//------------------------------// // Down at the Station // Story: Brenda's Big Adventure // by Mike the Red //------------------------------// ------------------ Michael's Point of View -------------- "Mr. Walker, we need to ask you some more questions," one of the officers stated. "Of course, shall I take my car there?" "I don't see why not. Just follow us, we'll have one escort in front of you and another behind you." "Okay, I'm going now." I went back to the car and drove over to the police station. I parked the car in the lot adjacent to the station and went in. An officer escorted me to an interrogation room and told me it was just routine questioning. At first, the questions were fairly simple -- the date, the estimated time of disappearance, my whereabouts, my itinerary for the day, a description of a normal morning routine. The questions then became a bit more pointed -- did I have a possible motive to kill her, possible life insurance benefits, verbal or physical disagreements, family history, and various and sundry other questions of that type. They continued questioning me for several hours, repeating the same questions in an attempt to possibly catch me in a lie, or perhaps to see if I might have been responsible for my wife's disappearance. I became increasingly agitated by their stubborn refusal to accept my truthful statements as fact, and continued to harangue me about the matter. They resorted to the old "good cop bad cop" routine in an attempt to coerce me into confessing to a murder I didn't commit. "You told me this was going to be routine questioning," I stated. "I haven't been placed under arrest and you have no authority to hold me without due process." "Very well then, Mr. Walker, you are under arrest for the murder of your wife. How do you like those apples?" asked the bad cop. I was then bent over the table on my stomach, my arms roughly grabbed behind my back and handcuffs tightly wrapped around my wrists. I was then unceremoniously taken from the police station and shoved into the back of a cruiser and transported to the county jail for processing. After being fingerprinted and stripped of my clothing, I was put into another room and roughly hosed off as a sort of cleaning. I was then put into a pink prison jumpsuit and forced into a jail cell. I was then informed I would have to wait until the following morning before being arraigned. My cellmate told me I had to sleep in the top bunk. I lie awake in the top bunk, waiting for the light to go off. It never did. I decided to use my telepathic link to Princess Celestia, and found myself enveloped in a blinding whiteness that completely obscured my vision, a feeling of my stomach dropping, and then standing before the Sun Goddess herself. I bowed deeply to her. "Princess Celestia, your Highness, please forgive my intrusion," I stated solemnly. "I feared the worst, Michael. It pleases me to see you are relatively safe." "The only thing wounded is my pride, your Majesty. I was hoping I would not have to resort to contacting you, but as I had feared, the police over-reacted, which seems all too typical for them. I have not been able to find my wife, so I am not really sure what to do now. I left my car in the parking lot adjacent to the police station, so I am afraid it might have already been impounded, leaving me without transportation. If that is the case, I fear I have no way back home, nor do I have a way to go anywhere. With your permission, your Majesty, may I seek a new life, a fresh start in Ponyville?" "I have not heard word about your wife's whereabouts either, Michael. I understand your desire to remain here, and I am seriously tempted to honor your request. What would happen if I were to send you back home with a way of retrieving your vehicle?" "The police placed me under arrest for the murder of my wife, even though I never committed that heinous act. You may ascertain the validity of my statements in any way you wish, your Majesty -- I tell you the truth -- I did not kill my wife. If I were to return to my home world, I would be considered a fugitive, as I was placed in a jail cell -- I contacted you from that cell." "Michael, I shall use my magic to determine your truthfulness. Give me a moment, please." She focused magic into her horn which started glowing white -- a strange sensation overtook me, a feeling of warmth which increased in it's intensity very rapidly, becoming hotter and hotter until I couldn't bear it any further. I sensed her mind probing mine, looking for information, reading my thoughts, focusing on memories, delving deeply into my psyche. I welcomed her presence, not that I would have been able to refuse her, and she continued searching. The heat grew in its intensity even further -- it felt like my flesh was being burned away -- I could hear myself screaming in agony as the pain seared through my body. Suddenly, I felt her leave and my body went cold. I fell to my knees, gasping for air, holding my chest as my heart pounded away furiously. "Michael, I apologize for doing that -- but I had to make sure. You are indeed telling the truth. I am very sorry for causing you all that pain -- I can only hope you will forgive me that excess." "Perhaps you might be willing to honor my earlier request, then. You have my forgiveness, your Majesty. I am afraid I cannot return to my home world now, and I apologize for causing this inconvenience." Princess Celestia smiled at me. "You do not need to apologize to me, Michael. I shall honor your request and send you to Ponyville. It saddens me to know you cannot return home, but I hope you will be able to make amends for that in some way." ---------------------- Brenda's Point of View ------------------------ The following morning came as I found myself in my bed -- the first decent sleep I'd had in five days. Mike was still not back, and I was wondering what had kept him. Today was a sunny day, and I noticed the alarm clock read 8:22 AM. I was supposed to be at work at 7:00. I went to the bathroom to take a shower, grabbing a fresh set of clothes from the dresser. I noticed how much smoother and softer the ones Rarity had made for me were, and I silently cursed myself for not having taken them with me. I figured I'd have to hand-wash the ones Rarity had made -- I had no idea if machine washing them and drying them would cause them to shrink to an unwearable size. After that, I got my phone and called my job -- they told me that I had been fired for three consecutive no-call no-shows. I was hoping Mike would show up before too much longer so we could at least pay some bills. I headed down to the kitchen to cook something to eat, and heard a knocking at the front door. I opened it to see a police officer standing there. "Ma'am, we are searching for Michael Walker -- this address is listed on his driver's license. We arrested him for the murder of his wife and transported him to jail, but he disappeared last night. We would like to know if you've seen him," the officer stated. "I'm his wife!" I shouted at the officer. "What do you mean, 'he disappeared'?" "We were hoping you'd know, ma'am. What is your name?" "Brenda Walker! You mean he made it here yesterday? And now he's gone again? DAMN!" "Ma'am, would you mind letting us know what's going on?" "I was told he was searching for me while I was in this weird place with all these weird-colored ponies -- I just managed to make it back here last night after being in that weird place for four days! So why did you take him to jail?" "Your husband filed a missing persons report, ma'am. We assumed he killed you and filed the report to distract us from conducting a thorough investigation. He disappeared from his cell last night, and we are conducting a massive search for him. We believe he hasn't gone far, and we are checking all possibilities." "But since I'm back, doesn't that destroy any murder case against him?" "Even so, he escaped custody. We will have to charge him with that, if nothing else." "If I know Mike, he's probably in Ponyville. You can't get him if he's there -- I don't even know how I ended up there -- I woke up five days ago in Twilight Sparkle's bed in Ponyville." "How is that even possible?" "I don't know -- somehow or other, he seems to be able to go there -- and I'll bet he probably figured he had no choice when you arrested him for my murder! You scared him away! Now he's NEVER coming back! You have DESTROYED my marriage!!" "Ma'am, please, we're just trying to do our jobs here. We're sorry if we caused you any trouble." "Sorry doesn't bring Mike back to me! Get away from my house! GO! NOW!!!" At this point I was on the verge of tears. I couldn't believe they had been so damned stupid! Stupid damned cops! I watched them get back into their squad cars and left. Without a job and without Mike, I was now really worried about my future. I couldn't pay the bills myself, and I needed help. I contacted my sisters, my brothers, all my friends. Truthfully, I didn't really have too much to worry about after talking to all of them -- they were willing to pitch in as much as possible. I had my oldest daughter drive me to my workplace to see about getting my job back -- amazingly enough, after discussing with my supervisor about what I had been through, he rehired me on the spot. Now I just needed to make arrangements for transportation. I went to an attorney's office to file paperwork for a divorce -- with Mike gone and no way of knowing whether or not he'd come back, it would be a simple matter for filing the papers. Turns out there was a nice good-looking attorney working as an associate of that firm who took an interest in me. Six months later, we got married. I never looked back. FIN