Stranglehold
Epilogue
January 13th- 8:12 A.M.
Ranger
MPD (Retired)
Maverick Private Investigator Office, Trottingham
I sat on the office chair at Patriot's desk. It was a quiet morning and the fresh smell of coffee was relaxing. I was looking at pictures while I waited for a customer to either call or come in. One of the pictures I was looking at was a picture of Fluttershy and her friends.
I smiled but not out of happiness but out of sorrow. The poor mare was so traumatized by the events of Operation: Stranglehold and it was all because I failed to perform my job in Ponyville. The only good thing was that I was able to get her back to the safety and comfort of her friends but there were so much unnecessary sacrifices made.
The door opened and the bell rang. I looked up from the pictures and saw a familiar blue stallion with a grey beard and mane enter.
I immediately got up to salute him.
"Chief! Sir, what brings you here?" I asked.
Chief returned my salute.
"I thought I'd just drop by and see how you're doing. How's everything in Trottingham?" Asked Chief.
"Well, it's kinda slow to be honest but things are going great."
"How's the eye?"
"It's… Alright. The doctors aren't able to fix it so I'll just have to deal with it."
"And how are the mares in Ponyville?"
I shrugged, "I- I don't know…"
"You haven't visited them?"
"Not since Operation: Stranglehold. I… Don't want to. It was all my fault."
"No it's not-"
"Chief! I was assigned to protect Fluttershy and what happened? She was ponynapped and she's probably traumatized for life because of that!"
He looked at a picture of Patriot and I, smiling at the camera after I passed Cadet school for the MPD.
"You miss him, don't you?" Asked Chief.
I sighed and nodded my head.
"He decided to stay in Terran… The TLA were clearly outnumbered and it was suicide to stay there."
"He did it for you."
"I know, but we were in on this together! Operation: Stranglehold was supposed to be about rescuing the ponynapped mares and fillies, not to fight Zodiac and his men!"
I shook my head and turned away from Chief.
"For all I know, he's probably in the afterlife now…"
I heard hoofsteps approaching my desk and a loud slam. I turned around and saw a folder on my desk.
"I got a job for you, Ranger," said Chief.
"I'm listening…" I said.
"A mysterious informant handed this to me two days ago. They didn't mention much and were very hasty but they told me to give this to you personally."
I then saw Chief grinning before he turned around to leave the office.
"I'm sure you'll find valuable information for this particular job. Information that'll blow your mind. Good day, Ranger."
Chief then left through the door of my office, leaving me alone with the folder. I opened the folder and inside it was a white piece of paper with lyrics to "Equestria Girls."
"Equestria girls, we're kinda magical. Boots on hooves, bikinis on top."
It was a secret code! I quickly decoded it and when I received the actual message, my jaw dropped.
"Search for me, at last, I'm still alive. Terran Liberation Army."
I quickly closed the shop and tied the grey bandana onto my forehead.
"Hang in there! I'm coming for you!" I said as I trotted off to search for the informant.