The green flame bubble burst and I gradually got my bearings. I was lying on a deck of some kind. The sounds were different from the ship I had been on. There were some ponies standing around me, and a griffin too. One of the ponies was asking me something.
“Are you alright?” she said “I’m Captain Shimmer and I understand you had a negative encounter with one of my associates”
“Where is Flash?” I asked
“Right here” he said. He was standing with the others.
“Alright” I said “before you start explaining yourself and your actions, let me tell you what I know and you can fill in the blanks”
“This will be interesting” said the griffin
“Quiet” said Shimmer “Gilda, you and Dusty have patrol tonight. Flash would you take the helm, I think I need to have a private talk with …
“Com Hurri” volunteered Flash “the detective”
Shimmer escorted me to her private cabin. A modest room with charts and the typical stuff any pony might find in a Captain’s cabin.
“I’d offer you tea, but I think you might want something stronger to clear you head” offered Shimmer
The rum tasted sweet. “Captain Shimmer is it?”
“Yes, detective” she said “or should I call you Com Hurri?”
“Either” I said
“I hope you didn’t compromise our operation” she said
“I don’t think so, but I thought it was an investigation of Captain Capella” I said “as in Acapellla the siren”
“Yes, but that is only a small part of this” she said “What else do you know?”
“Why don’t you tell me?” I asked
“Because you said you would go first” she responded
“Oh, right” I said and remembered that I did. “Okay, I said I would start. So we are on an airship following Captain Capella and the flagship of the White Star line, so I should run for the railing and try to jump off.”
“Yes” she said
“Your associate, teleported Flash Sentry here when he compromised her investigation of Captain Capella” I said
“Yes” she said “she has a tendency to panic and make stupid mistakes”
“She seemed pretty smart to me, impersonating me to conduct her own investigation while knowing my agenda, unless” I suggested
“Unless” she parroted
“Unless she is part of a team and her smarter half helped her” I said
“Yes” she said
“She also had me find Fortinos and discover that I had a double aboard on purpose to misled me even more” I said
“Yes and no” she said “my team used your accidental discovery of Fortinos to our favor”
“You and your team are not investigators” I said “you’re?”
“Spies” she offered
“Spies?” I asked
“More to the point, counter spies” she said “we find out stuff and protect Equestria”
“So that is why Flash is now working with you?” I asked
“Yes” she said
“So when are you going to fill me in on the rest of the blank spots?” I asked
“After you tell me the rest of what you know” she said
“Like what?” I asked
“Like there are no accidental meetings and that you know who the changeling is?” she said
“Fortinos came to me” I said “and for discovering the identity of the changeling, the photos in my local paper, of the Canterlot wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza / Shining Armor and the party guests told me that. Some pony was very conspicuous by her absence.”
“We were afraid that might happen” she said “but so far only you have seen it. You should feel very special that only you saw through it, even Flash doesn’t know”
“And you would like to keep it that way?” I asked “so you are going to throw me into the sea?”
“Yes, we would like to keep her identity a secret from Flash and no we are not going to throw you into the sea.” She said “you have already shown we can keep your confidence about this”
“Okay, so what is the real danger to the ship?” I asked
“An iceberg” she said
“But the ship will see it and turn away” I said “I know Captain Capella would not try to sink even though he is a siren”
“Oh, so you also found out he is a siren?” she said “but I also do not believe he is trying to sink the ship”
“Is that why some mysterious patron is paying for Trixie to have her fireworks every night off the bow of the ship?” I asked “To make the iceberg more visible?”
“It is a little thing I can do” she said
“How do you know?” I asked “How can you be so sure about the iceberg?”
“My name is Sunset Shimmer, oh, I see you know the name” she said “you know that Sunset Shimmer was once a student of Celestia, that she left Equestria and went to another world, only to return, and steal an element of harmony from Twilight Sparkle. What you don’t know is that I am not that Sunset Shimmer, I am the Sunset Shimmer of that other world who moved to Equestria, and now calls it my home.”
“So that gives you special knowledge about the future?” I asked
“No” she said “it just gives me special knowledge about a possible future for this world that has already happened in my world”
“That must be difficult to explain” I said
“Yes” she said “that is why I know your ship is in extreme danger from an iceberg”
“So when will it happen?” I asked
“I don’t know” she admitted “only that on her maiden voyage, the unsinkable flagship of the White Star line collided with an iceberg and that less than 800 survived”
“But there are almost 3000 aboard” I stammered “is this why your airship has been following us?”
“Yes, there is no guarantee that the event will reoccur” she said “but there is no reason not to”
“Reoccur!” I shouted “this is our world, it hasn’t happened yet, we can stop it”
“You think so?” she asked with a tear hanging in her eye
“Yes, I bet my life that your changeling would send me here to Flash and not to a watery grave” I said “I’ll bet we can stop this from happening here”
Lightning Dust’s knock upon the door of Captain Shimmer’s cabin knocked it off its hinges.
“Captain Shimmer, I’ve seen it” said Dusty
“Have they?” she asked
“No captain” said Dusty “they are not turning”
“What! We have to warn them” said Shimmer
“Yes” I said “I have to warn them”
“You?” asked Shimmer
“Captain Capella trusts me” I said “send Flash with me”
“I’m not that good at teleporting” said Shimmer “Flash will have to fly there”
“Okay” I said “now hurry, they don’t call me Com Hurri for nothing”