Stranglehold

Chp. XIII

My eyes slowly opened as I felt somepony gently nudging me, whispering "wake up" in my ear. I got up, yawned and stretched only to meet Patriot and Twilight standing in front of me.

"We've been trying to wake you up for a while, Ranger. You're a deep sleeper, you know that?" Commented Patriot.

I grinned, "What can I say? I like to enjoy my sleep. Anyways, I-"

Just then, we heard knocking on the door. Twilight Sparkle opened the door and was greeted by the rest of her friends. When they saw me, they all rushed into the library.

"OH MY GOSH! I THOUGHT WE WERE NEVER GOING TO SEE YOU AGAIN, RANGER!" Exclaimed Pinkie Pie.

"Ranger, where were you?" Asked Applejack.

"We've been looking all over for you!" Said Rarity.

I nodded my head, "I know, I left without saying anything but it was important."

"Hey, who's this?" Asked Rainbow Dash, gesturing to the elder pony standing next to Twilight Sparkle.

"That's Patriot," I answered.

Every mare, except for Twilight, gasped. Their eyes wide and their jaws dropped.

"No way... THE legendary Patriot?" Asked Rainbow Dash.

"As in, Equestria's number one detective, Patriot?" Said Rarity.

Patriot nodded his head, "That's me."

"But... Ah thought you were dead and ya look a lot older too," said Applejack.

Patriot took the time to explain everything that happened to him in Manehattan, just as he told me last night. The mares couldn't believe what they were hearing. A living legend thought to be dead due to a government conspiracy.

After Patriot was done informing the others about what happened to him, I remembered that he still had questions that needed to be answered.

"Alright Patriot, so now that you've gotten that out of the way, how do you fit into all of this? What are you doing here in Ponyville if you currently live and work in Trottingham?" I asked.

"When I began my work as a PI in Trottingham, I received intel from an anonymous informant, asking me to investigate a number of disappearances that were going on around the city."

"Disappearances?" Asked Rarity.

"That's what it seemed like, at first. What made these disappearances suspicious was the ponies who were missing. Based on investigations, I've come to the conclusion that only shy, quiet ponies were the ones that went missing; particularly fillies and sometimes colts."

"Did you ever find them?" Asked Pinkie Pie.

"Kind of. I managed to deduce that these were acts of ponynapping because I discovered the pattern. They randomly ponynapped their victims but their choice of targets became predictable. The targets were usually fillies and colts and sometimes mares. The ponies who were missing came from low class families and were practically a ghost in their communities. Basically, nopony would've known they went missing if the victims were to just suddenly leave."

"Oh my..." said Twilight.

"The disappearances happened all over Trottingham and after years of studying forensics and examining the evidence left behind, I found out the identities of some of the crooks. I investigated the black market only to find out that all of these acts traced back to a name known as Zodiac," said Patriot.

I gasped, "Wait, Mad Dog mentioned that name! He didn't say what it was but told me to investigate Manehattan for more information on it."

"I began to look more into Zodiac over the years. The name always appeared in the black market but it was always shrouded in mystery. The name was mentioned as if it were a spiritual entity. Recently, I found a safehouse for Zodiac's lackeys and discovered the next target for ponynapping."

My eyes narrowed, "Fluttershy?"

"Apparently so. At the time, I only knew that their target was somewhere in Ponyville. Their records weren't very specific on who they were after, so I had to get here before they did to keep watch and find out who the target was."

"Why didn't you tell Ranger so he could help you?" Asked Pinkie Pie.

Patriot shrugged, "To be honest, I wasn't ready to reveal the truth to him. If word got out that I'm still alive, the crime world and the law enforcement world would be chaotic and this time, they'll finish the job for good, if you know what I mean. To protect my identity, I've used many different names: Zero, Big Boss and the most recent one, Maverick. I wish I was able to tell the truth earlier but the circumstances didn't permit it."

"So now what do we do?" I asked.

"What was it that Mad Dog told you?" He asked.

"He told me to investigate Manehattan for more information on Zodiac. Perhaps that has something to do with your unfinished investigation?"

Patriot began to walk towards the door of the library, "Only one way to find out. You comin' along, Ranger?"

I began to wave my hooves, "Hold on a second. Can we even trust Mad Dog's intel? And this is Manehattan, we're talking about! If ANYPONY from the MPD sees you, you're done for."

"What choice do we have? This is the only solid chance we got if we wanna rescue Fluttershy. Once we find out where the money and ponies go, we'll take down Zodiac," said Patriot.

I sighed, "Fine. We'll board the next train to Manehattan."

I then turned to the mares, "I know what you girls are thinking and I'm just going to say this once: Leave it to the proper authorities. Patriot and I will handle it."

Surprisingly, Twilight and her friends accepted it without any arguments. Their cooperation made me a little suspicious and uneasy but it was good that they're staying out of the way. Patriot and I left the library and headed over to the train station. The station was crowded today. We bought our tickets to the next train ride to Manehattan.

We decided to wait for the train at the station. We didn't say anything to each other and only stood around while the other ponies chatted amongst themselves. Two hours later, the train arrived.

"Just like old times, eh Ranger?" Patriot asked.

I took out my pair of sunglasses from the pocket of my police vest, "Just like old times."