Stranglehold
Chp. XI
The five minutes passed by much sooner than I expected as the train stopped at the Stalliongrad train station. I got off the train and was met by the cold snowy weather. Stalliongrad... A city far east with a history of violence and bloodshed. Now it serves as a prison facility. A unicorn dressed in a police uniform saluted me.
"Officer Ranger, what a surprise!" said the unicorn.
I saluted him back and took out my badge, "I need to speak to Mad Dog in private."
The unicorn merely glanced at my badge and nodded his head, "Alright, follow me."
We walked out of the train station and into the main entrance of Stalliongrad. A giant brick wall stood in front of us and there were two pegasi guarding the door leading into the city. On top of the wall were two other pegasi keeping watch of the entrance.
The guards at the main door granted us permission and we walked into Stalliongrad. Stalliongrad was composed of four buildings: The mess hall at the east, security headquarters at the west, the interogation room at the south and in the center of it all was the main prison.
As I followed the unicorn, I looked around at the inmates who worked around Stalliongrad, performing hard labor such as dragging carts of iron, moving bricks and many other fun activities while the prison guards keeping a close watch. The prisoners were all dressed in a black and white stripped outfit. Many of them gave me a look as if they wanted to kill me.
However, I knew that the guards would keep them in check if they were to step out of line. The unicorn and I made it to the interrogation room, which composed of many sound proof rooms with closed wooden doors to keep each interrogation undisturbed. Each of these rooms had a number.
We went into room 45 and in it was just a table, two seats and a red button to alert the guards in case the inmate got violent.
"Make yourself comfortable, officer Ranger. I'll be back with Mad Dog," said the unicorn as he left.
I took a seat and patiently waited for him to return. Minutes later, he came back with Mad Dog, whose hooves were cuffed.
"Thank you, I'll take it from here," I said.
"Are you sure you don't want any guards to keep him in check?" Asked the unicorn.
I shook my head and the unicorn left the room, leaving me and Mad Dog alone. The inmate sat calmly and had a smirk on his face.
"My my, what a surprise! The last time I saw you, you were Patriot's little lapdog. Look, you even got little boo boos all over your body! You've sure grown!" Said Mad Dog.
I smiled, "I see Stalliongrad's been treatin' you real nice."
Mad Dog chuckled, "What can I say? Free shelter, good food, daily exercise and a random visit from Manehattan's supercop himself! I'd say, life is pretty swell here. I see you're still rocking the shades."
I pushed my sunglasses up with my hoof, "You already know... Now how long has it been, ten years since Patriot and I arrested you?"
Mad Dog raised an eyebrow, "Yes sir. Refresh my memory and tell me, what I was guilty of again?"
"Let's see: Money laundering, grand larceny and most importantly, ponynapping."
Mad Dog nodded his head, retaining his smirk," Ah, sounds about right..."
There was a moment of silence between me and Mad Dog. His squinty eyes observed me as I sat back in my seat. He then chuckled and leaned back into his chair.
"Now, what would Manehattan's supercop possibly want with a lowly criminal like me? I'm sure you didn't come all this way for a friendly visit."
"Observant, are we? Alright then, let's cut to the chase. I have questions and you seem to be the only pony who has answers to them."
I placed the picture of Fluttershy directly in front of Mad Dog on the table. The inmate pony whistled and his eyes lit up.
"Not bad, Ranger... Not bad at all... Who's the cute face?"
"The latest known victim of ponynapping."
"So, what does this have to do with me?"
"You might not have been directly involved in the ponynapping itself but I know that you're affiliated with the pony who did it."
I took Fluttershy's photo away and replaced it with the photo of the white, scarred pegasus.
"Now, who is he?"
Mad Dog took a look at the photo. He remained quiet for a long period of time, as if he was trying to stall. While he looked at the photo, he still had that disgusting smirk on his face. The inmate then began to laugh, as if he heard the world's funniest joke. I sat back and laughed along with him. I didn't know why but I just laughed along.
Mad Dog eventually settled down from the fit of laughter, "Do yourself a favor. Go back to Manehattan, turn a blind eye on this just like your idiot coworkers and move on in life because there's a good chance you're never gonna see your pretty little girlfriend again."
I slammed my hooves onto the table, "You're not answering my question... Who. Is. He?"
Again, Mad Dog smirked and slightly leaned back, "Temper, temper! Alright, you really wanna know? His name's Ironhide. Used to serve in the royal army but I don't know what happened. All I know is that he works for Zodiac."
I raised an eyebrow, "Zodiac? What is that, a name of a pony? A place? What is it?"
Mad Dog shrugged, "Beats me. I've met Ironhide a couple of times and I'll tell you what, he isn't your average crook. Take my advice and sit this one out."
I shook my head, "Sorry but I'm not gonna 'sit this one out' because some ex royal guard decided to ponynap a mare. Now, it's apparent you've worked with Ironhide before. How does he work? Does he ponynap certain mares?"
"He ponynaps random fillies, mares and or colts."
"Why does he ponynap them?"
"I wish I could tell you."
"Where does he take them?"
"I don't know."
"What do you mean, you don't know?"
"Everytime we work together, he always tells me to leave the rest to him. Where he takes them and where you can find him is up to your imagination, but do know that the answers are closer than you think."
"What do you mean?"
"Patriot's taught you about detective work. Use those skills and investigate Manehattan. You'll be surprised as to what you'll find."
I leaned in closer to Mad Dog and took off my shades, staring at him. Mad Dog seemed unfazed.
"Why do I have a feeling you're not telling me something I should know?" I asked.
"I told you everything I know, supercop. Like I said, I'm just a lowly criminal. Take a deeper look into Manehattan and you'll find everything you need to know," Mad Dog replied.
"Alright, let me get this straight: The pony in charge of ponynapping the mare is named Ironhide. We don't know where he can be found, why he does this and where he takes his victims. We only know that he targets random ponies and that he's associated with something called Zodiac. Am I right?"
Mad Dog nodded his head, "That's correct... sir."
I chuckled, "It's kinda strange... You're helping me without any second thoughts. Are you trying to get a parole for good behavior or something?"
Mad Dog smiled, "Maybe. Maybe not. Who knows?"
I nodded my head, "Alright then, we're done. Thank you for your time, Mad Dog."
Mad Dog flashed a toothy grin at me, "Always a pleasure, supercop."
I left the interrogation room and the unicorn guard was outside, waiting. As he went to escort Mad Dog back to his cell, I went back to the train station to return to Ponyville. I boarded the train and took a seat. The whistle on the train blew and before I knew it, the train began to move slowly.
I took the picture of Fluttershy out and looked at it again.
"Soon, I'll find you and bring you back to Ponyville, where you can be with your friends again."
