Chapters Pipsqueak hits the big city.
Pipsqueak. It's as though my parents were trying to get me bullied in school. Not that I cared that much about school anyway. Now I'm not saying I was a troublesome student or was failing classes; I was just never enthusiastic about learning. And with a name like pipsqueak high school was hard enough to sail through without the ridicule. The one thing I was passionate about was music and I swore that once I was done with high school I would head out to make my name in music.
However that all changed one morning.
"Boarding school?!" I exclaimed.
"Oh don't act so upset pipsqueak honey." coaxed my mother.
"Dad, how could you approve this?!"
"Actually son, I'm the one who suggested it." He said. My jaw dropped. " you've got so much potential son. You could be a lawyer, a scientist, or a....."
"A musician?" I asked. Both my parents just stared at me in awe.
My mother chimed up first; "Since when have you been interested in..."
"Um ever since I began playing the drums." I exclaimed as I pulled out a pair of drumsticks from my bag.
"That's not an instrument and it's certainly no way to make a living." My dad stated.
"But dad, if you would just listen to me play..."
"No son we are through. After you graduate next year you are going to canterlot academy and that's final."
"But dad just lis.." I begged.
"NO PIPSQUEAK!" He grabbed the drumsticks out of my hand and snapped them over his knee. I just stood there in shock and as tears began to roll down my face. "You've had your chance to prove you could be responsible. Our decision is final so you might as well accept it."
I just stood there in horror. I glanced over at my mother who wouldn't even look at me. I couldn't believe it. My own parents were sending me away to boarding school. They had just taken all of my dreams of being a musician and locked them in a safe. A safe named canterlot academy. I had seen what that school does to colts. They go in as rebellious young students and come out as soldiers or doctors. I was left with only one option to pursue my dream of music.
So that night I packed a suitcase with the essentials. Clothes, food, money from my parents wallet, and my drumsticks. Then came the tricky part which would be sneaking out past my dad who always stayed up late watching action movies like Colts and Carts or the adventures of Daring Do. So I grabbed my suitcase, put on my black hoodie, and began to creep out my window. Everything went smoothly at first. I closed the window and creeped along the porch roof with minimal disturbance. I slowly rolled my suitcase toward the end of the roof. I paid careful attention that my suitcase didn't make a single sound as I rolled it across the patio roof. I reached the edge of the roof and peered over. Right off the edge of the patio was a group of thick bushes about 6 feet down. I tossed my suitcase and myself over the edge and braced for impact. I heard the impact of the suitcase (which was much louder than I had intended it to be) and waited for my dad to come charging into my room and see me halfway out the window. But, surprisingly, there was no noise moving toward my room. I must have hit a lucky break and dropped it during an action sequence in my dads movie. Let's hope I could be just as lucky again. After making my way down and across the yard I was free. There was no way my parents could have heard anything from my distance. Now hey I didn't leave with no warning. I left a note that said.......
"Dear mom and dad, I've gone off to pursue my dreams. Manehatten, Coltorado, wherever I travel, I'm not coming home until I prove to you that I can do something with my talents. When I do come back though I hope you will accept me back in."
Manehatten. Smelly. Loud. And utter chaos.
I severely underestimated what I was to expect in this city. I had overheard colts at school talking about going on trips to Manehatten in hopes of seeing some of the famous men, women, colts, and mares that have come out of the magnificent city. Soon, I would be one of them.
But for now I was stuck as a nobody wandering through the rain. Thousands of ponies, donkeys, and the occasional griffin passed me like I was nobody; each of them had someplace they had to be that was obviously more important than me. To them I was just a little gutter punk who was nothing but trouble.
"ACHOO!"
"Enough of this" I thought to myself. I wasn't planning on spending my first day of the rest of my life fighting pneumonia.
I quickly searched the line of buildings until I saw one particular building that seemed, well, less run down than the others. As a matter of fact the building was downright luxurious.
The building was beautiful indeed. Light poured from every window. A scarlet red carpet lined the pavement out front. Two colts holding the double doors and, on top, a magnificent penthouse suite which was usually reserved for celebrities or royalty.
"One day" I thought "one day, that will be me in that penthouse and then my parents will fina..."
My train of thought was cut short when all of a sudden I was drenched in a wave of freezing water. My eyes cleared just quickly enough to see a tour bus pulling away with the silhouette of a colt wearing rounded sunglasses shouting something back at me. I was certain that whatever it was; it wasn't pleasant.
Now all my clothes and luggage were soaking wet. I gathered up my soaked belongings and headed toward the hotel entrance. I got a bunch of pretty dirty looks as a walked but nothing that I wasn't used to.
But what happened at the front door was something completely different. When I tried to step inside a gigantic hoof which could have only been one of the two guards that were now behind me. He started to drag me away from the warm light of the hotel back into the cold of the streets.
"What the heck was that for?!" I screamed amongst the rain.
"Sorry punk, only hotel residents allowed." He exclaimed; completely unaffected by the rain.
"How do you know that I wasn't planing on checking in huh?!"
He glared at me through a pair of dark sunglasses. "Trust me, I think we both know you weren't. Now; BEAT IT!!!!" He shouted as he shoved me back into the street and I literally mean the middle of the road.
The last thing I remember seeing was a tall red figure running toward me through the rain.
A bright light. "Am I dead?" I tried to focus. "No, it's hurts to much for me to be dead." My vision started to clear. "Yep, definitely hurts." I let out a groan.
"Oh my god." said a kids voice. "Knuckles, he's waking up!"
"It took long enough." I heard from an approaching man who could be none other than Knuckles. I turned my head to the side and sure enough I saw a red man approaching except it wasn't a man it was a...echidna?
I had read about them in our worlds history class. A group of strange creatures came over to our world 1000 years ago. Echidnas, foxes, rabbits, hedgehogs, and countless others were welcomed into our world from there's which was discovered right next to ours.
Sure enough I was staring, more like squinting as my head hurt, face to face with an echidna.
"It's about time. I've taken worse than that and gotten right back up." He exclaimed.
"Knuckles" the kid said.
"And what's more, why in the heck were you outside bleeding in the rain." He continued, completely ignoring him.
"KNUCKLES!!" Tails stepped forward.
"What Tails?!" He shot back.
I struggled to sit up. The kid Tails whipped around. "Whoa whoa whoa don't push yourself!"
I couldn't help but comply. My legs felt like jello. "Wha-what happened?"
Knuckles scowled "You were an idiot that's what!"
Tails stepped in. "Knuckles over here found you lying on the edge of the road with you leg bleeding out."
"M.y...leg?" Everything was a bit hazy but I looked down and sure enough my left leg had a bandage around the ankle. I tried to move it.
"Sorry." Tails exclaimed "I had to give you a shot to numb the pain. Don't worry I'm a registered nurse."
Knuckles scoffed.
"Th-thanks." I managed to stutter "Where are we exactly?"
"WELCOME TO OUR CRIB!!!" Exclaimed an overly excited dragon. And yes I do mean dragon. As in a 5 foot dragon with claws and a tail. He had just gotten up from their couch in front of one of the biggest TV's I'd ever seen, and next to him was the top of some kind of blue creature. I disregarded him for now.
"Names Spike kid; what's yours?"
"Oh I don't rea..." I stuttered.
"Aw come on kid we don't judge." Spike exclaimed.
I froze. I was surrounded by some of the most generous people I'd ever met. Okay I thought, never start out with lies. I let out a deep breath.
"Pipsqueak" I said firmly.
They all froze. Spikes lips stared to quiver and he eventually had to let his curled up claws cover his mouth. Knuckles was...well...less subtle. By that I mean he was full out rolling on the floor laughing. Tails, surprisingly enough, was relatively calm. He chuckled at first which i expected as much but then he promptly held his normal straight face. I just stood there, helpless.
I felt like crying when all of a sudden a door on the other side of the room opened up and a snow white unicorn with electric blue hair stepped into the living room. She wore a bath robe over a pair of wonderbolt pajama pants and a tank top. Her hair had several loose strands sticking out. Oh great we'd just woken her up.
"What the hay is wrong with you guys? Ain't you ever heard of a decent nights sleep!?" Her eyes shifted to the small white colt between tails and knuckles. "Sorry bout that kid, pipsqueak right?"
"How'd you know that?"
"Well it's not hard to know with all the NOISE!" She shot a glare at the three guys now slowly shrinking away. "By the way, names Vinyl Scratch." She extended a hand. "Wait a second...What's a kid like you doing wandering around Manehatten." Her expression changed dramatically. "Oh sweet celestia, your parents must be worried sick."
"I doubt it. I ran away." I stated blatantly.
Knuckles stopped laughing instantly. Spike gave me a wayward glance. "And whys that?" He asked. Every one around me stiffened. Tails "nonchalantly" moved toward the counter and grabbed the phone. "What's wrong with you guys?" Then from the couch raised up a blue hedgehog who whipped around. "Answer the question." He said. At that moment I thought he was going to kill me.
"Okay..well I was attending clysdale high when my parents suddenly decided to try and send me to Canterlot academy so I had no choice."
Their eyes never left me for a second. "Prove it." Knuckles said.
"Oh great." I thought. How am I gonna "Oh yeah, my school ID." I told them. Without waiting for their permission I spotted and charged at my bag. I just wanted to get these guys off my back.
As I charged at it I heard Vinyl shout from behind me "Sonic GO!" Before she was even done a whirring blue figure had jumped off the couch and was in front of me with one of his white gloved hand on my throat and the other balled up and ready to strike.
"How'd you.." I started.
"Can it buster! Spike, the bag!" Sonic commanded.
Spike lunged surprisingly swiftly toward the bag. Midair I could have sworn that he had started to glow with a dark black color. Naah, must've been my imagination. Then he tore and I literally mean tore the bag apart and spilled its contents on the ground. A few items hit the ground. Comics, a wallet, some food......and a bomb.
A bomb. I mean a literal bomb. A,five pieces of dynamite stuck together with duct tape and a detonator counting down on it, bomb.
"Knuckles take the punk!" Sonic shouted as he threw me over his shoulder like it was nothing and darted toward the bomb. Soon enough a pair of red arms wrapped around me and sucked any remaining air out of my lungs.
Spike started back as Sonic reached the bomb. "Tails, you get Vinyl out of here!"
Tails froze. "But...S"
"JUST GO!!" Spike screamed.
This time I was sure of it. Just as he shouted his entire body flashed black and his eyes glowed white. Tails noticed it to and immediately grabbed Vinyl and dove into the other room.
Sonic in the mean time had been staring at the bomb and analyzing it until his eyes widened when he noticed a small counter on the outside counting down. 23...22...21...he grinned and then disappeared. I mean seriously, how fast is that guy?
"Well looks like Sonic's got that." Knuckles stated slightly annoyed.
"Now" spike laid a claw on my shoulder. "Let's talk."
Knuckles grabbed some rope out of the closet and they began to tie my hands behind my back when I looked out the window just in time to see a red glow appear in the distance by the docks. Whew. At least he got it out of here. I let out a sigh.
They stood in an awkward silence simply staring at me. What seemed like hours passed by until Sonic came whirring back in again and stopped right in front of me. Again; another awkward science. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore.
"Who are you people?!" I screamed; struggling beneath my bonds. Tails and Vinyl slowly crept back in the room.
Sonic slapped me across the face. "Shouldn't we be asking you who you are?"
I glanced at their faces. "Well apparently you guys know something I don't! Care to explain?!"
Spike piped up. "Seriously, you had a bomb in you're bag!! Explain that!!"
"I honestly have no idea! Knuckles you saw me out there, I was completely out. How could I have timed you taking me in exactly with the bomb!?"
"I don't know you're the bomb artist." Knuckles said with a straight face.
"Wait....BOMB ARTIST!?!?"
"Don't even try it Leo!" Sonic shouted in my face. As he pulled his hand back for another strike
"What..Leo...I.." I managed to stutter.
"Sonic, STOP!!" Vinyl shouted. But sonic hadn't heard her. His fist flew forward and I shut my eyes but after a second I opened them. Black. Pitch Black.
At first I thought I had been knocked out again. Until I saw that it was a glowing black claw that had stopped sonics white glove. Everyone turned to look at Spike whose arm was slowly being encased in a black glow .
"She said..Stop." Spike growled.
Everyone froze. I decided it would be best if I did the same but then I remembered that I didn't have much of a choice.
"Ok." Sonic managed to mutter. "Spike...let's just calm down now." But the black aura continued to creep over his body. What was this guy?!
"Spikey." Spike whipped around, a scowl on his face. Vinyl stepped up to him and surprisingly he did nothing. She leaned up to his ear and whispered something inaudible. Suddenly his expression softened and he loosened his grip on sonics fist. As the black energy faded it was replaced with Vinyls blue energy he passed out and was slowly moved onto the couch.
Again; silence. Seriously, I thought, what is with all these awkward silences. "So, any chances of me getting untied here." I managed a smile that sonic quickly killed with a stare that reminded me of a quiet girl from my elementary school in ponyville.
"I'm telling you I'm not this Leo guy." I insisted after awhile.
"Likely sto..." Knuckles started.
Tails final piped in. "Um guys, I think I have something." He held up his phone with a picture on it. Everyone except sonic gathered round tails as he passed around the phone. There was some inaudible chatter amongst them. Meanwhile I sat there receiving a large helping of sonics stares.
Finally knuckles came over, phone in hand, and sonic snatched it. He glared at it in unwavering in his expression until he handed it back.
"Now, I'm gonna ask you one more time," He got right in my face. "Are you Leo?"
I mustered up what courage I could and stared him down. "No." I stated blatantly. Again, you guessed it, awkward silence. Sonic stood up and walked over to the small kitchen area and grabbed a large steak knife off the counter.
I immediately began struggling. "Hey, I'm telling you the truth!!!" He rose the knife high over his head.
"I know." He said as the knife came down right beside my left shoulder; cutting the ropes.
"Yeah, that's me..." I glanced back at the picture. I still couldn't believe it.
There, on the screen, was a seemingly young, white furred colt who looked exactly like me; well, expect for two things. The clothes, obviously, were one considering that it was a mugshot. But the other was so subtle I wouldn't have even noticed it. I had a brown patch of fur on the right side of my face, covering my eye. In the photo this, Leo, had the same patch but on his left eye.
My focus was interrupted by tails who was now drinking from a cup of hot tea. "So..." He asked.
"So?" I responded.
"So, what are your plans now that you're not a wanted criminal?" Vinyl laughed.
"Well for starters I need to find out who this guy is." I piped up.
Tails responded again. "His names Leo and he's the worlds youngest criminal."
Sonic piped in. "Unfortunately, the kids a genius."
"Unfortunately?" I asked.
Tails continued "Yeah, he was top of his class at Canterlot academy."
There was that school again. Vinyl noticed me stiffen at the word. "What's wrong kid?" I sighed "That's the reason i ran away. My parents were gonna send me there. No choice."
Knuckles finally spoke up. "Figures, that's what most parents want is to get their kids out of the house."
Vinyl leaned over the couch and smacked him upside the face. "Knuckles shut up!"
"It's okay." I assured her. "I doubt I'll be missing them anytime soon. In the meantime, i mean....I know it's a lot to ask but....would it be okay if...it's not to much trouble."
"Don't sweat it kid, you can stay with us." Sonic waved.
"Really!? Oh I mean..um..thanks."
Sonic started "I mean, after we tied you up, held you captive, hit you..."
"...repeatedly" Knuckles chuckled.
"Yeah, hysterical" I grimaced. One of Knuckles blows had left a reasonably sized bruise on my arm.
"Hey guys, I think I'm gonna call it a night."
"Sure thing Pipsqueak." Spike rose and led me toward a room that was slightly bigger than my room but significantly smaller than the others. "Sorry, it may not be as big as you're accustomed to but..."
"It's perfect." I embraced the dragon. My attempt at a "thank-you" hug fell a little short as I was, a little short. I barely reached his mid torso and the redness of my face was enough for both of us to know i was embarrassing myself. I quickly straightened up, only to feel a huge claw pat me on the head.
"You're all right kid." He gave me a warm smile "Sleep tight."
After tonight, not a problem. Spike walked back out into the main room where the others were carrying on. I hung my bag on the edge it the bed post and plopped down on my new bed. I lifted the covers up over my neck and shut my eyes to the noise of five new friends having a ball just on the other side of the bedroom wall.
