Different Sleeping Arrangements

     Princess Celestia took her leave, allowing us to continue mingling with the other ponies at the party, which ran until the wee hours of the morning.  We had a great deal of fun, singing karaoke, where I learned several catchy new songs, we danced, where I learned how to dance as a pony, even if Brenda chose not to join me for a few of the slow dances.  Pinkie Pie noticed my frustration and asked me what was wrong -- I told her Brenda didn't want to join me for a slow dance, whereupon the pink party pony forced her to.  I'll have to admit, seeing her blush as a zebra proved to be an interesting sight!

     Eventually the party wound down and everypony left.  Twilight trotted up to us and informed us she had prepared her guest room for us, so we trotted along with her to the library.  We chatted a little bit as we made our way there.

    "So, Twilight, what's on the agenda for tomorrow?" I asked.

    "I will have to send the Princess a letter to determine the best course of action to take with you two.  She talked to me at length about what transpired earlier between you two -- she told me I was to keep the two of you separated until Brenda improved her attitude towards you, Michael."

     "What does that mean?  I thought my attitude towards my husband has improved to the point where we can sleep in the same bed," Brenda complained.  "I don't want to sleep alone!"

     "You can share my bed, Brenda," Twilight offered, a slight hint of a smile on her face.

     "You're not my husband!"

     "If it bothers you that much, perhaps Michael can share my bed," the librarian offered, her smile widening a bit.

      "Hell NO!  I won't let him do that!" the zebra shouted as loud as she could.

      "I was told to keep you two separated -- Brenda, you are not to disobey the Princess.  The consequences of disobeying her might be a greater punishment than you might want to face," Twilight stated matter-of-factly.

      "I'm going to have some words with her about keeping me from my husband!  I don't care WHO she is, she can NOT keep me from my HUSBAND!!  If I can't sleep with him, NO ONE CAN!!" Brenda bellowed, her eyes flashing red with rage.

     "I believe I've seen enough," came another voice from seemingly out of nowhere.  Brenda turned around in a circle to determine where it had come from, only to bump face to chest-plate with the Solar Princess herself, who glowered at the zebra in disapproval.  "Brenda, my earlier statement still holds.  You are not permitted to remain with your husband, and as a result of your outburst, you will be confined to my Castle until I decide you are ready to rejoin your stallion."

     "WHAT?  You can't be serious!  Who gave you the authority to keep me from my HUSBAND?!"

     Celestia chuckled.  "You don't seem to understand, Brenda.  I am the ruler of this land and my word is law.  Defiance and insubordination are actions I have little tolerance for.  I caution you to calm yourself, lest you provoke my ire.  Since you are now in my realm, you must respect me as your leader -- I am royalty, though you are unaware of that fact.  I shall take you to my Castle and I will demonstrate for you the level of my power in the morning when I raise my Sun."

      "But ... but ... I don't want to sleep alone!  I have slept by my husband's side almost every night for the last 20 years!  Please don't take me away from him!  I don't want to lose him to ... that purple pony he seems to be obsessed with!"

     "My name is Twilight, Brenda -- I have a name, you know!  Don't worry, I will not take your husband from you -- I will respect your desire -- your husband will still have the guest room, though," the librarian offered, trying to assuage her fears.

     "It's not that I don't trust you, Twilight -- it's that I don't trust Michael to behave himself!  Now that he's here, and he's close to you, I don't think he'll be able to control himself!"

     "She's a fine one to talk," I muttered under my breath.  Twilight's smile widened ever so slightly as she just barely heard what I said, though Brenda was a little too far away to hear it.  "Don't worry, Brenda, I'll behave, I promise," I stated in my normal tone of voice.

     "You'd better behave yourself!" my wife shouted at me.  Celestia glowered at my wife.

     "You must learn to trust your husband, Brenda.  I believe I may have to keep you in my Castle a bit longer than I had anticipated for the purpose of re-educating you in the ways of the pony," she stated flatly, maintaining a serious gaze towards the zebra.  I saw her eyes go wide as saucers, her pupils diminishing to pin-pricks.

     "How long is that?" she asked.  Her knees seemed to tremble a little as the fear of spending a long time away from anything or anyone she knew started to take root in her.

      I turned my attention to the Alicorn.  "Your Majesty, please go easy on her -- she's still my wife and I just hope you don't return her to me a shell of her former self.  I will be quite distraught if she's broken when she comes back to me."

     "Relax, Michael, I will see to it she is returned to you unharmed.  Brenda, the length of your stay and course of re-education cannot be determined with any degree of accuracy until you have been fully evaluated.  Given your present emotional state and evidence of your recent outbursts, I believe it may take about a year or so before you can reunite with your husband."  Brenda's jaw dropped as she fell to her haunches.

     "NOO!  Please, Princess!  Please, I can't be away from him for that long!  Please!" she wailed as tears started trickling down her cheeks.  I expressed a degree of shock at this mention, my face not betraying my surprise.

     "As I said before, Brenda, how long this takes is entirely up to you.  If your progress is swift, the process will take considerably less time, though that still remains to be determined.  Michael, I apologize for the inconvenience this will cause you."

     "I trust your judgment, your Majesty, but please try to get this done as swiftly as possible.  I don't like sleeping alone either, you know," I offered.  Brenda trotted up to me and tried to hug me before the Alicorn used her magic to stop her in her tracks before she even got close to me.  "Please, your Majesty, we're going to be away from each other for too long.  Please let me hold her one more time before you take her with you," I pleaded.  Celestia relented, releasing her hold on the zebra, who trotted to me and embraced me in a tight hug.  "I love you, Brenda," I whispered in her ears, causing her to smile.

     "I love you too, Mike, even if I don't show it very often," she replied, tears still tracing their way down her cheeks.  The Alicorn cleared her throat loudly to get our attention.

     "If you don't mind, I believe the time has come for me to take Brenda back to my Castle," she stated somewhat coldly, still glowering at the zebra.

     "Don't let me go," she pleaded with me as I held her tightly in my forelegs.

     "I'm sorry, Brenda, please forgive me," I sighed sadly.

     "Don't tell me this was YOUR idea!" she shouted at me, raising her left forehoof in an attempt to strike me again.  She was immediately hit with a freeze spell from the Princess, who shouted, "Enough!" in her Royal Canterlot Voice, startling both of us.  She used her telekinesis to separate us and teleported back to her castle with my wife.

     "Sorry you had to endure that," Twilight said, offering me some sympathy.  "How long have you suffered like that?"

     "She's been like that for nearly the entire time we've been married, Twilight.  I never know from one day to the next what lies in store for me when I get home from work.  Sometimes she's nice to me and some days ... well, she can be a bit of a --"

     My words were interrupted by the librarian stuffing a hoof in my mouth.  "I think I know where you were going with your line of reasoning, Michael, and I'd rather not hear you say something disparaging about your wife.  I feel sorry for you -- I can't even imagine what it must be like for you to have to put up with somepony who is so disrespectful of you."  She removed her hoof at this point.

     "That tasted awful," I commented.  "Next time, make sure your hooves are clean, please?"

     "Sorry," she said by way of a halfhearted apology, though she also grinned sheepishly at my reaction.

     "I'm tired, Twilight, let's get some sleep," I said as I trotted the last several steps toward the library.  I expected her to trot beside me, but apparently she was still standing where we had been.  She appeared to be lost in thought.  "Um, Twilight?  I need for you to open the door -- I'm not gonna just barge on in, and I thought I saw Spike at the party -- or did he leave?"

     "Oh, sorry, Michael, I was just thinking about what you had told me.  Spike was at the party, but he left early to get some sleep -- he's going to be helping Rarity at the boutique tomorrow and he wanted to be well rested so he could help her to the best of his ability.  I'll let you in and show you to the guest room."  She smiled and grinned sheepishly again before trotting to the door and opening it for me.  I followed her inside, whereupon she closed and locked the door behind her as silently as she could.  "Don't wanna wake him up, you know," she grinned.  I followed her upstairs to the second level and she opened the guest room door for me.  "Pleasant dreams, Michael," she offered.

     "My dreams would be a bit more pleasant if you were to let me join you, Twilight," I said, flashing a big toothy grin.

     "Michael!  You said you were going to behave!"

     "Yeah, I know -- but I don't like sleeping alone.  Even so, I shall honor my wife's request and sleep by myself.  Good-night, Twilight," I said softly as I entered the guest room and laid down on the bed.  She shut the door behind me after bidding me good-night in return.  I dreamt about her that night, though Brenda would occasionally intrude into those dreams.