“It was awfully kind of the princesses to rebuild your ship for you,” Capper said to Captain Celaeno as he admired the woodwork.

“She’s not the same ship. I asked for a few improvements: bigger, faster, more cannons, and a thicker hull. We also now have a full galley, and crew’s quarters, enough space for a bigger crew,” Celaeno started, moving the wheel of the ship a quarter to starboard before locking it there. “Of course my ship wouldn't have needed to be repaired if someone hadn't destroyed it.”

Tempest Shadow looked over from her seat on the deck. “I thought you forgave me for that? When Twilight asked you to take me with you?” she asked, seemingly confused.

“I sailed that ship for twenty years, I’m probably gonna be giving you a hard time about it for just as long,” Celaeno bumped Tempest’s shoulder with her fist, smirking. “Also, I forgave you. My crew hasn’t.”

Tempest looked out across the deck and caught several of the pirate crew giving her dirty looks before looking away. “Well they won't have to worry about me much longer. Once we get to Kludgetown, I plan on hitting the road to the Zebra homelands.”

“Actually,” Capper stepped in on the conversation, “if I could borrow your ears a moment, I have a business proposal for the two of you.”

“This had better not be like the time you wanted to commision my ship to run some red sand to Las Pegasus,” Celaeno growled skeptically, crossing her arms and glaring at the cat.

Capper shrugged. “I’ll admit that was a bad idea. But this is nothing like that plan.”

She raised her brow. “How?”

“Because this one is gonna work,” he purred. “As we all are keenly aware, Kludgetown is a slime infested snake den: there isn’t a more wretched hive of scum and villainy in all of Equestria. I purpose that we work to repair that.”

“How so?” Tempest asked.

Capper paused with a very smug look on his face. “We make it the centerpoint of all trade between the north, south, east and west.”

Celaeno frowned in consideration. “That does sound profitable…” she mused, sounding tempted.

“Tempest, with your military background, you could easily run our militia, make the streets a little safer,” Capper continued, deferring to Tempest. “Celaeno, you are already adept at securing cargo, and you know the trade routes, you could be the one to bring in revenue, as well as keep other pirates at bay.”

Tempest frowned, the idea turning over in her mind. “And what do you get out of it?”

“I will be the one who oversees it all. Mayor Capper has a nice ring to it doesn’t it?” he smiled. “Once we have a fleet of ships you can go by Admiral Celeano. Same goes for when we have a sizeable militia, Captain Tempest.” He smartly saluted both officers.

Tempest and Celeano glanced at each other. A small grin slowly trickled up Celeano’s beak. “How do you purpose we start?”

“Having a bit more muscle to back up our words would be a good start,” Capper mused, flicking his tail back and forth. “There is a small gang in the warrens beneath the city; griffons, zebra, molen, even a dragon or two. A Diamond Dog leads them purely on that he has taken his followers in and given them shelter. We take him down, put Tempest in place, after that we plan our next move.”

“It isn’t much of a plan,” Tempest commented.

“We took down the Storm King with less than that,” Capper said with a small smirk at Tempest.

Tempest’s frown deepened, but she sighed. “Let me do the talking, then. If I am gonna lead this band of lowlifes, I want them to trust me.”

“Good idea,” Celeano nodded. “If a crew trusts their leader they can do anything together.”

Tempest looked up at her. “That was sappy.”

Celaneo cringed. “I knew it as soon as I said it.”

Capper cleared his throat. “Perhaps it is best that we get ready to execute the first part to our plan?”

“Got any paint scrapers?” Tempest asked Celeano.

“They’re in the hold. Why?” Celeano said.

“I need to remove the Storm King colors from my armor,” Tempest grunted, glancing at the logos that were still emblazoned on her flanks.

“Shouldn't we shake hooves, claws, and paws?” Capper asked.

“How about we accomplish the first step to our little plan, then we can do that,” Celeano suggested.

Capper shrugged. “Eh, whatever.”

Author's Note

Welcome to the newest adventure featuring a highly unlikely trio. I hope you all enjoy it as I have been working very hard to get it ready. As always check out PonyJosiah13 as he was the one who proofread/edited it.

Drop a like and a kind comment on your way to the next chapter, and enjoy.