Chancellor Neighsay was most surprised to receive a letter one morning that told him Princess Celestia herself wished to have a private audience with him. The letter didn't specify what the reason for the summons was, but Neighsay (suspecting nothing) was hardly one to turn down such a generous invitation. Having worked his tail off day in and day out for years to get to where he was, it was only natural that he felt his great talents were finally being acknowledged. Becoming head of the EEA was no easy feat and the chancellor was all too aware of those who envied his position.
Dressed in his finest robes, the tall but lanky stallion arrived in Canterlot later that same day and made his way to the castle, bowing as necessary to the royal guards and any visiting delegates. It wasn't long before he set hoof on the lush red carpet of the throne room, and Princess Celestia rose to greet him.
Immediately, Neighsay could tell that something was off. The sun princess didn't seem to be her usual, cheerful self. Her exact expression was hard to read, but a pronounced frown was easy to make out and it seemed to be directed at him. The chancellor felt his knees begin to wobble ever so slightly, but he willed himself not to shake. "I must be imagining things. There's no reason at all why the princess would be mad with me," He thought. "I've done nothing wrong."
Celestia spoke not a word at first, her eyes simply scanned the throne room to make sure she and Neighsay were alone. It was imperative that no one be around to hear what would be discussed. Confident that her and her guest were alone, the mighty alicorn trotted over to the chancellor with that frown still clearly on her face. "Do you know why you're here, Chancellor?" She inquired of him in a stern tone.
"At first I thought you invited me here to reward me for my efforts as head of the EEA," Neighsay replied as he adopted a straight face. He wouldn't be so easily shaken or intimidated. "But it seems that's not the case. So what, may I ask, was so important you had to lure me here on today of all days?"
At that Celestia growled. "It's your conduct in office, Chancellor."
"Whatever do you mean? I fail to see what I've done that could possibly be concerning or troubling." Neighsay defended.
The sun princess shook her head. "I guess you haven't read the papers yet. Because if you had you'd know that Flim and Flam's Friendship University, the very same university you gave full EEA accredit to I might add, was shut down for illegally extorting students. Not to mention directly copying Princess Twilight's lesson plans for her School of Friendship and simply ripping out every other page."
At that Neighsay let out a gasp! "What?! Impossible! That school was supposed to be the perfect model of education for a pony-first environment! Far better than that disaster of a school Princess Twilight is running, without EEA accredit I might add."
"Well it seems in your 'eagerness' to confirm a school that appealed to your personal beliefs, you didn't bother to conduct a thorough investigation of the school or try to observe it up and running," Celestia scolded. "Approval from the EEA shouldn't be so easily given, or else it becomes a diminishing standard that means nothing. I thought you all of ponies would understand that, Chancellor. Seeing as you are the head of the EEA and all."
The chancellor simply snorted and rolled his eyes. "So perhaps I was a bit rash and made a bad call, everypony makes mistakes, princess."
"Trust me, if that was all there was to it we wouldn't be having this discussion," Celestia went on as she shook her head once again. "Frankly, there's something far more troubling that I've been wanting to discuss with you for ages. And it all has to do with your behavior when Princess Twilight re-opened her school and announced it wouldn't be an EEA school."
At that the chancellor growled. "You wish to blame me for speaking my mind? Some of those creatures have attacked us in the past or have only recently become our allies. It's one thing to let some of their kind mingle with ponies in a controlled environment, but letting them learn about friendship and harmony is something I won't stand for!" He stomped his hoof down firmly in protest. "I stand by everything I said when I first shut down that school! If I allowed it to continue operating, I'd be betraying everything I believe in!"
The sun princess just sighed. "Neighsay, you disappoint me. Perhaps you weren't aware, but your actions nearly sparked an international incident twice. And need I remind you that it was just after Equestria had recovered from an invasion by the Storm King?"
"Living proof that other creatures don't have our best interests at heart," Neighsay stubbornly protested. "When we were attacked, where were our so called 'allies'? I don't recall a single dragon, yak, or changeling coming to our aid!"
"But do you also recall who it was that served as the Storm King's second in command?" Celestia inquired of the chancellor. "It wasn't a yak, or a dragon, or any other creature like that. It was a pony. And let's not forget about the likes of Nightmare Moon and the Pony of Shadows. Some of our greatest enemies have come from our kind. So what do you suppose other creatures would have to say about that?"
Neighsay found himself at a loss for words! "Well I... I..."
Celestia added. "And your thoughtless remarks nearly led to war among those 'creatures' whose leaders you insulted. A war that would've cost who knows how many innocent lives? Would all that have been worth it just because you don't believe other creatures could ever learn about friendship and harmony the way we do?"
"I... never wanted war, princess. I simply did what I thought was right for the greater good," The chancellor protested again as he backed away out of worry. "You're not seriously going to judge me on that, are you?"
"I'm afraid you leave me no other choice," The sun princess sternly scolded as her eyes began to narrow. "You've already caused enough damage to the EEA's reputation and ponies are starting to take notice. Several members of the EEA wrote to me just recently asking, no 'begging' for me to do something about you. But against my better judgement I opted to give you the benefit of the doubt. To give you a chance to see the error of your ways in your own time and on your own terms. Seems I made the wrong call."
The lanky stallion struggled in vain to keep his composure, by now he was shaking all over. "W-what are you going to do to me?" He questioned. "You're not going to terminate me, are you? Not after I worked so hard to reach the top."
Princess Celestia took a moment before she answered the chancellor. "No. Doing so would make me a hypocrite. After I've been willing to give the likes of my sister, Discord, and even Tempest Shadow a second chance despite the crimes they've committed, I wouldn't be able to justify not doing the same for you," Before Neighsay could celebrate though, she threw up a hoof and declared. "But you're not getting off the hook, either. You will be punished. Effective immediately, you'll be placed on unpaid leave and will resign your position as head of the EEA. Don't worry, an acting head shall be named to fill your place, the EEA will function just fine in your absence."
"A-absence?" Neighsay gulped.
"Yes, absence," Celestia nodded in a half stern, half motherly tone of voice. "But after three months, if you can show that you've learned the error of your ways, you'll be allowed to return to your old post. If not, you'll continue your unpaid leave of absence. And if within a year you've not seen sense, your leave of absence shall be made permanent. Also, should you return to being head of the EEA and events such as this happen again, you'll be immediately and reluctantly terminated. Do I make myself clear?"
Not one to argue with a princess, Neighsay reluctantly conceded for he realized he'd been defeated. "Yes, of course, your majesty," He nodded very slowly. "Your... wish is... my command. Perhaps maybe my judgement has become clouded ever so slightly, though I personally don't think so. But for the record, my view of Princess Twilight's school hasn't changed. I still firmly believe that it's a disaster just waiting to happen."
"Then for both our sakes, I pray the day never comes where you're proven right," Celestia declared in response. "Now you're free to leave, Neighsay. And hopefully, your time off will give you the chance to think about what you've done and how you can improve."
Exiting the throne room without another word, Neighsay's mood had noticeably soured from when he had been trotting up to the castle just a short time ago. And in his mind he was thinking. "Maybe Princess Celestia is right. Regardless of what I think of other creatures, as head of the EEA it's not my place to make my personal opinions known to all."
As he departed Canterlot the now (temporarily) on leave head of the EEA was thinking to himself. "Maybe I can use this time off to visit all the other schools I've given EEA accredit to, just to make sure they're following all the necessary and proper guidelines. I don't need my enemies to have anymore fuel with which to discredit me."