Millie

by totallynotabrony


Chapter 19

I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many cops in one place before. After Gilda hauled Joe off the roof with her and into the path of a train, there were a whole crowd of police officers by the tracks inspecting the area.
Another group of cops had surrounded the building to keep curious onlookers and media out until everything had been taken care of. While I didn’t make a habit of visiting crime scenes, I understood the need for proper documentation. It wouldn’t do to contaminate any evidence or bother those investigating it.
The third group of police had descended on Gilda’s apartment. Jenna and I stood with Ice as we watched the forensics specialists examine everything. There was remarkably little to sift through. Gilda had apparently taken the legend of Miller to extremes, and had almost no possessions.
I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. We knew Gilda was a little quirky - okay, she was nuts and homicidal - but following an idea so devoutly showed admirable dedication. Or it would have, if it didn’t involve me and murdering a bunch of ponies.
The clock had ticked past midnight and was edging into morning. The morning of my last day, if the Lunar Guard was to be believed. If you didn’t count the times when I’d been knocked out, I hadn’t slept for more than twenty four hours. During that period, I’d run for my life, fought for my life, and hadn’t eaten a bite since breakfast.
I swayed a little, barely keeping myself upright, nevermind the clutches of fatigue. Jenna had already dozed off in the corner of the room. Her expression was remarkably peaceful. After all, we were through the dangerous part. In slumber, I thought she looked like an angel, wings and all.
We might have finished with the murdering and whatnot, but that didn’t mean we were done. I still had to figure out how to come up with more evidence than Gilda’s word that she was our killer, and how to convince the Lunar Guards that it was a good enough reason to send Jenna and I home.
Ice saw me blinking hard and trying to focus. He offered me his travel mug. I accepted it and drained the coffee in one pull. He looked a little miffed, but not too much.
One of the searchers came up to Ice. “We found her diary.”
Ice took the small book and flipped through a few pages. His eyebrows went up. “I don’t think this is the kind of thing the public needs to know about. The media getting ahold of it would be...” He glanced at me.
“What?” I asked.
Ice shook his head. “I’m normally a stickler for the rules. But I don’t think Equestria is ready for the kind of things Gilda wrote down.”
The other cop looked confused. “I’ll guess I’ll put it with the classified evidence, then.”
Ice gave the diary back and the other pony walked away. I asked, “What kinds of things did Gilda write down?”
Ice considered the question for a moment. “The truth, actually. All of it, everything that happened, unfiltered and raw.”
I caught myself almost falling over again with fatigue and lost interest in what he was saying. I shook my head vigorously and asked, “Can I go now?”
Ice appraised me for a moment and then nodded. “If I need you again, where will you be?”
I shrugged in honest ignorance and turned away. Ice was an upstanding guy, and for that I admired him, but there was only so much of his personality that I could take. Still, he really was good at his job.
I walked over to Jenna, slightly envious of how she’d managed to doze off. I wished I could have done that, before I got the chance to think too much about what had unfolded before my eyes.
I’d seen bad ponies do terrible things during my time in Equestria. Despite that, I couldn’t figure out why Gilda’s last act had rattled me so much. Maybe it was her sense of purpose. She had believed in what she was doing.
Jenna awoke with the touch of my hoof. We were both eager to leave, and the two of us walked out of the apartment and down the stairs. The cold air was biting as usual, but refreshing.
Behind the building at the railroad tracks, the scene had apparently been cleaned up. I didn’t want to imagine or even think about what it must have looked like. I shivered a little, but with emotion rather than chill.
An ambulance moved away slowly, its lights and siren not activated. The train began to roll again, making the cutest little choo choo noise with its whistle. Seriously? Did it have to do that when everything else was so ugly?
Jenna and I didn’t talk much, just leaned on each other as we headed down the sidewalk. I didn’t at first know where we were going, but didn’t much care as long as it was away from the scene. I glanced backward, but quickly turned away again. I still felt confused and torn about what had happened there. It was harder to say in retrospect, but Gilda had, for a little while at least, been a friend.
The wind picked up for a moment, but I didn’t spare any effort to shudder against the cold. I huddled a little closer to Jenna and she reciprocated in kind.
We passed by an all-night diner and my stomach rumbled at the same time. Jenna steered me through the door. We found seats inside. A waitress came over to take our orders. I asked for a burger.
“Make it two,” Jenna amended.
The two of us sat quietly as the waitress walked away. Our eyes met across the table. We both leaned closer.
“I’m glad this is over,” she said.
I almost disagreed, intending to bring up how we still weren’t home, but realized she was right. We’d brought the case to a close. It had been a long, violent affair beginning before we’d even arrived in Equestria. And overall, it was a lot more important to a lot more ponies than just us.
But now that it was over, we could go back to the subject next at hand. I reached my hoof across the table towards Jenna’s. “I can’t say it was a perfect solution, not exactly what I wanted, but it does let us move on.”
I felt like I should say something more, but Jenna’s look told me she understood. Her hoof made contact with mine and we sat for a few moments.
I mentally reviewed what I had gone through to get to this point. Had we been gone from home for a week? Eight days? My brain was not good for counting at the moment, but we might be able to call something like that an impromptu vacation when we got back. It was certainly easier to explain than the weeks I was away the last time.
But explaining ourselves back home was still a pittance compared to actually getting there. I could feel myself starting to tense up again at that thought. Who were we supposed to contact now that the killer was identified?
Our best bet might be knocking on the door of the Lunar Guard outpost hidden near the bench where they’d beamed us in. Somepony should be there, even in the early hours of the morning.
But we couldn’t just leave. Our friends deserved a goodbye. All of us had been exposed to even more danger than last time, and yet they had never wavered in their support.
With that happy thought in mind, I absolutely destroyed my burger when it came. Jenna noticed, raising an eyebrow. “And I thought all your manly habits were going by the wayside lately.”
“Wuh?” I swallowed. “Sorry.”
She smiled. “Don’t worry about it, dear. I love you because you’re you.”
It was the nicest compliment that I, as a mare, had ever received.
We finished up eating, paid the bill, and left. Feeling invigorated, although only slightly, from the food, the walk back to The Metronome seemed to pass quickly. Despite the hour, the lights were on and the door was unlocked. Iridium, Photo, Vinyl, and Octavia were all there, all still awake.
Their reactions varied from a nod and smile from Iridium to simultaneous hugs by Octavia and Vinyl. I heard a camera click in the background as Photo recorded the moment. I’m sure the picture she took showed a lot of joy, relief, and tired from all of us.
The group hug broke up after a moment. Some of the government agents that had stayed back at the club had apparently received word of what had happened. I was kind of grateful that Jenna and I wouldn’t have to explain where we’d been.
Things went in a different direction than expected, however. Octavia’s tone turned more somber. “Just before you returned, we heard about Fleur.”
I must admit that in the shuffle, I had lost track of the day’s events. My mood instantly went serious at the memory. “Nopony deserved what happened to her.”
Even Photo nodded in agreement, although I was the only one who had actually seen the torture Gilda had inflicted. After all the ponies she’d killed through beating, why change her attack to something like that?
“What are you going to do now that she’s gone?” I asked Octavia.
“Huh?” Octavia’s face blanked in confusion. “Fleur isn’t dead.”
Now it was my turn to be confused. “Really?”
“A case like hers was serious enough to authorize magic healing,” Vinyl said. “She won’t make a full recovery, but it’s really amazing what hospitals can help patients to survive.”
I stood there for several seconds, just processing it. “Well...I need to go visit her.”
This time it was Photo who responded. “Why?”
“She saved my life.”
Of course, I was going to have to tell the whole story. I begged for a few minutes to take a shower first, though. I was still covered in unpleasant things, and the water helped me wash away the previous day - in more ways than one.
Reinvigorated, I told the story about Fleur on the way to the hospital. By the time we got there, everypony seemed to have formed an opinion. I didn’t ask about them, but I already knew how I felt.
Fleur’s medical overseers really didn’t want the six of us disturbing her. Iridium stepped forward and spoke to them quietly and cordially. The effects were a near-instantaneous turnaround in their attitude. I swear, Iridium uses politeness as a superpower. The nurses let us in as long as we promised to be quiet. Apparently deciding that we were safe enough, the law enforcement agents stayed in the hospital lobby.
A mummy probably had fewer bandages on their face than Fleur. There were slits for her eyes, but pretty much everything else was covered. She was resting when we came in, but apparently only lightly. Her eyes struggled to open and she shifted slightly on the bed.
Realizing that she might not know who had entered, I moved to make sure she saw me. Her pale violet eyes focused on my face and she seemed to relax slightly.
I couldn’t blame her for being suspicious. If I was injured like that, I too would be worried about somebody trying to finish the job.
“I want to say thank you,” I began. “I appreciate you going out of your way to help me.”
“No other choice,” she whispered, her lips barely moving.
“What do you mean?” I bent closer to listen.
“I got involved with Little Puffy Joe because I needed money.”
That explained the conversation she’d had with Gilda. Had Fleur really been so confident to spout off to an angry griffon that way? Or rather, was that show of bravado an attempt to conceal her desperation?
Fleur’s hoof moved slightly, in a limp gesture to her face. “After this happened, I...I had to go after her. There wasn’t anything else I could do.”
I didn’t know whether Fleur intended revenge on Gilda or was going to beg for leniency. Either way, heading for the restaurant in her condition truly illustrated how desperate she was. It was the mother of Hail Marys, a last act in a gamble for something, anything, better.
And she’d given up her final chance for me, walking into the restaurant and using the last of her strength to cut the ropes.
A single tear ebbed from Fleur’s eye and wet the bandages. Her eyelids closed and I took the opportunity to glance up. There was emotion on every face in the room.
Photo walked over and sat at the edge of the bed. Fleur felt the shift and managed to blink through her tears at the photographer.
“I don’t believe it,” muttered Fleur darkly. “After all this, so much that I couldn’t change, I can’t even die with dignity. You’re here.”
“Photo might have stopped you from bleeding to death by helping to alert the police,” I put in.
Fleur’s eyes glanced at me, her expression changing slightly before hardening again. “Doesn’t matter. What do I have to live for? My money’s gone, the hospital bills will put me in debt, and I can’t even go out in public looking like this.”
Photo spoke quietly. “I’ve watched you for a while. You’re one of the best ponies I’ve ever seen at makeup and styling. I could use your skills. I’ll also pay your for your stake in The Metronome.”
A second passed as the offer hung in the air. Fleur took a stuttering breath and then broke down crying.
The nurses were not pleased with us for taking their patient away from her much needed rest, but Fleur didn’t want them to kick us out. We stayed as long as we could, until the unicorn healers came in to work on Fleur. She seemed to be in good hooves, so we took our leave.
The morning sun was coming up as we exited the hospital. It seemed like a good time for breakfast. Iridium offered to cook, so the six of us headed back to the club.
I did worry about finding the Lunar Guards and going home, but the day was far from over. Surely they would hear about Gilda soon enough and come looking for me. Either that or I could just go over to their headquarters. Besides, breakfast would give me a little more time to say goodbye to my friends.
Iridium didn’t hold back. The table soon filled with all kinds of tasty breakfast foods. Also, coffee. I couldn’t have stayed awake otherwise.
We all knew that it was our last chance to really be together as a group. Nopony was saying goodbye, but I could tell it was on our minds.
For a while I just drifted. The conversation wasn’t anything that required my full attention, not that I could have given it anyway. It was just all of us, happy to be together. We’d fought hard and won, and now were enjoying our well deserved victory.
This continued for quite a while after our plates were clear. Even through my tired thoughts, I knew it couldn’t last and that Jenna and I would eventually have to leave, but for the moment it was nice.
My eyelids had started to droop despite the caffeine and a nice mid-morning nap was sounding better and better. I heard the door open, and was slow to turn my head. It took a couple of seconds to focus on the batpony who had just come in.
There were two mares with him. More alert now, I got out of my seat and crossed the room to meet them. Jenna was beside me. To the Lunar Guard I asked, “So I take it you heard what happened?”
He nodded. “We would have preferred Gilda and Joe alive.”
I stared at him. “You can't always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need.”
Apologies to the Rolling Stones, but I was too tired to think of a good line of my own.
I turned to the pair of ponies who were with the Guard. One was blue and the other was white. “And you are?”
One of them held up an envelope. “We got your letter.”
It took a second to remember the message I’d sent to Canterlot. I had gotten so tied up in taking care of the problem myself that getting help from the outside had completely slipped my mind. So, I was a little displeased that they had shown up now that the action was over. However… “Can you send me home?”
“We can.”
To put it mildly, that was the best news I’d gotten all week. Home, yay! Jenna’s smile split from ear to ear, and her eyes shimmered. It was a wonderful sight to see her so happy. I’m sure that I wore a similar expression, and our joy sort of built on each other like some sort of ecstatic feedback loop.
“It will take some time,” cautioned the white mare. She shot a glance at the other one before turning back to me. “And we apologize for the inconveniences you’ve gone through.”
“How much time?” I asked, focused on the part of her statement that I actually cared about.
“We should be ready by tomorrow morning. Until then, we’d like to ask you some questions about your experiences this time.”
I eyed the pair of them, as well as the Guard who seemed to have taken a backseat in the conversation. “Can you promise me that it will be the last time? Because if you notice a crime problem again, your first response shouldn’t be ‘let’s just pull the pin on Miller and toss him in there.’”
“This project will not be continued, we assure you,” replied the blue mare.
“Especially after you accidentally grabbed my wife?” My tone was a little sharp, and apparently I touched on a sensitive topic.
Her expression hardened. “What do you know about complex spells and the creation of untested magic? It can not be guaranteed to produce perfect results.”
Behind her, the Guard’s expression changed slightly, appearing to conceal his feelings on the subject. The white mare was slightly more expressive, looking at the other with reprimand. She turned back to me. “Perhaps we can explain a little more about this. I hope that we can put these events behind us and have a dialogue.”
I sighed and nodded. “All right then. Let’s talk.”
With more coffee, I was able to focus long enough to get through the interview. We used one of the back rooms of the club. Jenna was there too, and the two of us talked with the three of them.
It bothered me a little that I ended up not remembering much of the conversation. I’m sure we covered important things, like the loose ends in the case that I hadn’t managed to solve on my own. Frankly, I didn’t even remember sitting there for a couple of hours, but I wrote the forgetfulness off to being crazy tired. At any rate, I didn’t much care that I was in a haze. We were going home tomorrow!
At least we managed to produce more of an understanding. Especially the blue mare, who I had taken an initial dislike to, had convinced me to like her. Jenna and I saw them off cheerfully.
When the visitors left, I decided that I should rest. No better way to make tomorrow come faster, right? Octavia let Jenna and I use her spare bed.
My wife and I curled up together and had just enough time for a kiss before we both drifted off. Despite what I had been through before going to bed, I didn’t dream about it, or in fact anything. It was nothing but uninterrupted, restful sleep. And boy, did it make the morning come almost instantaneously.

In the morning, we all were once again gathered around the breakfast table. Photo still didn’t know the whole story, but had gotten the idea that Jenna and I were going to be leaving soon.
“And it is a shame that I was never able to capture your image,” she lamented.
Jenna elbowed me. I glanced at her, seeing a mischievous grin on her face. I sighed and turned to Photo. “Well, I suppose I can spare some time to model for you.”
After that, things came together faster than I would have thought. I don’t know where Photo got those clothes from, but she didn’t hesitate to start dressing me. Vinyl helped her with the details. Octavia set the stage and got the lighting ready. Jenna stood by, offering moral support and just barely concealing her laughter. To be fair, it was pretty funny, even if I was the butt of it.
Iridium disappeared for a while and came back pushing Fleur in a wheelchair. She was still heavily bandaged, but looked focused. Working with her magic alone, she started in on my mane and makeup.
I was slightly surprised by Fleur’s turnaround in attitude. Perhaps going back to her talents, doing something she was good at, was therapeutic. She wasn’t as helpless as she might have thought, and had found something useful that she could still do. And if I had to stand there and let her fix me up, then I must reluctantly admit that it was worth it to see that on her face.
I think the Guard and the two mares with him were somewhat taken aback to walk in and see all of this going on. I waved to them with one polished hoof as Fleur was finishing with my tail. “Is it okay if you guys wait a few minutes?”
The two mares looked amused and sat down at one of the club tables to watch. The Guard gave me a look as if he no longer knew what to think of me. I hadn’t had time to really get to know him, but the look on his face appeared to indicate that he knew me - or up until this moment thought he did.
I didn’t dwell on it. Photo finished setting up her camera and called for me to take my position. The set of stairs I had built for the last fashion show were still next to the stage and I climbed them
The lights were bright, but I could see everypony watching me. Most of them were my friends, and had helped me get here. Well, yes, on the stage, but more importantly, in a position to go home. They’d all done so much, some of them despite their differences.
Octavia and Vinyl had set up their respective music equipment in the back. With a glance and a smile to each other, they began to play an interesting string/electronic version of You Can’t Always Get What You Want.
But sometimes you get what you need. I looked at Jenna, seated in the front row. God, I sure had what I needed in her.
Jenna had been a wellspring of support for me. The two of us had gone through this together. I’d loved and appreciated her before, but after this, maybe I would understand a little better. Make all the jokes you want about female hormones.
Jenna met my eyes and we held the connection for a few moments. I didn’t care the both of us were ponies at the moment. This was who I’d decided to spend my life with, and despite everything that had happened, she felt the same way about me. I felt like the luckiest man ever.
“Yes, that’s what we need, Millie,” called Photo from behind the camera. “Show us the emotion.”