Flutterbreeze observed the high-rises of central Fillydelphia gradually disappear, being replaced by run-down apartment buildings and abandoned factories. An uneasy feeling started to grow in the back of his mind.
This was a part of town he had never been to before, and unfortunately one of Fillydelphia’s roughest districts, so Flutterbreeze kept on his guard with every step he took.
As he started down a small alleyway he instantly knew it was a mistake. He noticed he was being followed by two large stallions, and that they were both armed. They got up close behind him as he walked, bracing himself for the inevitable.
The one on his right raised a bludgeon over his head with intent to strike, but Flutterbreeze caught him by the arm and flipped him over on his back. The other dashed in with his knife, by Flutterbreeze was able to use his own momentum against him, sending him straight into a brick wall.
Several other ponies came dashing in towards him. One was met with a hard buck to the face, while another missed a swing with a baseball bat. Flutterbreeze was still greatly outnumbered, and they had him surrounded, but then a pony he hadn’t noticed yet snuck up behind two goons and bashed their heads together, knocking them out.
In the confusion that followed, Flutterbreeze and this new pony managed to take down the rest of the thugs, temporarily at least. The pony opened a door and motioned Flutterbreeze to follow.
As they ran through an old wrench factory, he noted that this was a grey stallion of roughly the same age. He had a magnifying glass cutie mark, and apparently hadn’t brushed his mane in quite some time.
“Terribly sorry for the inconvenience, old chap!”
“Inconvenience?”
He followed the stallion through more buildings and alleyways as they continued to be pursued by the band of hoodlums. Finally they came to a train station where they were able to hop onto a box car just as the engineers started pulling.
“Well now that we’re safe for the moment, you’re probably wondering why those thugs attacked you, although based on the way you handled them it seems as if you had been expecting that sort of thing. Anyways, they mugged you because they though you were me.”
“They were after you?”
“Yes. They haven’t exactly seen me before, but they set up a trap where they expected me to come. Luckily I was able to see this well ahead of time, but now it seems they think you are me. Aren’t you lucky?”
“Hold on a minute. Who exactly are you? And who were they?”
“Some say I am the greatest detective in all of Equestia. Others say I am a lunatic. Most, however refer to me by my name-”
“Shetland Hames.”
“You’ve heard of me? I suppose it’s understandable. But you, my friend, have become the target of one of the greatest criminal masterminds of this age, thanks to one small coincidence. No doubt he will find you and strike again, but don’t worry, with me on the case you should be... relatively safe.”
“This leaves the question of who you are. No, don’t tell me. Let’s see, a cutie mark in the shape of an envelope or a mailbag. I can only assume that is your profession, but what is this in the middle? Scales? A symbol of justice concealed within the mail, I see.”
‘Certainly didn’t take him long to figure that one out...’
“But what else is there?” Shetland continued examining him. “You have a faint scent of coffee, slightly stronger scent of sewage... Ah, here we are! The scars on you torso are from relatively recent injuries, wounds received by the claws of a large reptile. Based on the angle of this one I’d say you were flying when you were hit, so I can only assume it was by something else that could fly.”
“Yes, it’s all quite clear who you are now! You are a secret agent of some sort who was recently involved in the events at Canterlot. Although you succeeded, you are now tracking down your adversary, the ancient legend known as Xolotl, which is the only decent explanation for why you were poking around that part of town. Now then, all that is left is your name.”
Flutterbreeze was stunned by how much he had deduced from such minor details and whatever knowledge he had previously acquired. “I suppose since there are no secrets left I may as well tell you. My name is Flutterbreeze.”
“Excellent, now Flutterbreeze, it is time for you to get off, but I will be seeing you again soon I’m sure.”
Flutterbreeze looked out the train to see that they had been climbing up the side of a mountain and were now at quite a distance above the ground.
“Don’t worry, I’ll push you off at just the right time so that you will have a soft landing.”
“I can fly.”
“Oh, in that case.” He gave Flutterbreeze a hard shove out the door, who started flying back to Fillydelphia, trying to wrap his head around what had just happened.
‘Didn’t I have enough to worry about before?’