlier. "...and we've been told by the board to inspect on your latest installment of circuits."

"I don't remember our school allowing any such nonsense." The Mrs. Orchid scoffed.

"Actually I'm pretty sure we remember meeting up with you about this." Twilight lied.

"Want your school to look it's best on it's special." Another member of the team added

"Come Sunset. There's much...."

"Wait!" Sunset interrupted as she took out a clipboard of papers. "I actually do recall you were all scheduled for today."

"What?! Give me that" Mrs. Orchid said coldly as she grabbed the clipboard. She pointed her sharp, red coated fingernail down the paper until she saw what looked like a slip that had just been paper clipped.

"Hmmmm." She said through her bulbous nostril. "So you are. Sunset dear, why don't we show them the shaft to the circuits."

"As you wish Mrs. Orchid." Sunset turned as she started down the hallway with Team B following from behind.

Spike did his best to contain himself and remain still in the rather tightly crowded backpack of Twilight's. He pulled his hind leg here and his front paw there, but couldn't manage to find a decent spot. Suddenly, without warning, he sneezed, which obviously caught the attention of the two in front of them. Twilight froze in utter fear as she started to sweat nervously.

"What was that?" Asked Mrs. Orchid as she swiftly turned to Twilight.

"A......sneeze?" Asked a rather stiff Twilight.

"Clearly it is Mrs. Orchid." Sunset added as she secretly gave Twilight a thumbs up, to which she replied with a smirk.

"You're lucky you caught it in your glove, you low life twat." Mrs. Orchid said sharply. "Had a fraction of that sneeze landed on any other surface, I would've had you out of here. And you're certainly lucky you don't have any animals with you, even if it is a seeing eye, flea ridden mutt."

"I'll make sure she needs a seeing eye mutt." Spike whispered through a slit in the front pocket.

Mrs. Orchid turned back as the group continued their walk down the hall. By now, Sunset Shimmer felt so shameful pretending to be the old her. I'm gonna need a bath after all this. She thought to herself.

"Speaking of animals, that reminds me Sunset. We have just made the brilliant decision to cut the Equestrian Team."

"Really." Sunset said "I wasn't informed of that."

"Oh, yes. If there's one creature we just can't withstand in these walls it's horses, and ponies."

"Pardon?" Said Pony Applejack who was overhearing the conversation through the backpack. "Did she just say what I think she said?"

"Horses?" Asked Sunset.

"Those dirty, ugly creatures." Mrs. Orchid shuddered in disgust.

"Alright!! That's it!!" Shouted Pony Rainbow Dash " I'm goin in!! No more miss nice girl!!!"

But just as she was about to zoom off, Pony Applejack caught her by the tail and slammed her to the ground.

"What was that?" Asked Mrs. Orchid who overheard.

"Oh nothing." Twilight replied nervously "Just a.....what's it called?"

"Ringtone." one of the workers whispered to her.

"Ringtone right, .one of our team members has that for a ring... tone."

Orchid looked suspiciously with a raised eyebrow.

"You should check it." She said after a pause "It sounds dreadful. Sunset, continue this way. I need to check on the missing hall monitor situation."

"Yes Mrs. Orchid." Sunset replied, and off they continued, with Orchid heading in another direction.

Meanwhile, back at the Crystal Empire, the mane five were pacing back and forth in one of the rotundas.

"I can't just let my brother get bullied to pieces." Said Pony Applejack " I mean, I made a promise to protect Cory and give him the life he never had."

"I'm way ahead of you Aj." Rainbow Dash added, who was sitting down with her forelegs crossed. "I say we get there and knock that so called principal all the way to Tartarus."

"But we can't just barge in like wild animals." Rarity proclaimed "They will be seeing two of each of us. Remember?"

"Maybe..." Pinkie pondered as she took out a easel with a kid like drawing on it. "Using mainly spoons I found in a fudge mix, we secretly go in and dig a tunnel underneath the school, get ourselves an impossibly huge balloon, float it off in the air and save Cory, Twilight and rest of the gang just seconds before it pops and plummets to the ground. I'll wear this mustache." To she put one on.

"I like it." Said human Pinkie Pie who was communicating via another IPad.

"Spoons?" Pony Rainbow Dash asked unenthusiastically.

"Look." AJ sighed. "Much as I hate to admit it, Rarity's right. There's just gotta be a better way to help em."

"um, maybe a bit of backup?" Fluttershy suggested meekly. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to sound aggressive."

"That aint aggressive...." AJ responded. "That's genius. Girls. I'm gonna go off to my room and mail to every Apple in Equestria. I'll be tellin em it's a family Emergency."

" I can't believe I'm saying this," Rarity added "But this sounds brilliant. Fluttershy, can you communicate to your animal friends via this distance?"

"Well, I never actually tried that before." Fluttershy answered "But, maybe I can through this bird on the windowsill I found."

Then she trotted over to the bird of which she discussed. It was a small green finch standing upon the beam that supported the widow's lower structure.

"Hello Mr. Green Finch." Fluttershy said. "I don't mean to interrupt your pleasant viewing of the crystal empire, but we're in need of a little assistance. See my friend Cory is in a bit of trouble and we're going to need a lot of help."

The bird whistled something.

"You can really do that?"

The bird whistled back.

"Excellent! Fly over to Ponyville and gather all of my critter friends near my cottage. It's right on the edge Ponyville next to the everfree forest."

The finch nodded and flew off into that direction

Meanwhile, Sunset and Team B were found approaching the duct to the main circuit board. It was at this time Twilight noticed a rather sad look on Sunset's face.

"What's the matter?" She asked as she walked up to console her.

"I hope never to do something like this again." Sunset replied with tears in her eyes "It's just....it's just too many painful memories."

"Sunset. I know how hard you're trying to become a better pony. And if it helps, the fact that you shudder at who you used to be makes us know that you truly are reformed."

Sunset smiled back with watery eyes as Twilight did the same.

"Alright team!" Twilight continued. "You know the drill."

Everyone nodded as they took off their caps and sorted everything out. From their backpacks, they pulled out circuit upon circuit of wires. Next, Twilight and Sunset gathered the pieces and twisted into a fine electric rope. After that, she reached in her backpack and gave Spike and the IPAD to the human CMC. They nodded at each other and climbed into shaft.

"Applebloom to Cory." Said Applebloom who was on her walkie talkie. "Applebloom to Cory. Come in Cory. Over."

"Cory to Applebloom." Cory responded as he continued to creep through the other side. "What's the scoop? Over."

"Scootaloo, Spike, Sweetie Belle and I are in the shaft. Repeat. We are in the shaft. Over."

"Excellent." He replied. "You have the IPAD still? Over."

"Looking at it now." Said Spike. "Over."

"Alright. I'll meet you at the center of the shaft. That's where all the pipes meet. Over."

"Roger that." Sweetie Belle replied. "Over and out."

"So you're the human version of my little sister?" Asked Pony Applejack over the IPAD.

"Eyup." Human Applebloom replied as she turned off her walkie talkie. "I guess so."

"Just make sure yer followin orders with the human me."

"HEY!! I can look after myself pretty good!"

The three other shoosed her as she sighed.

"Well tan my coat." Appljack replied "You sound just like her."

Applebloom smirked a little as she heard this.

"Hey how bout when is over we share some tips on farming?" She asked.

"Sounds good to me." AJ replied.

"Uh, hate to break u a conversation," Spike interrupted, "..but we're in the middle of a mission now."

The two nodded as Applebloom tucked the IPAD beneath her arm and the four trudged on.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Cory continued to trudge as well. Every time he approached a vent underneath, he would pause for a few seconds at stare down at the rooms from below. many were bare, colorless classrooms of the most disciplinary standards. There was no life to them, not even a single window or poster to brighten it's atmosphere. The desks were all perfectly and symmetrically aligned, polished and cleaned to their utmost propriety. Each desk was accompanied by a well dressed student, as if they were prepping for a job interview. Facing them was the teacher, equally dressed, and progressively menacing. He or she wore a tightly buckled business outfit, complete with firmly pressed suits, delicately polished shoes, and a metal name tag pinned to their shirt pockets. Their faces were cleanly shaven without a freckle or blemish to be found. While the mens hairs were either neatly combed or buzzcut, the women either tied theirs into a bun , pushed into a beehive hairdo, or cut to a point where it only dragged down to their cheekbones. But what really made them all the same was their eyes: Red dots for pupils, and sickly green for their irises.

Now for the first time, Cory could see the floor of each room. After all, it was forbidden to even glance at it, with the result being a smack in the head by a metal ruler. He noticed how a strange, purple smoke like substance was seeping out of the students, crawling just above the surface and fusing into the body of the teacher. He knew from his mother's teachings this was none other than the work of Sombra. In addition, he saw a few open drawers at the educators desks. Inside them were the typical torture devices used for punishing unruly individuals. Such items included either a switch for getting a problem or a sentence wrong, or forgetting something, a diaper for not understanding material, soap powder for talking out loud in class, and even a leather whip with blood stains on it for those who are slower in subjects. From just thinking about it, Cory could still feel the aches from those lashes he got periodically. As he crawled further into the dark shaft, he stared down at more vents, revealing other familiar rooms: The cafeteria, the gym, the locker room, the assembly hall, the nurse's studies, all locations of painful memories one would wish to forget. Finally, he reached the room he dreaded the most: The principals office.

The decor made it look more like the room of a CEO of a large corporation than an educator's. Every last microscopic item perfectly polished and symmetrically aligned, not a pencil or thumbtack out of place. It was there, right below the one way vent, he saw his worst enemy. Principal Stiffson was found neatly postured in his swivel chair, smoking a cigarette, and carefully guarding the detention room located to the left of his studies. Oh, how he wished he could count the number of times he was sent to that hellhole, where he and many others suffered through such inhumane tortures too cringing to describe. In fact, he could hear 9 or 10 voices wailing in pain. The room, as he remembered was always dark, with the only light being a dimly lit fluorescent tube, and a smell of dust, sweat, urine and sewage water. Surrounding the bare concrete walls were instruments of torture and anguish, inflicted upon the misbehaving student seated in the center in an old rusty chair.

"I've got to save them." He whispered to himself as he listened on to those screams of anguish.

"Save who Cory?" Said a voice both comforting and innocent.

Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Spike had finally crossed paths with Cory's as they looked at each other with small smiles.

"Wow, you girls are a relief to see." Cory responded as he snapped back to reality.

"Same here." Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo added.

"We got the wires like you said." Applbloom said.

"Good." Cory responded "You know? You really do remind me of my little sister back home."

"Speaking of sisters," Spike said as he hopped out of Applebloom backpack. "..Pony Applejack wants to say something to you."

He handed the IPAD over to Cory as he looked face to face with his big sister.

"Phew." Pony AJ said "Good to see my little brother's still alive and well."

"I'm just glad to see you." Cory replied. "I just took a painful stroll down memory lane."

"Cory." AJ continued. "You knew on the day we adopted you I made a solemn vow I'd do everything I could to protect and support you no matter what."

Cory nodded back.

"So no matter what happens next, I just want to let you know you added so much to our family, and I'll never forget that."

"Well to tell you the truth." Cory said "you guys were the ones who gave me a reason to live. I'm just sorry for risking to put you in such a big mess."

"Hey, no need to apologize Cory. You're an Apple now! Were just returning the favor for all the hard work my brother did. Just make sure you come out in one piece alright?"

"Thanks for caring about me." He replied with a sniffle. "I love you big sister."

"I love you too little brother." She responded with a tear in her eye.

"So tell me where to go." Spike said.

"Alright." Cory said as wiped his eyes. "There's an extra shaft right below us that leads to the main circuit board, but it only has enough space for a small dog to crawl through. Spike, this is where you come in."

"Hey. Who says I'm man's best friend for nothing in this world."

"What will you be doing?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"There's a few people I have to rescue, in the detention lab."

"Are you cotton pickin crazy?!!" AJ shouted "You could risk gettin yourself hurt!"

"I know. But I can't let those kids suffer the fate as I did."

The group looked down as Stiffson got out of his chair and left for the conference room on the other side.

"Alright he's gone." Said Cory. " Girls. You three give Spike the wire and stay here till I gather the students. Good luck guys."

And with those words, Cory took the detour to his right and headed for that dreary room. The CMC tied the IPAD to Spike's back as he grabbed the wires with his mouth and slid down the small shaft. It was a narrow and musty passageway, but if a puppy could do it than so could he. After getting stuck for a moment or two, he continued to crawl until he reached what looked like the inside of a large box. The walls, ceiling and floor were covered with what looked like circuits and switchboards. The exception being a large TV to his right, composed of multiple surveillance cameras of the entire school. He promptly went to work as he pulled every wire from it's socket and replaced it wit theirs.

Meanwhile, Cory looked over the vent leading to the detention room and carefully slid it open. This caught the attention of the students who were clearly stared stiff.

"Shhh. It's Ok." Cory whispered. "I'm here to rescue you.

"Say. Aren't you Cory Agees?" asked one of the students.

"Was." He replied

"Dude! You're like a legend to our kind." Said another student.

"None of us even had the balls to escape." Added yet another student.

"SHHH." Cory whispered sharply. "There'll be time for compliments later. Lets move.

The others nodded as they formed a small ladder and were pulled up by Cory.

"You do realize you're risking all our lives now." Said one of them as they climbed into the shaft.

"I know I know." Cory replied "That's why we need to go quickly."

"Hey! I aint complaining." Another one added. "This is actually exciting.

"Alright. Is that everyone?" Cory asked as he pulled the last student in, to which everyone nodded back.

"Ok. You guys go ahead and catch up with Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo on the other side. I need to settle a score with someone."

"Thanks for saving our asses." Said one of the students. And with that, they crawled to their destination while Cory took the passage to another hallway.

Meanwhile, Spike was still finishing up with re - calibrating the wires with the sockets.

"Hey Spike! You done in there?" Scootaloo asked from above.

"Just a sec." Spike responded "I need to teach someone a lesson."

He took the IPAD off his back and plugged it to the main circuit board that connected with the screen in conference room. It was at that moment Mrs. Orchid had entered to finish up some last minute paperwork, when all off the sudden, the lights went out. AFter a grunt of frustration, she stomped towards the emergency grid panel and turned it on. Then, to her horror, she saw staring at her five multicolored ponies on the screen.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!" She screamed as she jumped ten feet back.

The mane 5 from Equestria started making faces and showing themselves off as Spike chuckled through the vent. Then he connected the IPAD to several other circuits, making their presence all over the walls, ceiling and floor.

"DAAAAAA!!!! AAAAAAAAH!!! AAAAH DAAA!!" Mrs. Orchid continued to scream as she ran in spastic circles.

As she tried to run towards the door, she slipped on her heel and fell to the ground.

"I've said it before, I'll say it again." Pony Applejack said in a theatening voice "You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us!!"

The Mane 5 all stared at Miss Orchid with creepy faces as she clumsily reached for the door knob and ran out with flailing arms.

"Miss Orchid ?" Asked Sunset Shimmer who just happened to be walking towards her. "Are you alright?"

Miss Orchid messaged her hair back as she composed herself.

"Yes." she responded under her breath. "I'm .....fine."

Meanwhile Spike couldn't help laughing as he fell on the floor in tears of joy.

"Spike, we have a mission remember?" Said Sweetie Belle as they gathered the detention students.

"Alright." Said Spike. "I had my laugh."

Then he unplugged the IPAD and connected it to the school's intercom.