Brenda's Big Adventure

---------------------- Brenda's Point of View ------------------

I found myself walking down the hallway of the hospital, my work trolley loaded with all the needed cleaning items, disinfectant sprays, cleaning sprays, clean rags, and trash bags at the ready. A nurse greeted me and waved a friendly smile. Suddenly my pager went off, so I went to the nearest in-house hospital phone and called my supervisor. He demanded my immediate presence in his office. I paced nervously outside his office, wondering what was in store for me. He beckoned me inside, then berated me for poor job performance, poor workplace relations with my co-workers and generally unsatisfactory attitude. He then told me I was fired, whereupon I started crying. He told me to leave his office, get my stuff, clean out my locker and go home, or have me arrested for criminal trespass. I shouted "What did I do wrong!" at him before he threatened me with arrest again.

I woke up in a cold sweat in the guest room bed again. I lie awake, unable to sleep and decided to rest some more in an attempt to try to fall asleep again. I was wondering when this nightmare was going to end -- stuck in a world full of colorful ponies -- my husband gone, nowhere to be found -- and then Twilight came in the room to wake me again.

"Don't want to miss breakfast, do you, Brenda?" she asked.

"Please tell Princess Celestia I want to leave. Today."

"You need to be more patient, Brenda -- it's only been four days."

"It seems like an eternity to me -- I want to go home!"

"Okay, Brenda, I'll have Spike send a letter informing the Princess of your desires. I'm sure she'll send you on your way, but I just hope it's not while your husband is searching for you. But if you are so unhappy here, I understand. I will miss you, Brenda, it's been nice to get to know about you, even though there was quite a bit more I wanted to know. Let's head downstairs, you don't want to leave on an empty stomach, I'm sure."

"Thanks, Twilight. Let me get freshened up and I'll be right down." I took my last fresh set of clothes to the bathroom and took a short bath, toweled off and got dressed, then headed downstairs to what was to be my last breakfast in Ponyville, or so I hoped. Today it was waffles, ones with hay for Twilight, and scrambled eggs for Spike and me.

"Spike, take a letter for me please," Twilight said somewhat glumly.

"Sure thing, Twi, go ahead."

"Dear Princess Celestia, I regret to inform you that my human house guest has requested immediate transport to her home world. Even though I am interested in further study, she has become homesick and wants to return home as soon as possible. She has made some friends here, but dearly misses her husband. Please address this issue at your earliest convenience. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle." Spike rolled up the parchment and sent it on its way.

"Brenda! Don't tell me you wanna go home already!" Spike exclaimed almost incredulously.

"I have been miserable here without Mike," I said.

"Well, I'm gonna miss you!" he said. A knocking was heard at the front door and Spike got up to answer it before Twilight could even ask him to get it. "Your Majesty! I had no idea you'd get here so quickly!"

"May I come in, please," Celestia half-asked in a relatively serious tone of voice. Spike opened the door to the library for her. "Brenda, I decided to personally visit to make sure you are ready to go home. If this is truly what you want, I believe I can do this for you, but mark my words -- do not ask me to do this for you again, as I shall not be so generous the next time around. I believe your husband is still searching for you as I can sense great disturbances in the fabric of the space-time continuum -- he is close, but hasn't found this universe yet. Be that as it may, should he arrive here and ask of your appearance, I shall inform him of your decision so he may return to you. Prepare yourself, Brenda, this shall be swift."

Princess Celestia concentrated magic through her horn and enveloped me in a golden aura as I felt my body become almost weightless and a brilliant whiteness obscured my vision. I felt a sudden dropping sensation as though I was falling, and then found myself standing in the front yard of my house. I looked at the driveway and saw Mike's car there. I went to the front door and found it unlocked, so I went inside. I called for Mike, but was met by Twilight Sparkle instead.

"Where's Mike?" I asked with great exasperation.

"You're lookin' at 'im," replied the lavender unicorn.

"Am I here as well?" I asked.

"Yup. Yer upstairs, sleepin'" came the response.

"Can you use magic?"

"Yup. Whatcha want?"

"I'm looking for my husband! He's still human!"

"Huh. Mebbe he's in another universe," she offered optimistically.

"Can you send me there?"

"Yup. Earth or Equestria, which d'ya want?"

"Another Earth! I can't stand looking at any more ponies!"

"Ah'm dis'pointed, Brenda, I'd'a thought you'd wanna see the Princess again!" she smiled.

"Mike! I'm looking for my HUMAN husband! Please send me to another version of THIS world! PLEASE!"

"Aaah, yer no fun. Okay, I'm'a send ya right now, jus' hang tight, a'ight?" Without waiting for a response, she focused magic into her horn, enveloping me in a magenta-colored aura before my vision was blurred again and again the sickening stomach drop occurred. Once again I was in the front yard of the house. This time, the car was not in the driveway and it was dark outside, our neighbor's porch light was on so I went to the front door again. This time it was locked -- I pushed the doorbell, only to remember that it was broken. I knocked on the door and my youngest daughter answered.

"Hey Mama, I was getting worried! Where have you been?" Xaviera asked, almost astonished by my return.

"I've been stuck in Ponyville waiting on Mike for the last four days. Where is he?"

"He went looking for you, Mama."

"Okay, so now we wait for him to come back. I wonder how long THAT'S going to take!" I went upstairs, but because the difference in time between Equestria and Earth was so far off, my body rhythm got messed up.

"Mama, can you tell me what it was like over there?"

"I'll tell you later, Xavi. I'm going to watch TV until I fall asleep again. I need to call work in the morning and find out whether or not I still have a job to go back to.