A Tricky Way to Earn Money

The next day when I woke up, it was very cold in the room. I was shivering there on the floor. Which was odd for two reasons: one, I was in a sleeping bag with a flannel interior. Second, it was the middle of summer. I decided not to think too much about this, as I do with just about everything else that confuses me. Anyways, I got up from the floor and saw that Trixie was still sleeping.

"I should start researching, but, I'm kinda hungry. Maybe I should eat something first." I said, sleepily.

I got up from the floor and stumbled my way into my messy, unorganized kitchen. I searched my refrigerator for something I wanted. I remembered the recipe for pancakes that my mother made, so I looked around for the ingredients. When I found them, I started up the stove and put the frying pan down onto the flame. I poured the ingredients into a mixing bowl and stirred with a spoon. (A spoon got better results with this recipe) When I finished, I put some in a measuring cup and poured it into the pan. When it went in, it made a satisfying sizzling noise as it bubbled slightly. The warmth of the stove and the steam felt nice against my stone cold arms. After about a minute, I flipped the pancake over, and a sweet smell came up from the pan. After the other side was finished, I got started on making another pancake. I heard what sounded like a clopping noise from outside the kitchen. Trixie was standing in the doorway, looking at me.

"Hey, sleepyhead. Did you enjoy my spot on the couch?" I asked.

"Yes, it was quite comfortable for a couch...bed...thing." she responded.

"Yeah, yeah. By the way, the name is James. I forgot to tell you."

" Ok...what are you doing?"

"Just makin' some pancakes. Want some?"

"Trixie doesn't see why not."

"Alright."

After I finished making the first three pancakes, I stacked them, poured syrup on top, and handed them to Trixie. She grabbed them with her magic, (I may never get used to that) and carried them into the living room. I continued making three more pancakes and took them into the living room to eat them. Trixie was already halfway done with her pancakes. I sat down onto the couch, next to her and started to eat my breakfast.

"I see that you are enjoying the pancakes," I said, pouring extra syrup onto my breakfast.

"Trixie will admit, they are quite tasty," Trixie responded, spearing another piece of pancake with her fork.

"Maybe now is a good time for me to explain where you are. You see, you are in the U.S.A., and you are in the town appropriately nicknamed "Greedville". Almost everyone here in this place is a complete jerk. Remember your story about you being called ou-, I mean, humiliated for following your dreams? Well, that happens to me every day, except I have not even found my own destiny! I have been looking for a decent job for years."

"Wait, so how do you make money then?"

Uh oh, I should not have said that last part. What the hell should I tell her? That I am a thief and I make money from others? I needed to think of something fast.

"Well, I will just say I have a job now, and I am my own boss," I said,

"Seems reasonable," Trixie said, without another word.

After I finished my breakfast, I got up and went to my laptop and looked for possible answers to why Trixie was on Earth. I typed in some key words from what she told me to see if I could get anything. I got zero information about Equestria or her pony type. So that was disappointing. Anyways, Trixie was exploring the interior of my little house, so I decided to start researching for the next place to rob. I found a pretty interesting grocery store that had a total of twelve cash registers. It was just a few miles away, and it was near a quiet neighborhood. I grinned at the thought of all of that money. Anyways, I started to hear Trixie's hoof steps so I closed the laptop and acted normal.

"Your home is very messy," Trixie stated.

"Gee, thanks," I said.

"What is that device?"

"It is called a laptop. It can do cool things like viewing recorded moments from around the planet. For example, look at this."

I showed her a video about a guy pretending to be a grandpa getting angry on valentines day. It was only about a minute and a half long, but it was still hilarious. When the video was over, I was trying to hold in my laughter.

"So...what do you think?" I asked.

"Well, the 'video' was not all that funny, but the technology here is far more advanced than the technology in Equestria," Trixie responded.

"Well, that's interesting to know."

"So, now what?"

"Well, I gotta go to work tonight, so I'm gonna leave you here when I go."

"Why can't The Great and Powerful Trixie come along?"

"Because my job can be...difficult if I do not concentrate."

"You really work hard, don't you?"

"You could say that..."

So after that, I turned on the TV and watched the news. I saw a few interesting stories, but one story made me pay attention: the world's largest natural golden nugget was found. I smiled at the thought of having that nugget. I could improve my entire LIFE with the money I could make from it. Anyways, I flipped through channels until I got to a magician in a mask doing magic tricks. This got Trixie's attention, so I let her watch it. While she was preoccupied on that, I pulled out my laptop yet again to learn more about the grocery store. It had relatively low security for a store, and it was the number one source for food for the neighborhood. I got to look at many pictures of the inside and outside of the store. The lit entrance in the front and the dark entrance in the back were the only ways to go in. There were many cameras, so once I got in, I would have to be very quick. It was a big risk compared to my other robberies, but the reward would be great.

Trixie seemed to really enjoy the show, so I went into the kitchen to draw a plan for what I will do. I decided that it would be better to take the front door, considering the doors there were weaker than the one in the back. I would have to pry them open to get inside. Once in, head straight for the cash registers. There are change machines that automatically give change to people during business hours, so there's a possibility for some extra money. I would need a duffel bag for this, since there is a possibility of a huge reward after this. Finally, it was decided that nighttime was the only option for this to work. I gathered mu disguise for the robbery: black shoes, black sweater, black gloves, and a black ski mask.

After a lunch of grilled cheese sandwiches, followed by a 3 hour movie and then dinner, nighttime arrived. It was time. I got my outfit on and prepared to leave, but before I could leave, Trixie stopped me before I left out the door.

"Where are you going?" Trixie asked.

"Just going to work," I replied, casually.

"In that outfit?"

"Well, yeah..."

"Is that like your uniform?"

"Sorta..."

I left out the door and headed for the store, hiding in the shadows. I was in for one hell of a night.