A/N: I'm seriously fond of Capper as a character. He has an interesting story that I wish they had brushed up on in the movie. And, you know, the fact that he's a non-pony male character is always cool. Am I the only one that wants to see more guy characters in My Little Pony? I just want more variety in general. That's part of the reason why I'm looking forward to watching season 8, though I am still slightly disappointed that 4 out of the 6 main school kids are girls. Why can't it be an even 3 and 3? Why couldn't the hippogriff be a boy too, as the only hippogriff characters we've met so far have all been girls.
Capper had never been to Equestria before, though he had heard plenty of stories about the place. One tended to hear a lot of stories when living on the streets, and if they were like Capper, who had always dreamed of settling down and not having to fight just to survive, one would take mental notes of the more fantastical places they heard about, just in case the opportunity ever came up to escape to said land.
Equestria had always been talked about in such a way that even though Capper knew that it was real, he couldn't help but think of it as a made-up fantasy land. There were so many stories about Equestria, but they all seemed to agree on how peaceful a place it was. That wasn't to say that Equestria didn't attract its fair share of trouble, because that was probably the second thing that the stories agreed on, but it was peaceful in the sense that the ponies that lived there got along with each other and lived in harmony.
Capper had never really cared for the stories about how friendly and loving the Equestrians were, because he just hadn't believed it. It didn't matter what the species was, there was always going to be some kind of prejudice or dispute going on
Always.
And considering Equestria seemed to have three different species, all extremely powerful in their own way, Capper would have thought it nothing short of a miracle if it turned out to be true that the ponies could all get along with each other without their differences getting in the way.
Needless to say, he was extremely surprised when he not only got the chance to meet several ponies from Equestria, but he got to see that they were all close friends, despite their species. Of course, this surprise was blown right out of the water when Capper witnessed for himself just how kind-hearted and generous the ponies could be. In all Capper's life, he had never met anybody so trusting and gentle. Especially not towards a species that wasn't their own.
Capper had been so touched by the courage and kindness of these little ponies that he had changed his ways to help them. Capper had been a thief and a con-man all his life. It wasn't what he wanted to do, but it was all he knew, and it was what he was good at. Besides, he had learned his lesson about trusting others and wanting to do the right thing. It just ended with you getting stabbed in the back and abandoned by the ones you had trusted.
Capper had accepted that everybody in this life was only out to take care of themselves. That if he wanted something from life, he had to take it. He couldn't just wait for things to be handed to him. But then, those ponies had come along and Capper realized that there were creatures out there who were putting the safety of others above their own. And then there were those pirates, and Princess Skystar, all of them were willing to risk their lives for a couple of strangers, just because of a couple of seemingly meaningless acts of kindness
Maybe there really could be more to life than just watching out for yourself.
It had actually felt pretty incredible to play a part in saving Equestria, and Capper still didn't understand why. It just didn't make sense how he would start to feel all warm inside whenever he thought about how he had put his own neck on the line to help somebody else with a problem that had nothing to do with him. It felt good though, and Capper believed that it was because he felt, no, he knew that it was worth putting himself in harm's way for these little ponies, because they would do the same thing for him.
...at least, he hoped that they would, but he wasn't going to linger on those doubts. It was much nicer to just trust his friends. He had almost forgotten what deep trust felt like.
"Well, you look deep in thought." Capper's ears twitched at the unexpected playful tone, he had thought he had been alone. He turned to see Captain Celaeno coming towards him. "Care to share?"
"I was just thinking about how I never thought I would be here." Capper looked towards the large castle before he went back to looking out over the balcony that he had been leaning against for awhile now.
"Yeah, me neither." Celaeno chuckled and joined him at the balcony. "I've heard a lot of things about Canterlot and Equestria, but I've never actually come here." Their location hadn't actually been what Capper had been talking about, but it was how he had meant for her to interpret his words. While Capper had never been to Equestria before, he found it much more miraculous how he had found himself in a situation where he was starting to think that maybe the whole world wasn't out to get him. However, Celaeno didn't need to know all that, so Capper had left his words cryptic on purpose.
"It's everything the stories said it was." Capper said.
"And more." Celaeno nodded with a smirk. "It's even worse than I thought."
Capper let out a short burst of laughter. Thank goodness he wasn't the only one who had had a less than fantastic experience. "And here I thought that I was the only one who thinks that these ponies should work on their welcoming committee."
"Are you kidding me?" Celaeno's eyes widened playfully. "I've lost track of how many ponies have asked me if I'm some kind of deformed griffin."
"No." Capper groaned, though he knew she wasn't lying. These ponies needed to get out and learn more about the rest of the world. If they didn't even recognize what an Ornithian looked like, then they definitely needed some educating. "Do they also think that griffins are just lions that mutated with birds?" Griffins looked like a mix between a lion and a bird, but they were their own creature. It was just sad how unaware of the rest of the world these ponies were. It was as though they thought they were the center of the universe.
"Yeah, it wasn't fun." Celaeno shook her head. "I had to send Boyle to get supplies before he decided to take it upon himself to 'educate' these ponies."
"I would have paid money to see that." Capper said slyly, because these ponies needed to learn how to respect unfamiliar creatures.
"Honestly, so would I." Celaeno admitted. "But I don't think it would be a good first impression. Just because they're acting like animals doesn't mean that we should." Celaeno shook her head and sighed. "What about you?"
Capper scowled and glared slightly out over the balcony. "...Somebody thought that I was a pet." His fur stood on end at the very thought.
"Are you serious?" Celaeno asked in a quiet, dangerous tone. It made Capper feel slightly better that she understood just why he was bothered by this.
"I'm completely serious." Capper said. "They didn't even ask me, they asked Rarity." They had barely acknowledged him at all, like he wasn't even worthy of being spoken to.
"What did she do?" Celaeno asked cautiously, as though she was afraid to hear the answer.
Capper smirked. "Oh, she gave them a fierce talking to. They looked like they were about ready to crawl under a rock by the time she was through with them."
"Well, at least some ponies have decency." Celaeno huffed. "I can't believe these ponies. Friendship and acceptance my tailfeathers." Capper completely agreed. Apparently ponies were only accepting of creatures that they were familiar with. It was nice to know that there were at least some exceptions, but generally speaking Capper wasn't about to go around befriending any more ponies.
"Rarity told me that they hadn't meant any harm." Capper said. "She said that plenty of Equestrians have pet cats, and that some of the more well off ponies like to have pets that are more 'exotic'."
"I don't care how much they want to show off, a line needs to be drawn somewhere." Celaeno said, and Capper was, once again, relieved that she seemed to share his exact opinions on the matter. "Let's just hope none of these ponies find themselves at Klugetown, or Verko will find himself some prime customers."
Capper nodded in agreement before he realized just what Celaeno had said. "Wait just a second," He looked at her in slight shock. "How do you know Verko?" Capper knew that Verko was well-known in Klugetown, but not really anywhere else. And many of the creatures who did know of Verko only thought that he was a crime-boss. How did Celaeno know about his hobby of buying and selling unique treasures and creatures?
"Before we were forced to work for the Storm King, I was a regular customer of his." Celaeno said. "Whenever we could afford it, I would buy creatures off of him and invite them to join my crew. If they weren't interested, I took them back to their homes."
Capper was stunned. He knew how greedy Verko was, and how hard a time some creatures had to buy even the simplest of beasts from him, because the rat's prices were extremely steep. Capper couldn't believe that Celaeno, who already had a full crew to take care of, would go out of her way to save a stranger from a life of pain and/or humiliation, and she hadn't even expected anything in return. She had just done it because she had thought it was the right thing to do.
Capper wondered for a second if he had just had extremely bad luck in his life up to this point, to not encounter anybody who cared the least bit about anybody else, and then poof, all of a sudden he knows about a dozen of them. Why couldn't his luck just chose something casual and normal, and then stick with it?
"So, what about you?" Celaeno asked curiously, though not in a pushy way. "How do you know Verko?" Capper felt his tail twitch ever so slightly at the question. He didn't like to think about his situation with Verko, and he didn't like telling other people about his business. Still, Celaeno had shared with him, so Capper figured he owed her the same.
"I, uh, may owe him some money?" Capper said as he rubbed the back of his neck.
Celaeno looked unhappy with his answer, though not surprised. "How much?"
If Capper was completely honest with himself, he didn't have a clue. Especially since Verko kept on coming up with new ways to increase his debt. And after the stunt that the ponies had pulled back in Klugetown, he wouldn't be surprised if his debt had doubled. "Let's just say 'a lot' and leave it at that." Capper finally said. Whatever his debt amounted to at this point, it was likely enough that he should probably consider avoiding Klugetown for the next little bit...or forever.
"So I guess you're not really in a rush to get back to Klugetown?" Celaeno asked, though she probably knew that it wasn't a necessary question.
"No, not really." Capper knew that he would likely be in a world of trouble with Verko if he ignored his debt for too long, but he really wasn't ready to accept what Verko had in store for him.
"Do you know where you're going to go, then?" Celaeno asked. Capper opened his mouth to answer when he realized that he didn't know. He hadn't thought of where he would go. He had only ever lived in two places. Abyssinia, and Klugetown. Obviously, Klugetown wasn't an option. He could return to Abyssinia, except he had heard that the kingdom had really suffered after the Storm King had attacked. It had been really tough to live on the streets of Abyssinia in the first place, and that had been with somebody at his side to help him. Now though, when he was by himself and the kingdom was in economic ruin? It wasn't even an option.
"I...don't know." Capper said uneasily.
"Well, my offer still stands." Celaeno said.
"Offer?" Capper tilted his head in confusion.
"You don't remember?" Celaeno smirked slightly. "When I found you and your friend stowing away on the ship that I stole from the Storm King," Capper's chest panged at the memory. Anything that reminded him of his so called 'friend' just hurt. He had to force himself to put those feelings aside and listen to Celaeno's words, because she was still talking. "I invited you two to join my crew. And, as I said, the offer still stands."
Capper looked at the parrot in shock for a few moments. "...are you serious?"
"Absolutely." Celaeno said. "I'm always looking for new crewmates. Especially now, since my crew has been a little short handed."
"Actually, I was wondering about that." Capper frowned slightly. "I thought that there were a lot more than five of you." Capper hadn't thought about his short encounter with the pirates for a long time, but now he was fairly certain that there had been dozens of pirates.
Celaeno sighed. "The Storm King forced us to work for him, but he didn't need all of us on one ship, so he split us up."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Capper's ears tilted back. He didn't know how much Celaeno cared about her crew, but he could hear the pain in her voice. Obviously, it hurt her a lot to be separated from the rest of her crew.
"It's alright," Celaeno took a deep breath. "We'll get them all back again. The question is, do you want to come with us?"
Capper thought for a few moments. He didn't really know if he wanted to be a pirate, but it wasn't as though he had anywhere else to go. Just a few days ago, if Capper had been asked if he would like to be a part of another team, he would have refused without hesitation. He had trusted somebody with his life before, and just look where that got him. Neck deep in debt that he had no hope of ever paying off.
But these had been some very eventful couple of days. Capper had seen for himself that there were creatures out there who would do anything for their friends, for their teammates, and he realized that he wanted that. He wanted that trust and camaraderie. He wanted to be a part of something that was bigger than himself.
He wanted to have friends...real friends who wouldn't betray and abandon him for something better. Friends that he could trust, that would trust him in return.
"Yeah," Capper found himself saying. He met Celaeno's eyes and grinned ever so slightly. "Yeah, I think I do."
Celaeno's eyes sparked. She held out a hand, which Capper accepted with his paw. "Welcome to the crew, Capper."