Stranglehold

Chp. XII

I arrived at the Ponyville train station. It was night time and the station was empty. I journeyed through the empty streets of Ponyville until I came across two fillies who looked like they had just seen a ghost.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Th- the cottage! There's something at the cottage!"

"We didn't do anything, we swear!"

Before I could ask any further questions, the two fillies bolted off, disappearing into the night. Curious, I trotted to Fluttershy's cottage. After all, it was the only cottage I knew of and the fillies came from the direction of Fluttershy's home.

It was a long walk but I finally made it to the front of the cottage. Fluttershy's cottage had a very haunting feel as if something was watching me. However, I ignored the goosebump inducing aura. I saw that there were lights inside Fluttershy's home.

"This is gonna get interesting..."

I made my way to the front door. From there, I opened the door and immediately swept left. Clear. The center was also clear and so was the right side... I began to search the living room. When I was in, I was immediately attacked at the left side by a brown coated stallion, his face covered by a mask.

I blocked his right punch and trapped his arm with both my hooves. He managed to free himself by sweeping my hind legs and pushing forward at the same time. My body crashed to the ground. The stallion, however, didn't capitalize on my stumble. In fact, he patiently waited for me to make my next move.

I bucked at him but my hind hooves missed, barely grazing his head. I saw him charing at me from my right. Out of instinct, I planted my hind hooves onto the ground and delivered a right chop.

The stallion managed to grab my arm, trapping it between his two fore hooves. He then shoulder threw me to the ground. When my body made contact to the floor, he immediately pinned my neck with a hoof, cutting my oxygen short.

I gasped and desperately flailed my arms. My left hoof managed to push the stallion's coat up, revealing his cutie mark. As soon as his cutie mark had been seen, he let go of the choke and I hacked a lung, trying to regain all the lost oxygen.

The stallion took off his mask and his coat to reveal his true identity. The grey bandana, the cutie mark of an infinity symbol and a grey bushy beard.

"Ranger... Your Parajitsu skills are off. I expected more from Manehattan's supercop."

"It can't be... P-Patriot?" I asked.

"Or would you prefer to call me Maverick? It seems you're more comfortable with that alias."

I rubbed my eyes and peered at the stallion as hard as I could. I couldn't believe it! My mentor was standing in front of me! It was no wonder my Parajitsu techniques didn't work against him. I got up and saluted Patriot.

"Sir, I thought you were dead!" I said.

Patriot chuckled, "Son, that's what they wanted all of you to believe!"

My eyes narrowed, "What do you mean? The official government classified you as deceased six years ago."

Patriot sighed, "Then let me tell you what REALLY happened."

The elder pony began to pace around the living room. His face was stern.

"Six years ago, I was assigned to raid the underground casino along with three newly recruited officers. The media claimed that I was KIA by mobsters but in reality, it was a setup. The ponies who 'killed me' were the three officers themselves. They were ordered by the mayor of Manehattan to do so."

"WHAT? Why?"

"I knew too much. Prior to being assigned to that case, I began an unofficial investigation on Manehattan's government. Remember the incident eight years ago where three million bits suddenly disappeared from Manehattan's treasury?"

"Yeah, they said it was robbed by Mad Dog and his crew."

"And because of that, we were ordered to arrest Mad Dog but did you ever noticed we were never ordered to retrieve the 'stolen' bits?"

I scratched the back of my head, "Come to think of it, the mayor didn't really do much to retrieve the money himself... He was quiet about it."

"That's because the bits weren't stolen! One does not simply lose three million bits. Especially since the treasury can only be accessed by the mayor and is heavily guarded. Even if Mad Dog were to get his all his lackeys to rob the vault, he wouldn't even get close to it. You and I aren't allowed to be near it, even with our established reputations!"

I raised an eyebrow, "So what happened after you became suspicious?"

"I decided to interrogate the suspected mobsters about the missing money. Of course, they didn't tell me because they didn't know and even if they did, I doubt they'd confess. Then, I got a copy of Manehattan's monetary transactions. As I observed where the taxpayers' money went, I realized that the mayor was involved in very shady business deals."

"What kind of deals?"

"I don't remember exactly what it was but it had ties to the black market. The mayor and the corporate scumbags that work for him knew that with me snooping around, it could jeopordize whatever it was they were planning. To make sure I was out of the picture, they had the Chief assign me the casino case."

"Wait, Chief knew about all this?" I asked.

Patriot nodded, "That's right, he was well aware that I had a kill order on my head. However, he let me know ahead of time what the mayor planned on doing and gave me a pill that puts me in a death like coma for two whole days before I was introduced to the new recruits. When I arrived at the casino, it was empty. The three officers tried to kill me with their magic and during the fight, I took the pill in mid battle."

"So that was really you at the funeral then, huh?" I asked.

"Yeah. I woke up from my death like state a little after I was buried. After the funeral ended, Chief dug me up from my grave later that night and I left Manehattan. From there, I changed my identity and started a new life in Trottingham as a private investigator."

"Hold on, if you're working as a PI in Trottingham, how do you fit into what's happening here in Ponyville?" I asked.

Patriot yawned, "Let's continue this conversation tomorrow. Both of us need our rest if we're going to crack this case."

"Where are you staying?" I asked.

"A kind zebra, by the name of Zecora, has let me stay at her hut out in the Everfree Forest. And you? I'm sure you won't be staying at the Ponyville Inn anytime soon."

I cupped my chin with my hoof and thought about where I was going to stay.

"I think I know a place. Where and when will I meet you again?" I asked.

"Tomorrow morning at Twilight Sparkle's library," Patriot replied.

I nodded my head, "Alright then, I'll just stay the night there and I'll meet you tomorrow to discuss more."

We then parted ways and a smile crept onto my face as I left the cottage. At last, I was reunited with my mentor. To think that this whole time, he was alive and well and was living in Trottingham. I walked into town and made my way to the library.

I arrived at Twilight's library and knocked on the door. From inside, I heard Twilight asking herself who was knocking at this time.

The door opened and Twilight jumped a little when she saw me.

"My goodness Ranger, we were looking all over for you! Where were you?" Asked Twilight.

"I had to leave the hospital early to take care of some unfinished business... I know this is random and all but do you mind if I stay the night here? I don't want to go back to the hospital and Ponyville Inn isn't exactly the best place for me to crash."

Twilight nodded her head, "Sure, just uh, come in but I don't really have an extra bed. I can give you mines."

"No need, I'll sleep on the floor."

"Oh no, you're a guest and I'm not having you-"

I waved my hooves, "Don't worry about it. As long as I got a place to stay, I'm fine."

Twilight sighed, "Alright then."

I walked into the library and closed the door. I sat down and looked around the library.

"So, uh, what ever happened to your pet dragon?" I asked.

"Oh, Spike? He's not my pet and he's currently in Canterlot on a vacation. I really don't want him involved in this, especially since he's a baby dragon. Are you sure you're fine with sleeping downstairs on the floor?" Said Twilight.

I nodded my head. Twilight laughed and shook her head.

"Good night Ranger."

"Good night Twilight."

The unicorn went upstairs and closed her door. I closed my eyes and went to sleep.