//------------------------------//
// Criminal Acquaintances 
// Story: A War 
// by Comma Typer 
//------------------------------//

Weeks later


"Stop, thief!"
The dark coated figure ran on the Canterlot streets in the cool spring evening, leaping about but always landing on his two paws, dodging revealing streetlights and wet puddles from the rain just minutes before.
Chasing him, several armored guards firing their magical beams at the fugitive.
Those outside gave pause to this criminal show.
"You're not gonna get away this time!"
Up ahead, only less than five paces away, the gate leading outside.
"Close the gate! Close it!"
He jumped.
Gate falling down.
And through the gate he was.
Running on the moat bridge over the river.
Pegasi flew to the other end.
He screeched to a halt, kicking up some dust and dirt.
"Woah!"
Capper whirled his head around, looking at who was behind him.
That side of the bridge covered by unicorn guards.
Each group slowly closing in on him.
"You're under arrest for upsetting the peace!" a pegasus said, walking out of formation and straight at him.
Placed a wing on the cat's chest, pushing him to the bridge's edge.
"Do you understand?!"
Capper smirked, glancing at the rushing river glittering under the moonlight. "Oh, yes, I do understand, officer. Just give me one moment to take a swim."
"A swim?!"
Capper fell back, off the bridge.
"Get him!"
Pegasi flew to the river.
Unicorns shot beams at the fleeing cat.
Capper merely swam, hissing as he went and dodged the remaining rocks and boulders on the wet way.
Then, waterfall.
He fell.
The pegasus officer hovered above the cliff, staying a safe distance away from the grassy plains and hills so far down. Some lights were in the distance, indicating bits of civilization in those patches of land.
"He plunged down the waterfall!" a cadet said, scrambling to his side.
"Thank you very much!" the officer shouted, slapping him on the head. "Survey the area! That cat may fall squarely on his paws, but he can't run far!"
The little pegasus squad descended the cliff, scouting the location with squinting eyes.
However, hiding behind the waterfall, standing on a rocky thin ledge while getting his black coat soaked.
"I am not getting in that cold liquid after this!" he said, shivering, shaking the water out of his fur.



The night drew on, yet the remotest and faintest sounds of orders and commands persisted in the horizon.
Capper sat on a tree branch, indulging in some of the berries he held. He looked over a flowing river, rough and bumpy like the one he had fallen into. Surrounding him were trees and more trees—a forest with a sparkling river that cut through it.
He could hear the crickets and the beetles chirping, the owls hooting, and a row of ducks quacking. Meanwhile, a rabbit scampered on the ground below, hurrying to another bush.
"If only I had some acquaintances around these parts," Capper said. "Too bad nobody's here. Gotta make the trek alone. Then, what? They'll be searching for me ten days straight."
Rustlings.
He looked behind.
Trees bending ever so slightly under this new gust.
Including his.
He grabbed the branch he sat on.
Climbed up to another branch, higher.
Held on.
The wind's rustling and bending stopped, trees going back aright.
Capper cupped his ear toward the source of that upset.
Another set of orders and commands.
"This isn't good at all," he said to himself, eyeing the tree beside him.
Heard rolling sounds.
"Wait a minute. Since when did the guard thought wagons—"
"New supplies go there!" yelled a female voice. "Mullet and Spittle, forage for extra food! If you find anything valuable, report here immediately!"
"Aye, aye, captain!" two voices cried out.
Capper gasped, holding himself steady around many leafy branches. "Pirates! What timing."
"Boyle and Squabble, you stay with me and guard the ship!"
"Aye, aye, captain!" another voice shouted back.
A squawk! was heard among them.
"OK," Capper went on, whispering to himself while tapping his chin, "there's five of them. At least one of them is a parrot—I might be dealing with a notorious all-parrot crew. I have to get this right: one wrong word and I'll be running from the authorities and the outlaws."
He hopped down to the ground.
The rabbit zipped away from his bush, jumping to another nearby.
Capper walked past some trees, then hid before the last one.
At a wide opening, an enormous airship had just landed. Stakes were tied by rope to the wooden brown hull. The deck contained several crates, barrels, boxes, and treasure chests. The blue fins on the sides at the back were deflated, shrunk down. The yellow envelope was shaped to look like a bird's beak at the front; it was sustained by a wooden frame below it.
Patrolling the airship were three parrot-like creatures standing on their thin yet sturdy feet. A burly one walked around with crossed arms, wearing a bandanna, shoulder guards, and a right hook instead of a right hand. Another one wore goggles, a false beak, and two life preservers around his long neck. Finally, a white parrot sported a large earring, a wooden green leg, and a large fancy and black pirate's hat.
She was brandishing a sword.
Capper combed his hair with a paw. "Keep it cool, keep it cool."
He walked on to the opening.
Another gust of wind blew by.



In the fragrant yet messy mess hall, food on the long table.
It was a hodgepodge of food. Oats, grains, peanuts, seeds, and berries, with a tiny bowl of worms wriggling about.
Five parrots and one cat in attendance. The other pirates were as follows: a chubby pink one with an apron and a stout green one wearing an eye-patch over his right eye.
At the walls was a similar hodgepodge of items. Shelves of additional plates and mugs and utensils, maps of places in and out of Equestria—those latter maps depicting regions such as the Bone Dry Desert, Ornithia, and Last Muigh. Other things included scrolls, letters, and shelves of treasure.
Those treasures were diverse and varied. Piles of gold coins, watches laden with silver, bracelets and necklaces comprised of rare jewels, boxes of glimmering diamonds, perfumes and potions in thick glass bottles and flasks—this is not mentioning the other relics and less-than-legal keepsakes like keys, quills, silk, spices....
At the far end of this measly dining room, beside such treasures and more maps, was a painting of the captain herself. There she was, donning her sole earring, her big hat, and that confident smile—all before a background of infinite blue sky and infinite fluffy clouds.
"So," the captain spoke right after gulping down some peanuts, giving Capper an aloof air, "why should we keep you here again?"
Capper laid open his paws, putting on a calm smile. "I'm taking refuge in your ship. You see, I'm branded a suspect of multiple crimes in the high capital of Equestria."
"And, you did those crimes," she said.
Every eye was on him now, pausing their dinner.
"Nothing to hide," he replied, holding up his paws as if in self-defense. "I did some, if not most, of the felonies they accuse me of...which is why I was so glad to see fellow partners in crime, even if we're in different areas of expertise."
The eye-patched pirate looked around, getting the attention of his fellow companions. "Uh, we'd like it if you called us 'swashbuckling treasure hunters' and not...'partners in crime'."
"Birds of a feather flock together, as they say," Capper said, "so, I am calling upon your services to take me to wherever you're going."
The pirates exchanged glances and looks with each other.
The captain turned to Capper. "We are headed for Sortmores."
Capper raised his brows and clasped his front paws on the table, twiddling his digits, smiling again. "Brilliant."



The McIntosh Hills had a misleading name. While Appleloosa was a train trip away—a long train trip, but still one trip, nonetheless—what made up these "hills" weren't hills at all but full-blown mountains of their own. Over here, a few adventurous hikers were doing their best to climb the highest of the bunch despite the harsh conditions of facing a desert at the bottom half and a frostland at the upper. To these bold ponies, the mountain was not a challenge but merely an obstacle to overcome.
If one would follow that lone railroad, it would lead to a station at the foot of a mountain there, occupied by two ponies—one awake, the other asleep on his rocking chair, complete with badge and credentials on his vest.
Beside the train station was a little kiosk where a tour guide was stationed, too, not to mention asleep as well. That kiosk had a sign beside it, proclaiming him as "the absolutest pony who could definitely help you take on your fear of heights and achieve your dreams of conquering your deepest dismays: mountains!"
There was not much else going on for that piece of land. A train station, a kiosk, and a railroad.
But, the railroad did not end there.
It went past the train station and entered the McIntosh Hills themselves—or, rather, the McIntosh Mountains.
The tracks went through a valley of steep sierras, even great cliffs at times. They were ominous, providing the railroad overarching shade from the sun. The wind roared, throwing up pebbles and little rocks and dust but no life except for the occasional weed.
As one went farther down the tracks, it became less arid, although the heat did not let up. The mountains were slowly replaced with only cliffs, and plants began to proliferate—plants of a tropical nature.
Ahead, there was a jungle untouched by any serious pony settlement. The domain of whatever animals may lurk there, it stood alone.
Right before it, though, the cliff on the left had a large passageway laden with dry sand. It did not touch the ground, and it was so high up that creatures who could not fly could also not traverse this path.
This passageway was also big enough for an airship.
That airship floated above the sand, its fins open and letting it glide.
Capper was on the deck, standing at the railings.
Straight ahead was the end of the path. Though far away, he could see that desert-like ground once again.
"Good. These pirates know how to keep their word. Let's see if they know how to keep it for long. If not..."
Clunky steps behind him.	
Capper turned around, wearing a smile and a surprised attitude. "Captain Celaeno! I was just wondering about you."
"I was wondering about you, too," Celaeno said, sword in holster. "I wasn't expecting you checking out each and every part of our ship."
"I only know half of your ship, captain," Capper replied, gesturing with a nonchalant leg. "It's won't be useful to me and my friends if we want to steal it, anyway."
He hung his head.
"But, I'm a lone cat, so it'd be sorta' difficult to get it off of your talons, anyhow."
Celaeno walked up to him.
Both of them stood at the edge of the railings.
Feeling the cool breeze, refreshing them from the baking warmth of an advancing day.
"What are you transporting, anyway?" Capper asked. "I mean, besides the usual pirate stuff."
"Things like dragon's toenail," she said. "Rare flowers supposed to be held up in museums or big greenhouses. To put it simply: spell ingredients."
"Mm-hmm." Capper raised a paw to his chin. "Looks like unicorns want your wares these days. What kind of spells do they want to pull off?"
"The dangerous kind," she said, forming a little frown as her voice became cautious. "I'm talking about the kind that could change a pony's cutie mark on a whim, the kind that could banish anyone to anywhere you want—that kind of spells."
"Surely, you have your limits, don't you?" Capper said, adding one more sly smile. "It's not like you'd allow somepony to tamper with the world by changing up its foundations, would you?"
Celaeno shook her head, that frown becoming agitated. "No. We're here to live off exciting adventures, not to risk the whole world falling apart."
"Oh?" Capper looked at her with interest. "That's the appeal of a pirate's life to you?"
"Yes," was her short reply.
Capper kept up that smug smile, his whiskers being the cherry on top for it. "Do you want to know why I do what I do?"
She looked back at him. "It's more than to make a living, right?"
"That and more, for, you see, I've been going solo for a long while, but...you've heard the talks, the rumors going around when the Crystal War started up."
She pursed her lips. "What about it? You mean about the Equestrian Guard?"
Capper nodded his head, crossing his arms. "Talk about them turning to us 'bad folk' when they're desperate enough. Let me tell you: it's been a year and I still haven't met a con who didn't have even an indirect connection to one of them whether by accident or not."
It was Celaeno's turn to hang her head. "Just what I feared. I tried to stay away from them for a while. I thought they were the exceptions."
"They still are," Capper said. "Goes to show you how many they got to round up for a new swing of fighting. All the while, without them knowing, there's dozens upon dozens of so-called lowlifes who get rich off of their fighting because they end up funding both sides. Sombra's OK with it—it's not like he's the type to care about us." He chuckled. "The Princesses...they're cracking down on it, but it's hard when you've got a war on your hooves—don't you agree?"
Celaeno tilted her head a little, giving him a suspicious look. "But, how do you justify always jumping to the winning side? What we do, it doesn't lead to casualties unless it gets really bad."
Capper turned his back on her. Then, he turned around again. "It's the freedom."
She looked confused, though kept her watch on him.
"Can't stay tied down to one, captain. It's about seeing how it all goes down. Stay on the move—once you have a friend or a whole nation trusting you, you have to trust them, too, and they want you to stay...but, I know they'll not remain first for long. I have my own interests, my own ambitions, and I'm not gonna let something as petty as mutual trust bog me down in the dumps."
"Then, how am I supposed to trust you?" the captain asked, pointing at him.
"You outnumber me five to one," he said. "Like I said, I'm a lone cat, and didn't you listen to what I just said?"
Celaeno kept that suspicious look.
Beside the airship, those worn cliffs.
"Another thing I always make sure of," Capper said, holding on to the railings: "never, ever, get into a debt. Heard too many stories for my good on that one."
Celaeno let off a chuckle of her own.
As the airship sailed on in the wind, approaching the badlands on the other side of the path.