//------------------------------// // Chapter 128 - Captain Capper // Story: Dadonequus Discord (Book 2) // by CrazedLaughter //------------------------------// Capper had to take a few steps back as the crusaders were excitingly hopping about him, wanting to ask questions. Christ, does the guy really exude that much charm? He must, considering how close he was to selling off Twilight and the others before… Ooohhh, maybe that’s why he named the ship the ‘Redemption Ark’, yeah, makes sense now. “Woah, woah, hey now, let’s all calm down. Wow…” Capper said with a cool chuckle. “Quite a little fan club you got here, Anon. They all your marefriends or something?” “What?!” The three of them exclaimed, making them stop in their enthused hopping about.  Scootaloo stuck her tongue out in disgust. “That is totally not what we are. We’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders. And er…” Suddenly, to Scootaloo, things didn’t seem too cool anymore after that comment. “Why did we get excited again?” “Well, look at this ship! Look where we are! We’re like Cutie Mark Pirates now!” Sweetie said with an excited hop as she shrugs off Capper’s comment. “And Anon said this guy is Capper. My sister, Rarity, said Capper was ‘high class’ and ‘debonair’. She even called him cool, and she never really says that about anypony… Well, she doesn’t use the word ‘cool’ anyway. I wanted to ask him if he’s been on any exciting or romantic adventures! Like in those books.” “Sister? Rarity? Oooooh.” Capper said as he brought a paw to his face and chuckled. “Why didn’t I see it before? I should have known you were Rarity’s sister. But maybe I just thought it was impossible for two ponies to exist who look so perfect.” Capper said with a wink. CAPPER, YOU FOOL! THESE ARE IMPRESSIONAB- Too late, Sweetie Belle just started to melt as she blushed in surprise. She just looked up at him, soft and shaky in her voice, and said. “You think I look p-p-perfect?” “‘Course I do. Though, that’s not to say your two friends here aren’t perfect in their own way either. Let’s see…” Capper said as he tapped his foot on the ground, rubbing his chin with his paw hand before pointing at Applebloom. “You have a voice similar to Applejack, so you gotta be her sister. I better be careful around you then, you have to be strong enough to tear this entire ship to shreds. I don’t got to worry about that, right?” Capper said, with a cool tone as he falsely complimented Applebloom’s physical strength. “E-erm… No, no.” Applebloom said as she blushed, looking shyly away. “I wouldn’t say ahm that strong though. Erm, but I am pretty strong. A-ahm Applebloom.” Capper snapped his fingers and pointed at her with a gentle smile. “Good to meet you, Applebloom. Ah, then there’s you. You look faster than any lightning bolt. Let me guess, you’re Rainbow Dash’s sister, am I right?” He asked as he looked over to Scootaloo. “S-sister?” Oh god, even Scootaloo was blushing. Holy shit, what was this guy doing?! “Well… No, but I am a really good friend of hers! And I’m her biggest fan!” “Well, doesn’t look like there’s much difference to what I thought then.” Capper said with another wink. And just like that, even Scootaloo looked like she was suddenly into him. Ok, this had to stop. You couldn’t just pull him aside either, as the girls would probably just fucking snap your goddamn neck for berating their new love interest. So, you do what you do best. You slap your horn on your head and place Capper and yourself in a pocket dimension, the same one that made everything blue, with time stopping. “Ok, oooook, you’re making me sick now. What are you doing, Capper?” “Uh, I should ask you the same question.” Capper said as he looked around, leaned down towards the girls, and waved his paw in front of them. He got no response from the girls, as they seemed frozen in place. “But I’m gonna take a guess this has got to do with your magic. Alright, that’s cool, so what’s on your mind? You already seemed bothered about something. You’re not jealous, are you?” Wow, he was taking this all without looking the least bit scared or confused. He was probably only calm because you yourself weren’t having a freakout at the sudden changes around you.   “Jealous?!” Holy fuck, where did he get off?! You weren’t jealous, you just didn’t need the girls falling for or idolizing the guy on YOUR visit with YOUR friend… Or friends in this case, since Capper was here for some reason. “I’m not jealous! I just don’t need you putting on the smooth moves on my friends. Look at them, Capper, they're blushing! You made them blush! Do you know what that means?!” Capper just starts laughing, putting his hands to his knees before walking over to you and mussing your mane with his hand. “Anon, is that what’s gotten you all shook up? Well, I guess I know how you are on your offtime, that’s for sure. Relax, I’m just putting on the ole’ ‘Capper’ charm and making them feel more comfortable. I don’t know if you noticed or anything like that, but those three looked like they just fell out of the sky, and I’m not talkin’ about in a romantic sense.” Did he just imply that you were stressed and uptight?! No, no, he just didn’t seem to understand the situation he just fucking created! “Capper, these three, especially Sweetie Belle, are highly impressionable. They are way too young to be falling in love with you, and I highly doubt you know how to handle them.” “Just because I’m a cat doesn’t mean I don’t understand puppy love. Reeeeelax.” Capper said as he reached over and gave the shoulders of your forelegs an admittingly gentle and relaxing rub. “You need to chill out, Anon, I know the score. Just watch, everything is going to be alright.” He said sweetly as he turned around, took a few steps back, and looked back at you with a sleazy grin. “Still say you’re jealous though.” “I’m not jealous!” You say with an aggravated hop. “I have a marefriend and she thinks I’m the best! Got it?! I’m adorable, strong, magical, cool, amazing, and everything else! If I wanted to, I could have a mountain of mares piling onto me whenever I wanted! Oh, and I can be charming too. I have charm coming out the wazoo!” “I bet you do. Makes no difference to me anyway, Anon, I just call it the way I see it. If you say I’m wrong, I’m wrong. I don’t think it's worth you losing your cool like that just because I got three fillies into me so hard they pretty much ran right on top of you to come get some of me.” Capper said, his voice so smooth you couldn’t even tell if he was being arrogant. Still, what the hell?! “Are you messing with me?! Are you trying to piss me off or something?!” Oh, he was really asking for it now. You were getting so mad that your face actually started to turn red with growing fury. But Capper just chuckled, pointed his fingers towards you, and nodded. “That’s exactly what I’m doing, Anon. Just poking some fun, having a laugh. So relax, ok? Play it cool. Like I said, I know the score, but I’m still me, I’m always going to do what I do. As for them, they still gotta meet Tempest and Grubber too. I promise whatever feelings they got will blow over by the end of the day. Trust me. But you gotta relax, no one likes a party pooper.”  G-guh! S-so he was just fucking with you. Fuck, you only really knew him from your adventure, you didn’t know how things would go on a more casual setting. He, uh, he really got you good. Your anger quickly subsides as you just slump to the floor. “Geez, I’m not that uptight, am I?” “Nah, you’re just out of your element. Gotta say though, pretty nice of you to show up. Not even for my sake.” Capper said as he went over to the steering wheel to give it a tap. Nope, won’t even budge. Not for his sake? Wait, was something wrong? “What do you mean? What happened?” “Just a little something with Tempest. I don’t know if you know this, Anon, but this gig we’re on is pretty much how I came up with the name of this ship. We’re travelling the world, letting everyone who was under the Storm King know that he’s gone for good. But, well, y’know how it is with these type of things.” Capper said as he removed his captain’s hat and looked upon the frozen horizon, his cool demeanor finally breaking into a melancholic one. “Some places recognize who she is, call her out, and sometimes, it even gets ugly. Tempest is a tough mare, she just powers on through as is, but even I can tell she’s hurting bad. I’m sure you can already guess what I’m going to say next, right?” Capper said as he looked over to you. Yeah, if she was down, then that meant you, and everyone, had to cheer her up. “I do, and you can bet your butt I’m going to cheer her up. Tch, people just don't understand who she is. But I do, and I ain't gonna let her down.” Should have known that was going to happen though, it seemed obvious enough. Damn, if you hadn't been so focused on Chrysalis, maybe you'd have thought to come here sooner. “Good to hear, Anon, good to hear. But er…” Capper’s ears began to fold as his eyes began to dart around. “Now, this time I don’t mean it in any mean way. But what’s with the shackles? You alright?” Shit! The shackles! Goddamn these things! Mmmm, no, this was not the time to just dump this kind of information. You didn’t need things to get heavy. “Erm, just don’t ask, Capper. Seriously, it’s just something I gotta deal with back home.  “Hear you loud and clear, Anon. I’ll just pretend they aren’t there. Speaking of there, or here really. You mind getting us back to not here? Things are feeling a little spooky now.” Capper said as he began to feel uneasy about the unsettling aura of the pocket dimension. “Right, right. Ok, let me get that fixed up.” You say as you use your magic to make everything normal again. “There we go.” “Mr.Capper.” Sweetie said, continuing on as if nothing happened. “Can I ask you a…” But she blinked when she noticed he wasn’t in front of her anymore, instead a few ways off, as if he had just instantly teleported. “What the? Did you just warp or something?” “Nope, I’m just your typical cool cat. So smooth sometimes I just slip on through without anyone noticing.” Capper said, amused by the fact that girls looked rather confused by his sudden movement, playing it off as if he himself made an unknown slide. “Wow, ah didn’t even know cats could do that.” Applebloom said, just utterly amazed by it. She then looks to Sweetie and asks. “Can Opal do that?” “I, er, don’t know. Maybe? Eh, probably not, she’s not really the ‘smooth’ type.” Sweetie answered. While sure about her answer, she did have to wonder if Opal could teleport in some way. "Could always try putting sunglasses on her and see what happens. Maybe it'll make her cool enough." "Ah guess that could work." Applebloom nodded. Scootaloo just walked back to your side, her eyes fixated on Capper. “Anon, why didn’t you tell us about Capper? He’s so cool!” You were about to be a dick and say ‘But you just met him!’. But just like Capper said, you had to play it cool. Relax, Anon, you got this handled. “Well, I didn’t realize he’d be on the ship. But Capper is pretty cool. He pretty much helped me out back when the Storm King was invading. If I knew he was here, I’d have mentioned it.” “Oh. Well, I’m seeing what you meant about your friends and life and stuff. I really didn’t think you had friends like this outside Equestria. I just thought it was Chrysalis, really. You’re awesome!”  Scootaloo said as she finally looked at you, smiling. “Huh? Erm, what makes you say that?” Now you were being complimented? And did she really think you were just all about Chrysalis? No, that wasn’t it. It’s just, well, she’s a big focus.  “Because, every time, just about every time, we always find out about something new and amazing that you’re doing. Or being able to meet your cool friends, like Capper, is amazing too! I really don’t get why anypony gives you a hard time sometimes. It’s like, I don’t know, but it’s like even Twilight has a problem with you sometimes, and I just don’t get why anymore. I mean, ok, nopony really likes Chrysalis… I… Er… Well…” Scootaloo began to feel a little nervous. She also didn’t like Chrysalis, and she knew it would be rude to say something bad about her now, so she tried to just push the conversation along. “Anyway, what I want to say is that no matter what, even with this whole Chrysalis thing, I got your back so much that I guess I can even have hers. You’ve changed, Anon, I see it. You’re more honest, and nice, and cool. And, well, we hang out so much, I really do feel like your partner sometimes. We’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders, we’re friends, and we’re partners, all in one! And I really do mean it, one hundred percent, that I got your back, no matter what happens! And I hope you got mine, because I trust you, Anon.” Oh, that really is heavy. Though it wasn’t anything you haven’t heard before. It warmed your heart, and pretty much solidified that if Scootaloo was willing to go as far as accept Chrysalis, then it meant that she probably, and just probably, had your best interests in mind better than the other two, and would help you without the sass you’d get from them as well. Essentially it meant that if you needed Scootaloo to be proactive in your own pursuit to reform Chrysalis, you felt she would oblige you. “Of course, Scoots. We’re friends, and you can bet that if anypony tried anything on you, I’d freakin’ tear them to pieces.” “Literal pieces?” Scootaloo asked, a little mortified, but curious. The answer she got from you was a simple nod, which made her flinch and feel safe at the same time. “Ah, oh, thanks. I uh, I just don’t want to see it happen when you actually do it. Or maybe you could maybe not do that and just do something less scary?” You got what she meant. You could be a smartass and just suggest slicing off the limbs, but you knew she still wouldn’t go for it, or it'd just make her find you creepy. “Ok, ok, I’ll just rough em up a little. That fine?” Scootaloo nods. “Yeah, just enough to teach them to not mess with us.” Scootaloo then began to trail her eyes away a tad as she noticed the steering wheel. She had an itch, and it was starting to fester quickly. “Erm, Anon, do you think Capper would let me try steering the ship for a little bit?” You shrug. “I mean you can just… Oh no.” You slap your forehead as you noticed Sweetie Belle was just staring at Capper with half lidded eyes, sighing gently as Capper himself was explaining to her and Applebloom about the ship itself. “What?” Scootaloo asked, tilting her head in confusion as she looked to where you were staring. And yeah, she saw it too as she gagged. “Oh come on! I know that look. Did she seriously fall for Capper?! I-I mean, he’s ok, but he’s no Rainbow Dash.” She said with a slight blush. “Yeah, I don’t think she cares about Rainbow Dash in the way you’re thinking.” Ogh, you knew it, you just knew it. But her, of all ponies, her?! How did she fall for him that easily?! That is some deep shit you knew wouldn't be gone by the end of the day. “...So Tempest pretty much made me captain since I managed to get such a good trade. I don’t want to brag but, y’know, it’s me. The guy who gave us this ship was willing to make the trade as long as Tempest’s was a real deal command ship from the Storm King.” Capper said with a shrug. “Dunno what’s so important about making a museum of a bunch of fallen kingdoms, but I wasn’t gonna argue it neither. Got the ship, the renovations, and all the doodads without needing anything extra. Pretty sweet deal, but of course being a captain ain’t sunshine and lollipops. Gotta keep my eyes out for any of the Storm King’s remnant forces. They ain’t no big though, just a bunch of thugs who didn’t get the memo on their king. And since they're so split up, it ain’t too hard just clearing em out. Well, Tempest usually does that part mostly, but I’m not bad with a cannon, specially at night. Y’know, being nocturnal and all.” Capper said as he tugged gently at his coat, smirking, before walking over to his steering wheel and giving it a gentle pet. “Yup, the Redemption Ark is my baby at this point. And my home too, since I don’t really have a reason to go back to Klugetown right now.” Sweetie just sighed, looking at him longingly as she whispered. “He’s so cool, and romantic.” But Applebloom, she did have a question related to the name of the ship itself. She found the name a little odd, and wanted to find out its meaning. “But Mr. Capper, why is it called the Redemption Ark? You mentioned what ya’ll are doin’, going around and tellin’ everypony they ain’t under the Storm King no more. So. did you name it that because of Tempest? Or do ya mean something else?” Capper flinched for a moment on that question. But he was quick to catch his cool as he did a quick point towards Applebloom, winking at her. “Good question, little lady, good question. It’s a little hard to reminisce about, but the past is the past. See, it isn’t just about Tempest, it’s about everyone who did some bad things, and wants to make amends.” Sweetie Belle suddenly broke from her trance, as she realized what he meant. “Do you mean what happened when you first met my sister and her friends? She told me about that. I-I don’t think it was that bad… Well, I mean, I don’t think it makes you that bad if you were sorry.” Capper grimaced, then hunched over as he felt overwhelmed by his past sins. His cool demeanor had finally been broken. He just takes the wheel and looks forward, carefully guiding the ship as he spoke. “Oh, I was bad, plenty bad. I stole, I made bad deals, tricked anyone I could use, and well, when it comes to your sisters and their friends, tried to sell them off. Always felt I had a good excuse: 'Times were tough', 'no one could be trusted', 'everyone was out for themselves'. Y’know, the excuses that don’t mean a thing. Then they showed up, and showed this cat the magic of friendship.” Capper then let out a chuckle as he looked over to you. “Then I met Anon. Wasn’t the best of times when I did meet him, but we became friends real quick, something I didn't mind considering the things he was saying to me before that happened. I don’t know if you girls know this about him, don’t know if he’s ever shown that side of himself, but the kinds of threats he makes are the kind he can make into a reality.” Capper said, his legs buckling just a tad as he felt his butt tighten. “And I am really glad I became his friend when I did, because one of his threats was something not meant for kitten ears.” “Anon? That scary? Are you sure? What did he say he’d do to you?” Scootaloo asked, as she never thought of you being THAT scary. Especially enough to scare someone like Capper. “Lets just say-” But before Capper could say it, you decide to cut him off and just lay it down. Heh, scary eh? Well, you did want to let them all know that you could be as badass and scary as you are nice. Capper's words gave you the idea that despite them being your friends, you could use a little of that notoriety street cred with them as well. Specially with Sweetie Belle, who you felt adding a little fear might make her think twice if she ever decides to insult you again. “I said I’d shove whatever I thought he was going to be paid with through his mouth and out his butt. And I was serious too.” You give everyone a dark and foreboding glare. “Deadly serious. And you all know I can do it too.” Everyone flinched. Haha! They flinched, they looked at you with horror, they actually stepped back. Capper gulped. “Yeah, that was it. Er, not really what I’d say is appropriate to say right now. But yeah, that is really it.” But then, suddenly it just dawned on him. He himself never actually got a chance to see how the Storm King was defeated. Even more so, he wondered if you had done anything to him after he was beat. Capper, just remembering your fury from his first meeting with you, couldn’t shake the feeling that you must have done something to the Storm King after all the threats he had heard about. “Though, that got me thinking. What happened to the Storm King after he got turned to stone? If I remember, he just kind of disappeared.” “I er…” Shit! Well, hold on, no one needed to know about the Storm Ravager, especially since you fucking killed him. “I hung his head on my wall. His stone head that is. Had to do something with it after it fell to the ground and shattered.” “Took it as a trophy, huh? Sounds like you, I guess” Capper said with a shrug, surprised that you seemingly went that easy on him considering what you were capable of. He then looked to Scootaloo. He could tell she wanted to ask him something big. How could he tell? Because he just could, he had a thing for reading people. So he just pointed to Scootaloo and called to her. “But hey, let's get back to the questions. Well, actually, how about just one more?” “One more?! But, but, I had so much more to ask!” Sweetie Belle whined. Oh yeah, she had all sorts of questions for him. And knowing she may have just lost her chance to ask him more personal questions just shattered her heart. “I know, I know, and you can still ask them. But we do have two more passengers on the ship who I know wouldn’t mind a hello. It's why you all came here originally, right? As for that question, I’m gonna let her have a shot. In fact.” Capper noticed Scootaloo getting more excited as he pointed to her, and he noticed her eyes darting towards the steering wheel, he knew what she wanted. “Your question is going to be ‘Mr.Capper, can I steer the ship?’. Well of course you can, the skies belong to everyone, and everyone deserves a chance to fly.” He said with a wink Scootaloo was blown away. She ran over to the wheel, then had a double take as she looked back at him, realizing she was answered without saying her question herself. “Wait, how did you know I was even going to ask that? Are you psychic?”  Capper shook his head, then used both his hands to point to himself as he gave her a grin. “Nah, I just have a thing for knowing what others want. And you want to fly. All I ask is that you make all your moves smooth and gentle. Not really afraid of hitting anything since, well…” Capper looked around at the empty skies and chuckled. “Ain’t nothing to hit. But no reason to rock the boat either” “Yeah! Girls, look!” Scootaloo said as she went to steer the ship. “I’m a real airship captain! I’m flying the ship for real!” “Ah! Ah! You ain’t a captain.” Capper said as he walked over to her. “O-oh, erm, well, I mea-Huh?” Scootaloo suddenly went silent when Capper took his captain’s hat and carefully placed it on her head, adjusting it enough so it didn’t sink down and cover her eyes. “Now you’re a captain.” Capper said before he saluted and gave himself a serious tone. “By your command!” Scootaloo choked up a little, and began to cry as she gave Capper a deep hug. “T-thank you.” “Hey, hey, no problem.” Capper said as he leaned down, to give her a more proper hug. He wasn't expecting her reaction to be so strong, but he liked it, he liked that he could make a difference in her life. “No thanks needed. I just want you to enjoy yourself.” “I-I will, thank you, Mr. Capper!” Scootaloo said with a nod, as she took the wheel once more and began to steer, cheering as she did so. While she did her best to be gentle, she was making turns a little tighter than Capper expected, but not hard enough for him to tell her to stop. Scootaloo, heh, she was happy to fly in anyway possible. You weren’t even jealous of Capper making her so happy, you were just happy to see her so ecstatic flying the ship. Capper excused himself as he went to walk to the other side of the ship, to the double doors on the other side that would go below deck to where Tempest and Grubber is. But as he passed by you, you stop him for a moment, and nod towards him. “Hey, Capper. Thanks man, for making Scootaloo happy like that. But how did you really know she wanted to steer the ship?” Capper stopped, smiled gently at you, and whispered. “I saw her looking at the wheel, and I also noticed the wings. She can’t fly, can she?” He said as his expression slowly went to a frown. “Yeah… I… really hope she can one day, though. That’s why I really appreciate what you did right now.” You tell him, looking at Scootaloo as she was having the time of her life. “It’s what I do, Anon. And about her flying, don’t be too worried about it. There’s always more than one way to fly, if you know what I’m saying.” Capper said  “Yeah, I know. Though, I hope it’s still the traditional way.” You tell him. You really hope she can fly one day. Seems bullshit she’d be a cripple forever. “I’m sure it’ll happen in some way. And even if it doesn’t, looks like you can just get her an airship like this one and she’ll be fine.” Capper chuckled before walking off. “Gonna go get Tempest now. So you better be ready to cheer her up.” You nod. Damn right you were ready.