Chapter 6 - An Appealing Negotiation

A few days had passed by ever since two major incidents at the School of Friendship had severely affected the security detail within the campus grounds. It was the weekend where the students can either stay in their dorms to study or lounge around, but most creatures would rather venture outside of the school grounds to go shopping, relax at the park, talk with friends outside the school or take a stroll through the Everfree Forest. Every creature really tried their best to forget what happened a few days ago.

After that attempted suicide incident at that observation tower, all the towers were locked off by Headmare Starlight's much stronger complex ethereal barrier spell that enveloped the entire tower and only she and the Vice Head-Stallion knew how to deactivate it. Even the balcony was off-limits to any flyer who tried to get close to it. Every student was interviewed by the police about the suicide victim, Auburn Vision, and the school paper had reported that Auburn was under constant suicide watch in his dorm room by the police. He was now under the care of Counselor Trixie, who was tasked with looking after his mental well-being. As much as it really puts a strain on her leisure schedule, she knew she had to do this for her best friend Starlight Glimmer, as well as for the entire School of Friendship. As for the school's buck-ball field, the police had it blocked off with their yellow "Do Not Cross" tape to protect the scene of the bloody crime from being tampered with until they were finished with their investigation. They reviewed the recorded film that contained the footage of the rival gang fight, and used that information to arrest half of the entire gang of Jade Tigers and Ruby Ruff Housebreakers. Though their numbers had dwindled down and their power had shrunk back into pockets of gang territory, gang-related crime in Ponyville had not completely been eradicated, but instead only created a small power vacuum for another foreign criminal organization to take over.

----------(PONYVILLE, 9 AM IN THE MORNING, CENTRAL FOUNTAIN SQUARE)----------

"AUUUUGGGGHH, nopony wanted to give me a new job ever since that story got printed out from the school newspaper", groaned the sad Gallus who was wearing his leather brown jacket and blue canvas pants as his morning spring outfit. During this beautiful spring morning Saturday, Gallus was reading a Squawker Newspaper on the town's pink water fountain with the pony statue. From his reading point of view, Gallus could see a candid photo of himself being chased by an angry athletic horde of horny buff male creatures and angry vigilante female creatures chasing after him for the naughty photo of Fluttershy's huge round delicious derriere. The headline of the Squawker Newspaper above that candid photo read "Birdbrain Tried to Publish Priceless Photo of the Element of Kindness' Asset, Gets Kicked out of Respected Friendship Establishment Instead". At the back of the Squawker Newspaper were a series of help wanted ads, in which some of them were circled with black marker, while others were crossed out with red marker. And most of those help wanted that were circled in black were also crossed in red.

Gallus was severely down in the dumps today ever since he was suspended for an entire week by Headmare Starlight from the school, as well as fired from his job as news photographer of the school newspaper, all that for a very shameful perverted incident. He had nowhere to go since he was not allowed back in the dorms and he did not plan to go back to his home country, not because his former Griffonstone home as a total cesspit with dilapidated birdhouses, griffon gangs, mean-spirited citizens and unsanitary streets, but because his adoptive foster parent named Grandpa Gruff refused to take him back in and thought that the "little shitbird needs to learn how to take full care and responsibility for his own actions by himself, now that he had left his home nest" (well, that was what was read in the response letter after Gallus sent his letter to Grandpa Gruff, pleading him to come take him back home). He had to find a way to make money somehow, so he could rent a cheap motel to stay in, until his suspension was complete. But the problem was that everypony in town was not willing to hire a sex offending birdbrain, who had disgracefully tried to publish the beautiful bum of the Element of Kindness. His presence would end up losing customers visiting their business establishment and nopony wanted to be associated with a peeping shitbird like Gallus.

As Gallus laid down his newspaper on his lap, he felt a strange sharp temptation on his head and when he placed his talon on his head to feel it, he saw that a little bluejay was actually hovering over him and was constantly pecking at his head, much to the annoyance of Gallus.

"HEY, quit pecking on my damn head! It's not a freakin' giant blueberry for you to snack on", protested the upset Gallus as he tried to shoo the bluejay away without falling into the fountain water behind him. The bluejay still continued to avoid his swipes and continued to peck him out of curiosity of his big round blue-berry colored head.

"C'MON, you damn stupid bird!! I had a rough day in finding a job after being kicked out and I hadn't eaten any good grub for the past few days!! Give me a damn break already!!", angrily yelled Gallus as he flew up and tried to grab the annoying bluejay himself.

But the bluejay was really fast on its wings and managed to avoid his wild-swinging grip, soaring up to the sky before ultimately pooping straight down onto Gallus' beak!

"SHIT!! Are you serious??!! You freakin' pooped on my beak!! If I wasn't in Ponyville, I would've pierce you through a spit and roast you over my fireplace!!", shouted the livid Gallus as he dropped down on to the fountain seat and wiped the bird poop off his beak with his giant wings.

The sudden mentioning of devouring that bird suddenly got Gallus' tummy rumbling like a freight train. "Ohhhhh, damn it! I let my inner carnivore kitty side get the best of me, and now my bad hunger is coming back to bite me in the ass again!", cried the now depressed Gallus as he rubbed his growling cat tummy.

"Hey, honey! Wait up for me! Don't run so fast, Lyra!", shouted a pink-and-blue swirly maned and light beige-yellow coated Earthen Equestrian mare, who was wearing a white dress and a blue-and-yellow bowtie.

"If you wanna watch that new film, we better hurry before all the good seats get taken, my sweet Bonbon!", shouted Lyra Heartstrings in her brown dress as she hollered her wife to catch up with her.

Bon-bon had just been sitting by that fountain near Gallus for some time now, eating her regular hayburger as her lunch, before grabbing her black purse and leaving in haste to see a film with her lovely wife. However, under pressure from her wife to hurry up, she had inadvertently left behind her half-eaten hayburger on the edge of the fountain.

Gallus noticed that scrap piece of food that Bon-bon left behind and his mouth began to water excessively like a raging waterfall. However, his inner moral conscience told him that Bon-bon may return back for her hayburger when she realized she had forgotten it.

The dilemma was such a intense burn on Gallus' mind. If he tried to take the burger, he would be seen as a hobo thief and would be further ostracized from the public eye. If he didn't go for the burger now, he would end up starving to death and he would had nothing to eat, except for the decomposing leftovers in all the trash cans in Ponyville. He did not want to end up in a terrible situation like all the other expelled or dropped students, who had nowhere else to go in Equestria.

Gallus first glanced at the half-finished hayburger, but then turned away immediately, trying desperately to ignore the tasty food item. However, no matter how hard he tried to keep the thought of food out of his mind, he couldn't resist taking a peek of the discarded partially eaten hayburger.

In an attempt to not look too conspicuous, Gallus started to set a pair of "talon legs" on the marble fountain platform and set his gaze in the opposite direction of where the burger was. He then slowly allowing his talons to "walk" towards the half-eaten hayburger, and just as they were getting closer, he immediately "picked up the pace" and swooped in to catch the discarded food loot within his whole talon. Thinking that he was now in the clear in doing his civic duty in eating up any food waste leftover by littering Equestrians, he was now ready to eat his prized possession. Little did he know that he was not patient enough to wait for its fast-food customer that had bought that lunch.

Just as Gallus was about to munch on that tasty hayburger, Bon-bon was standing right in front of him in total shock, feeling absolutely cheated by the thieving bird who had took her half-eaten burger without asking. This was not a good look for the hungry and shocked Gallus! If he tried to give back the burger away, he would have nothing left to eat anymore and even if he gave it back, he still would be further ostracized by the public for getting caught stealing her leftover burger. If Gallus ate it in front of her, she would become livid at him, ruff up his feathers with her special martial arts skills, and take him to the police station to be imprisoned as a thieving jailbird.

Gallus felt like he had nothing left to lose and he was trapped in a terrible catch-22 situation. Then, salvation later came in the form of a cute brown chocolate Labrador dog (well---sort of). As the cute adorable stray dog walked right up to the fountain between Gallus and Bon Bon, the blue-headed griffon immediately thought of a great idea. By acting charitable to the dog in front of Bon Bon, he would be seen as a good animal-loving Samaritan who just wanted to take care of those who were down on their luck, and thus the public would not detest him as a thieving perverted jailbird with no moral conscience.

Desperate to save what is left over in his reputation, Gallus proceeded to lend his burger for the chocolate Labrador dog to take in his salivating mouth, and the dog happily accepted his offering from his talon. Gallus then proceed to do a shrug and sincere smiling expression towards the motionless Bon-Bon. Still shocked by Gallus' unbelievable actions, Bon-bon felt very upset about having her burger fed to the small brown dog, but in her heart, she felt like she had no reason to fight against the kind blue griffon who took his opportunity to feed the poor stray dog her own burger. It was her fault she left it on the fountain seat in the first place. Not wanting to miss her movie show, she promptly picked up her purse and proceeded to leave the area as fast as she can.

Looking around to see if there are any Equestrians watching the fountain, Gallus immediately got off the fountain seat and swiftly kicked the chocolate Labrador dog's face with his strong lower lion paw out of sheer frustration!

"STUPID DOG!! GIMME BACK MY HAYBURGER, GODAMNIT!!!" shouted the extremely hangry Gallus as he later grabbed the dog by his back legs. Vibrating his arms furiously like a locomotive steam engine, Gallus tried desperately to shake the half-eaten burger out of the chocolate Labrador dog's mouth!

"Spit it out, SPIT IT OUT!!" shouted the upset Gallus as he continued shaking the poor injured dog. Finally, the half-eaten burger, now wet with the dog's saliva, fell out of the dog's mouth. Soon, Gallus dropped the mentally shocked dog from his talons and proceeded to go after the sloppy half-eaten burger. However, livid at the shitty griffon's sudden betrayal, the chocolate Labrador dog got back on his paws and immediately took a large angry bite at Gallus' left talon before he was able to grab the half-eaten burger!

Needless to say, the dog bite on Gallus' greedy left talon was super nasty enough to incapacitate Gallus for a few seconds, before the angry brown stray dog scurried off with the half-eaten burger in its mouth. It was rightfully given to him as his salvation gift by the formerly charitable griffon anyway, whether he was faking it or not.

"YOOOWWW, that damn dog bit my talon AND my burger!!", cried the angry Gallus as he massaged his mangled left talon.

"HEY, YOU!! Over here!", shouted a sudden high-pitched voice from above.

"UHHH, I wasn't doing anything illegal, I swear!!", cried Gallus as he shakes violently in fear of being caught doing a heinously cruel act against a stray animal.

"Yoh, Gallus! It's us, Silverstream and Pinkie Pie", shouted the pink large busty and professor with a white tank top and denim shorts . Gallus looked up at the balcony and saw that his professor was yelling out to him from a balcony of the two-story pancake house. This restaurant establishment just so happened to be where the professor and his student were having their morning breakfast, and it was located very close by to the pink fountain where Gallus was sitting.

"Hey, Gallus! I heard that you were having money troubles and you needed a job real quick!", shouted Silverstream, who was wearing a white shirt and sea-blue miniskirt. "Have you finally found what you were looking for?"

"Sadly, no! I'm flat out broke and I have no food to eat!", cried the sad Gallus as he hung his head in shame.

"Hey, why don't you fly up there and eat pancakes with us and we'll talk about your situation?!!", offered Professor Pinkie Pie as she sat on the balcony metal round table with Silverstream.

"SURE, I'm starving like an emaciated horse already!", joked Gallus and he immediately flew up and joined his friends for a lovely breakfast.

----------(5 MINUTES OF PANCAKE STACK DEVOURING LATER)----------

"Hmmm mmm mmm! Those were some delicious blueberry and strawberry pancakes, Professor Pinkie Pie!", complimented Gallus as he laid back on his metal lounge chair and rubbed his furry cat belly.

"OH, you can drop the Professor title, Gallus! We're not at school anymore! Right now, I like you to think of me as your best friend!", Pinkie Pie smiled as she granted permission for Gallus to treat her informally in public.

"RIGHT, of course! Understood!", obeyed Gallus as he grabbed a toothpick from the table.

"So, I heard from Fluttershy and Starlight Glimmer that you were involved in a seriously saucy situation! More saucy than a large plate of lasagna, if you asked me", said Pinkie Pie as she whispered closely to Gallus' ear.

Gallus immediately snapped back to reality and had realized he had totally forgotten about his dreadful situation after the pancake contest with Pinkie Pie and Silverstream.

"Yes. And just to let you know, I am very sorry about what I had done to Professor Fluttershy. All the creatures at the school newspaper teased me for not giving them super spicy stories. I couldn't take their mean taunting anymore, so I had to go beyond my potential to find them a story for the whole world to publish. When the chief editor found out what happened, he shredded my journalist license after I got suspended from school", explained Gallus as he hung his head in shame.

"Gallus, I know you wanted to be the best at your job, but that's no excuse for invading personal space and privacy", explained the sympathetic Pinkie Pie. "This isn't how we run this school and you already knew that the moment you stepped in. You had the right to complain to the chief about your situation, but instead you chose to go along with their mean tactics to score yourself a very saucy scoop without ever thinking about other creatures' feelings".

"If that were the case, then why not punish the bullies at the school newspaper too?", questioned Gallus.

"From what I heard, Headmare Starlight had told the chief editor to focus more harsh discipline on these meanies who bullied you. So far, I heard five of these disciplined writers were suspended for a week from the newspaper for--uhhh--what's it called again?", paused Silverstream as she tried to find the correct term.

"Workplace harassment?", said Gallus as he placed his elbows on the table and squished both cheeks in a bored and depressed expression.

"YEAH, that's the word!", shouted Silverstream as she snapped her own talons.

"Face it, girls! I'm a failure in life. My future here in Ponyville is as grim as my past life in Griffonstone", sighed Gallus as he looked down on the table. "I'm sorry for being a huge disappointment, Pinkie Pie..."

"No, don't be sorry. I'm a much bigger doofus than you are Gallus." sighed Pinkie Pie as she looked down on her empty plate."I accidentally left my party cannon 2.0 in Starlight's office and was kicked out for a whole month leaving behind a destructive weapon inside the school. It went off when her interviewee climbed into the cannon and I think I might had accidentally set it off with my blowtorch. It really blew the whole office apart and now it had to be closed for a month for renovations."

"She was told to escort the interviewee out of the office, but got distracted by the tower incident that was visible from Starlight's window.", explained Silverstream. "I think that interviewee Pinkie Pie had mentioned was the same Equestrian who got blasted towards Auburn Vision. Even it was a goofy accident, he really bought enough time for Professor Fluttershy and Professor Dash to save him from falling off the tower"

"So in a strange kind of silver lining, my and his silly goof-up was the reason why our top student is getting the mental help he needed!", smiled Pinkie Pie as she slowly gained her happiness.

"Meanwhile, my goof-up ended with me getting kicked out AND all I did was had a train of horny creatures chase after me! Did you ladies only invited me up here, just to make me feel even more bad about my suspension??", questioned Gallus with scorn as he crossed his arms.

"OH, I'm so sorry! I almost forgot to tell you! The reason why I called you up here is because I pleaded with Counselor Trixie to give you and Pinkie Pie a second chance to appeal your punishment", said Silverstream as she excitedly express the news to Gallus.

"Wait, appeal!?", Gallus snapped after hearing this sudden news.

"You know, a chance for us to redeem ourselves for our mistakes! Just like what Trixie did after she turned evil from wearing the alicorn amulet! BOY, those were dark times!", shouted Pinkie Pie

"I already knew about Counselor Trixie's past from the school newspaper, Pinkie! I just want to know why she wanted to do this, in spite of our crimes against trust and friendship", wondered Gallus.

"You know how Counselor Trixie is! Always giving second chances to even the most troublesome creatures, just like how Princess Twilight Sparkle gave her a second chance in life! And look at where she is now!", Silverstream exclaimed with elation about the good news. "It's not going to be easy though---"

"Then what are we waiting for??! Let's head on out to find Counselor Trixie and discuss our new deal, Pinkie Pie!!", shouted Gallus as he flew off into the sky.

"WAIT, GALLUS! Trixie's wagon is actually the opposite way!!", shouted Pinkie Pie as she hollered out to Gallus and pointed the direction to The Great and Powerful Trixie's stage wagon.

As soon as Gallus flew back to the ladies, he blushed in embarrassment and agreed to follow the ladies to the right direction. As Gallus flew with Silverstream across the sky at a second-storey level, Pinkie Pie proceeded to ride the wooden stair railing down the first level like a surfer, shouting "WEEEEEEEEEEE!!" all the way down. Pinkie Pie then bounced across the open Ponyville street as she followed Gallus to their own paths of redemption.

----------(30 MINUTES LATER, OUTSIDE TRIXIE'S WAGON DOOR)----------

"Rock, Paper, Scissors!"

"Paper Scissors!"

"Rock Rock!"

"Paper Scissors!"

"Paper, Scissors, Paper!"

"That's the way we cool kids roll!"

[2x]

After they done their hip-hop beat version of this psychological pseudo-random game, both Pinkie Pie and Silverstream came out with a paper sign, while Gallus had won with his scissor talons.

"HAHA, SNIP SNIP!" shouted Gallus as he 'cut' Pinkie's and Silverstream's paper in half.

"Congratulations, Gallus!! You won your right to speak with the counselor!", exclaimed Silverstream.

"Wait, WHAT??! But---I'm not a great at negotiations! I know it's a common stereotype for us griffons, but aside from convincing the griffons in joining the battle against the villainous trio, I never did something like appealing my punishment before!!", nervously shouted Gallus, never knowing that his victory would land him in hot water again.

"It's not like you're asking for a raise, Gallus! She already knows you're in dire need of a redemption! You just need to---!", then before Pinkie Pie could finish her sentence, Counsellor Trixie had opened her windowed wagon door and cried, "If you three goofballs are finished screwing around at my doorstep---". For her morning attire, the light-blue coated unicorn mare with the swirly silver-blue mane was wearing her favorite purple top hat with a light blue stripe, a purple cape with blue-and-yellow stars, a tight buttoned shirt that expressed her D-cupped breasts, a tight-skinned black nylon skirt, black net fishnet stockings and a pair of leather purple boots.

As Silverstream was awestruck by the counselor's slightly racy outfit, she immediately snapped back to reality and shouted, "OH RIGHT! Sorry, Counselor Trixie! We'll come in right now!", apologized Silverstream profusely. As Gallus was about to bail out, Pinkie Pie immediately yanked his head feathers and she loudly whispered to his ear,

"Just tell her what we want and she'll give you the deal! It's that easy!"

After Gallus, Pinkie Pie and Silverstream climbed the few steps up to the wagon entrance and entered the cramped wagon, they found themselves slightly less cramped and saw that there were much fewer magical items, boxes, baskets, capes, hats and a whole lot of other miscellaneous items inside Counselor Trixie's wagon. All that was left was Trixie's own purple office desk with a couple drawers, stacks of paperwork in boxes on the ground, a black shelf with various colorful clay statues and some office writing utensils on her desk.

"Heeeyyy, your wagon is not as cramped as Starlight once described! I love the new purple paint job too!", complimented Pinkie Pie as she looked around the wagon.

"Yeah well, ever since I took my job as Counselor, I had to relocate my magic stuff to my personal safe room in the teacher's lounge and had this wagon refitted as my miniature office. BUT as much as I love to elaborate on my personal story, I understand that YOU three are in some dire need of a---negotiation!", Trixie exclaimed in the end in a very suggestive sounding tone. She went back to her desk and laid back on her adjustable swiveling and tilting purple vinyl chair.

"Well, what are you waiting for?? GO ON!", shouted Silverstream as she pushed Gallus to the front

"OH, uhhhh, as you can see, Counselor Trixie, we are here to ask of you of---", nervously explained Gallus before he was interrupted by the loud and impatient Pinkie Pie.

"NOT ask---DEMAND!! Try again!!", she shouted as she kicked Gallus even further towards Trixie.

"OW, okay!! Quit pushing me!!", shouted Gallus in anger. "Me and my friend Pinkie Pie DEMAND that you---uhh--that is-----UHHHH!!" Gallus nervously tried to find the correct words, but only came out humming and scratching the back of his head as he looked up to the ceiling with a stupor.

Counselor Trixie gave out a somewhat frustrated sigh and decide to interrupt Gallus by finishing his sentence, "Lemme guess, you wanted a chance to appeal your current punishment?"

"YES YES YES!!!", shouted Pinkie Pie, Silverstream and Gallus as they gave their thumbs up and smiled with content at Counselor Trixie's correct answer. As they cheered, they leapt a bit forwards towards Trixie's desk.

"AND you wanted to find easy jobs to pay for temporary living accomodations until the suspension is over?", answered Counselor Trixie once more.

"YES YES YES!!!", shouted the three excited creatures once more again as they jumped even further with excitement from another correct answer.

"Of COURSE! The Great and Forgivable Trixie shall grant your very wishes!", boasted Counselor Trixie.

"HOORAAAAYYYY!!", shouted all three creatures, as Gallus jumped high for joy and was caught in Pinkie Pie's arms like a damsel, while Silverstream raised her fists with excitement.

"NOW, for you Pinkie Pie, as part of your first step in your path to redemption, you shall accompany me in my weekend trip to Las Pegasus---!", Trixie demanded before Pinkie Pie immediately reacted with,

"LAS PEGASUS!???!! OH BOY, I always wanted to go there!! I BETTER pack my bags!!". Pinkie Pie then immediately rushed out of the wagon before Trixie could finish her sentence.

"Las Pegasus??! Wait a minute, don't you have to keep an eye on Auburn first??! He seems really down on himself ever since that horrible incident!", cried Silverstream as she worries for her former classmate's well-being.

"If she let me finish first---!" shouted the frustrated Trixie before changing her tone to something more calmer and continued with her explanation, "I would've told her that I would be bringing Auburn to Las Pegasus to a speed dating convention, so that he himself can find a nice hot suitable mare to spend his entire life with! Pinkie Pie would only act as my chauffeur and butler, to whom I will give a lot of responsible tasks for her to perform, while I focus on my counselling duties with poor old Auburn"

"Speed dating??! Are you taking Auburn to ride in soap cars while chatting with hot female mates as they ride as passengers?", asked the confused Silverstream.

"NO, you idiot! If you had been paying attention in erotology¹ class the other day, you would've known that speed dating involves meeting up with each individually various creature of the opposite (or same) sex for only 1-2 minutes, before switching on to the next creature. Then after that, all the candidates would find which creature they love the most and start pursuing their relationship with him/er!", explained the frustrated Gallus after he face-palmed in disbelief at Silverstream's naivety.

"Ooooooh, I get it now! It's like greeting every neighbor in your block with speedy conversations at each house!", exclaimed Silverstream as she finally got the picture.

"Hey, wait a minute! What about us??!! What are we supposed to do for a whole week, while you and your client goof off in Las Pegasus??!!", shouted the flustered Gallus.

"YEAH, Counselor Trixie! Grandpa Gruff didn't want to take him back to Griffonstone and nopony wanted to give Gallus a job, because they don't want to be assosciated with a sex offender!", cried the worried Silverstream.

"Uhhh, I'm right over HERE, you know???!", shouted the embarrassingly upset Gallus as he was very offended by the term, even though it was the truth.

"If Gallus doesn't find good employment now, he's going to be out on the streets and get robbed or destroyed by those scary cats and rambunctious dogs", panicked Silverstream as her pupils dilate in fear for Gallus.

"NOW NOW NOW, Silverstream", assured Counselor Trixie as she tried to calm Silverstream down. "The death of one of our students would certainly be a travesty to our school's reputation. It's our job that we keep our students safe and happy, even when they venture beyond the school premises". Counselor Trixie then turned her gaze to Gallus and talked to him with a caring tone.

"It brings me great joy knowing that my new career can impress everypony (and every creature) in more ways than one, and it would make me so happy to see you grow into a wonderful contributor to your community, Gallus. So always remember, if there's something really troubling you a lot, you know where to find me. I won't hesitate to assist you."

It was these kind words from the Great and Forgivable Trixie that Gallus teared up a little, knowing that there's some creature out there who would still take care of him, even when life hits the abysmal bottom for him.

"Thank you, Counselor. I'll do my best to make it up to the entire school for you...", said Gallus as he sobbed yet smiled with content.

"Here, I want to give you a very special box for you to carry", said Counselor Trixie as she fetched a very shiny golden-lade intricate purple-painted box from one of her office drawers.

"A box?! Really? What's inside?", asked Silverstream as she gazed with awe.

"I won't tell you, it's a secret! BUT I will tell you this", said Trixie in a mysterious manner. She later whispered into both Gallus' and Silverstream's ears.

"You can only open this special box if you have experienced absolute grave danger"

"Oooooohhh, judging by your special instructions, it must be some sort of SUPER epic magical spell contained within this box!! Lemme take it for safekeeping!" cried the bewildered Gallus before he tried to grab the special box from Silverstream's talons.

Silverstream then immediately reacted with a back swing upper punch to Gallus' face and cried "NUH-UH-UUUHH!!!"

"OOOHH, TRIXIE!! I packed all my special sweets from Sugarcube Corner for the whole trip!!" hollered Pinkie Pie as she hauled a large blue and pink canvas backpack.

"GOOD! You come with me to fetch Auburn from his dorm room! We're taking him with us as part of his therapy session", ordered Trixie.

"OOOH, ma'am yes ma'am!! I LOVE three's-a-crowd student field trips! Though more creatures involved may be more exciting, it IS also a hassle! So three Equestrians on this trip is also fine too---!", Pinkie exclaimed before Trixie interrupted

"NOTE THIS, Pink One! Starting RIGHT NOW, you are only here to act as my chauffeur and butler, not to goof-off like a mad mare in a candy store! This will be part of your path to redemption as you will learn the skills required to be a more responsible Equestrian!", ordered Trixie as she yelled at Pinkie Pie like a drill seargent.

"As you wish, Miss Great and Powerful! I WON'T let you down, for my name isn't Pinkie Diane Responsibility Pie!!", shouted the elated and obedient Pinkie Pie, before she left the wagon to wait outside for the Great and Powerful Trixie.

"As for you two, you just wait inside my office wagon! I'll go tell a certain professor from your school that you are here and she will pick you up to get you started on your first job. After that, I'm off with my new butler and my client for my weekend trip! TATA!", ordered Trixie before she left the two hybrid bird creatures behind.

"WELL, now that Counselor Trixie has left the wagon for us to look after, I guess it's time that I be her temporary substitute counselor", jokingly proclaimed Gallus as he jumped back and landed on the comfy swiveling vinyl chair, before pulling the adjustable tilt lever below the chair.

"Awww, no fair! I wanted to play the counselor first!!", complained Silverstream as she leapt onto Gallus' lap by her bum.

"YOW, what are you---OW!! Quit bouncing on me!!!", shouted Gallus as Silverstream sat and bounced onto his lap.

"Ugggh, this feels uncomfortable", whined Silverstream as she wiggled her bum on Gallus' lap.

"Of COURSE it's uncomfortable! You're sitting on my legs! Now get off of me!!", demanded Gallus as his lap writhed in pain from Silverstream's heavy horse rump. SIlverstream apologized quickly before getting off Gallus' lap as requested. As Gallus was enjoying a slow spin on his tilted swivel chair, he took a glimpse of the special intricate small rectangular box held by Silverstream's talons. After a brief thought, Gallus quickly asked his friend Silverstream,

"Wanna take a peak at what's inside that special box?"

In quick response, Silverstream shouted in protest, "NO! You remembered what Counselor Trixie said! We're not allowed to open the box unless we got ourselves into a really dangerous situation! We can't turn our word back on her!"

"Fine, suit yourself...", replied back the shrugging Gallus in a mild manner before he placed his talons onto the back of his head.

Then, Silverstream suddenly spotted something blue and glittery with her eye. After taking a swipe at the strip of blue rectangular paper on the office desk, she realized that she may have hit the jackpot.

"Ooooh look! It's one of those cheques that allows you to write the amount of money you want to have before sending it over to the bank to give you the amount of real money from your bank account!", exclaimed the excited Silverstream.

"Oh yeeeaah, I heard about those from Applejack's honest business lessons on wages! I remember now", pondered the excited Gallus as he stared at the blue glittery and sparkling cheque paper.

"And it looks like it's already signed with Counselor Trixie's own cutie mark! No amount was written for it though", shouted the elated Silverstream as her pupils started to dilate with glee.

"Ooooh, let's see if we could cash in one of her cheques!", exclaimed the excited Gallus.

"I dunno, Gallus. It would be wrong to take money from her bank account without her permission...", worried Silverstream as she pondered about Gallus' idea.

"RELAX! She's basically like a mini-hero celebrity who tours around the world, entertaining every creature with her amazing magical talents! I bet she's like one of the richest Equestrians in Ponyville! Besides, she gave us that special box as a gift, so why not let us help ourselves with her generous loot stash too?", Gallus boasted like he was the Great and Powerful Trixie.

"How would you even know how much money she makes in a year during her time as a traveling magician??", questioned the skeptical and scornful Silverstream.

"Only one way to find out! Let's write a cheque for 10,000 bits!", Gallus excitedly suggested to Silverstream.

"NO NO NO!! We can't do that!! If she actually had less than 10,000 bits in her account, the cheque might get bounced if we tried to cash it in! Then she'll end up having to pay a huge NSF fee²!", warned the panicking Silverstream as she shook her head in disagreement.

"All right then! How about 1000 bits instead??", suggested Gallus.

"NOOOO, we can't do that either! What if she actually had less than 1000 bits??! If we tried to cash that cheque in, it might also bounce! Then she'll end up having to pay a large NSF fee too!", warned Silverstream once again.

"LOOK, Silverstream! I don't have time to play games with you! How's about YOU suggest an amount instead??" cried the frustrated Gallus as he was getting antsy over Silverstream's hesitance.

"Well, if we have to be careful to not rouse suspicion---", pondered Silverstream as she tapped her chin and stared upwards. "I say 10 bits is fine!"

"TEN BITS??!! I can't even buy bread at that price!! You're absolutely insane!!", shouted the fuming Gallus as he lunged forward and tried to grab his counsellor's check. "How's about we meet the middle ground and cash in 100 bits instead??!"

"NO, you can't do that either!! She'll get suspicious of us!!", cried Silverstream as she held tightly onto one end of the check with her two talons. Gallus immediately grabbed the other side of the blue check and pulled it to his side. Soon enough, it became an all-out tug of war for the two hybrid birdbrains.

"Give it BACK, Silver!!"

"NO, you give it back!!"

"It's MY check!!"

"No, it's MINE!! I saw it first!!"

"Well, It was my idea to write on it!"

"GALLUS, give it back!!"

"Kiss my tail feather, Silverstream!"

Suddenly, the check split down in half from the shear opposing forces caused by Silverstream and Gallus, rendering the check useless for the cash-in. Silverstream fell hard on her back with her half of the check, while Gallus fell back harder on the swivel chair, nearly knocking over the items off Counselor Trixie's black shelf.

"OH NO, now we won't have ANY of our 10 bits from Counsellor Trixie's bank account now!!", cried Silverstream as she looked at her ripped half of the bad check.

Suddenly, the wagon door was slammed wide open by a very strong tough Equestrian mare.

"GGAAAAHH, we swear! We didn't do anything illegal!! It was an accident!!"

---END

Author's Notes:

1. Erotology: Study of love

2. NSF fee: Non-sufficient-funds penalty fine for sending the bank a bad check