A tall, dark-haired man thundered into the room. He grabbed the wizard by the shoulders and slammed him up against the wall.
"Lana told me what you did!" he shouted. "Did you think I wouldn't find out?"
The wizard plucked ineffectively at the enormous plaid sleeves. "Clark, did you see some little horses in here a second ago? Talking? Brightly colored?"
The big man let go of him, and the wizard slid to the floor, stumbling a little. "You're crazy. Again. Or are you just faking?" He turned, wiping his hands as if he'd been touching something slimy. "Whatever. I'm telling your dad. Belle Reve is where you belong!" The giant strode off quickly, leaving the wizard pale and gasping for air.
The ponies crept out from under the furniture. "What's happening?" they asked. "Who was that?"
The wizard didn't seem to want to look at them. He straightened his lavender shirt and rubbed the back of his head where the giant had forced it against the stone wall.
The ponies couldn't afford to be stopped by his reluctance to chat. "Please! You have to help us!" they clamored. "Megan is at school, and we don't know what to do!"
The wizard still shied away from looking directly at any of the ponies. He poured himself a glass of something brown and drank it.
The sound of sirens came from far away. Lex started and dropped his glass. Applesauce went and sniffed at the puddle on the floor; it smelled yucky. Ponies crowded around Lex as he looked out the stained glass window to see what was coming. It was a big white van with a revolving light on top and some sort of writing on the side.
"Damn," the wizard muttered. The ponies all gasped in shock at his bad language. "I am not going back there," he added resolutely. Taking a deep breath, he finally turned and faced the ponies. "Sorry," he said quietly. "Do you -- they'll probably be blocking the roads. My father is nothing if not thorough. Do you have some way to get me away from here? I'll help you if you help me."
"Of course!" they assured him. The ponies were all so happy!
The uni-ponies summoned the rainbow bridge while Lex packed his computer and some other things up in a black bag. By the time the armed men from the mental institution reached Lex's office, there was nobody there. (None of them admitted that they'd thought there was a rainbow coming in through the window.)
