Trixie leaned back in her soft cushioned chair, her hind legs on her desk. She tossed a small ball between both hooves, putting her full concentration on that. She snapped out of her daze when she heard a knock on her office door.
“Come in.” Trixie said, taking her hooves off of the desk and sitting properly. Sandbar and Ocellus walked in the room, both of them looking concerned. They sat down on the couch across from Trixie.
“What’s the problem?” Trixie asked, putting on a warming smile.
“We’re worried about Gallus, he’s been really upset lately.” Sandbar explained. Ocellus nodded her head in agreement.
“He hasn’t been doing his work either, he hasn’t been studying, he just sleeps during class.” Ocellus followed up. Trixie slowly nodded her head, writing that down for later.
“Uh huh, is there anything else?” Trixie asked. Sandbar put his hoof on his chin, thinking for a moment.
“He doesn’t hang out with us anymore either, he only stays in his room and listens to sad music. He never acts like this.” Sandbar stated. Trixie jotted that down on a piece of paper and waved her hoof dismissively.
“I’ll look into it, thanks for your concern.” Trixie said with a wave. Ocellus and Sandbar exchanged worried looks with each other before living the room. As soon as the door closed, Trixie pulled out Gallus’ student file. She had never told anyone this but Gallus was her favorite student. She flipped through his student file, seeing if he had any medical issues or any trouble in school. When she found nothing, she flipped the file closed and looked at the intercom that was sitting on her desk. She pressed onto the button and leaned in close.
“Gallus the griffon, please come to the counselor office.” Trixie said before removing her hoof from the button. She moved her intercom across the desk to make sure she didn’t accidentally press the button in the middle of a private conversation. She waited for Gallus to walk in, twiddling her hooves a bit. The door soon opened, revealing a very tired looking Gallus. His feathers were ruffled and he had dark bags under his eyes. He sat down on the couch and looked at Trixie with tired eyes.
“I know why you called me in here.” Gallus stated before Trixie could say anything. She raised an eyebrow, urging him to go on. Starlight had taught her that listening was better than interrupting.
“So what, I haven’t been doing my work but is that really a big deal?” Gallus asked with an eye roll, laying down on the couch.
“Is there anything bothering you?” Trixie asked. Gallus shrugged his shoulders, not really caring to answer. Trixie looked at the clock on her desk, seeing how there were only twenty minutes left in the school day. Her stomach growled an idea popped in her head. Trixie let out a slow breath, breaking out of her professional counselor persona.
“How about I take it out to eat, this place is boring.” Trixie stated, hopping out of her chair. Gallus smiled a bit. He liked Trixie, she was cool and didn’t care about school just like him.
“Where do you wanna go?” Gallus asked.
Trixie and Gallus sat across from each other in The Hay Burger. Gallus ate a fish sandwich as Trixie ate her hay fries.
“Are you ready to talk now?” Trixie asked. Gallus let out a sigh and leaned into his hand.
“I’m tired of Grandpa Gruff treating me like I don’t matter.” Gallus admitted. Trixie scowled. She hated the way Grandpa Gruff treated Gallus. He was cold and barely cared about a thing Gallus did.
“Ugh he’s the worst.” Trixie agreed. Gallus nodded his head.
“He treats Gabby and Gilda perfectly fine because they actually have families. They don’t get in the way of anything he does so he likes them more. I guess I’m just saying, want a real family.” Gallus said with a sigh. Trixies ears flattened sympathetically. She knew exactly how that felt. She watched Gallus sadly munch on his fish sandwich. She knew what she had to do.
Starlight laid on her bed, making a rainbow kite. Her bedroom door slammed open, making her jump in surprise. She looked up to see Trixie with a determined look on her face.
“Glim Glam you’ll never guess what I’m going to do!” Trixie exclaimed, slamming the bedroom door shut.
“Gee I don’t know, learn how to knock?” Starlight asked sarcastically. Trixie shook her head and levitated a stack of adoption papers.
“I’m going to adopt Gallus!” She exclaimed excitedly. Starlight looked at her girlfriend with wide eyes.
“Trixie you can’t just adopt a kid. You need to have a stable job, an actual house, and time to take care of the child.” Starlight listed off.
“Well I am already a great and powerful guidance counselor so that’s a job with good pay.” Trixie stated.
“Taking care of a kid is a lot of work though. Are you really ready for that commitment?” Starlight asked. Trixie eagerly nodded her head.
“I know how Gallus feels. When I was young my dad walked out on me and my mom and everything felt terrible. He wouldn’t even send a letter. I’m gonna adopt Gallus so he doesn’t feel the pain I felt years ago.” Trixie said dramatically, now sprawled out on Starlights bed. She shed a single tear. Starlight let out a sigh.
“Do you want to move in the castle with me until you find your own place to live?” She asked. Trixie opened her eyes and nodded her head.
“Yes please. I’ve been living in a wagon for years, I’ve never been house shopping in my life. This would be so much easier.” Trixie admitted. Starlight chuckled.
“You can start moving your things in first thing tomorrow morning. We’ll set up a room for Gallus too.” Starlight stated, booping Trixie on the nose. Trixie let out a small giggle. This plan was working like a charm.
Trixie levitated a bed into the corner of an empty room. The bed had a dark blue blanket on it and a large yellow pillow. Starlight walked into the room and looked around.
“This room seems pretty empty.” Starlight commented. Trixie looked around the room to see that there was only a bed, a black night stand next to it and a clock on the wall.
“Well this is Gallus’ room, he can do what he wants with it.” Trixie stated. Starlight nodded her head in understanding. Trixie looked at the clock to see that school was going to start in less then ten minutes.
“I’ll see you at the school, I have to do something important.” Trixie said. Her horn started to glow brightly and with that, she teleported out of the room.
Trixie landed on her office floor with a loud thud. She wheezed, now realizing that teleporting wasn’t the best idea. She barely knew how to do the spell. She quickly sat in her rolling chair, waiting for Gallus to walk in. She had left a letter in his bed so he could come there when the bell rang. Trixie pulled out the adoption papers from her messy drawer and placed them on the desk. She had already signed them the night before so all she had to do was wait for Gallus to sign too. Trixie’s ears perked up when she heard the bell ring. Her office door creaked open, revealing Gallus.
“I saw that you left a letter on my bed.” Gallus said, holding up the letter. He sat on the couch, wondering why he was being called into the room. Trixie tried her hardest to keep a straight face, making sure not to crack a smile.
“Gallus, I’m adopting a child and I feel like you should know about it.” Trixie stated. Gallus gave a confused look, not understanding what was going on.
“That’s great for that kid I guess.” Gallus said, crossing his arms. Trixie levitated the adoption papers over to him and a pen.
“All you need to do it sign here and the adoption will be official.” Trixie said, now breaking out into a grin. Gallus held the adoption papers in his hand, which was now shaking a bit.
“T-this isn’t a good joke.” Gallus said, tearing up a bit. He wanted to believe it, but he couldn’t. Trixie walked over to him and sat down next to him on the couch.
“This isn’t a joke, I’m adopting you.” Trixie said with a warming smile. Gallus sniffled before breaking down into a fit of tears. He pulled Trixie into a tight hug, nuzzling into her a bit.
“Thank you thank you thank you.” Gallus said repeatedly. Trixie could feel herself tearing up at this moment. She hugged him back and wiped away his tears. They pulled away from the hug and Gallus was grinning from ear to ear. He quickly signed the papers, fumbling a bit.
“This is all I’ve ever wanted.” Gallus said. Trixie pulled Gallus back into a hug.
This was his new family.
