The storm raged on, rocking the ship with terrible motion. The fierce winds blew and ripped the sails, and a wave smashed into the deck. Sailors pulled on ropes and shouted, and caught hold to objects and each other as another wave crashed into the boat. “Captain, the storm is beating us!” someone shouted. “It’s trying to bring us into the ocean!”
“Not if I have anything to say!” boasted Captain Pipsqueak. He held a firm grip on the wheel, twisting and turning with sheer force of will. The hurricane wind tried to remove his blue captain’s coat.
“Sir, we’re not going to make it! We might turn overboard!” shouted his lieutenant.
“I’ve dealt with much worse before!” Pipsqueak answered.
He felt the ship tilt, and a wave smashed into the deck. Unfortunately one of the sailors was dragged into the water. “Pony overboard!” someone yelled, which caused the crew to repeat the phrase into the stormy, night air. Pipsqueak’s ears caught the distress, and ordered his lieutenant to take the wheel, which he reluctantly complied. Captain Pipsqueak grabbed hold to a rope and swung beside the ship and into the violent waters. He spotted the young stallion, helplessly waving his arms. Pipsqueak grabbed his hooves before the young stallion was swept away forever, then swung back to the deck.
“Captain, you saved my life!”
“No pony gets left behind,” said Pipsqueak. “But there’s no time for talk! We a storm to fight!”
The lieutenant shouted with alarm, and pointed a larger wave heading their way. “It’s going to turn us overboard!” he yelled. This will not be the end, thought Pipsqueak. He refused to surrender to the destructive force of nature. He ordered all of his crew to hang on tight…
… “Pipsqueak! Pipsqueak!” Miss Cheerilee called his name again with a loud voice. The raging storm faded, the waters receded and the dark clouds turned into beige walls, and he was in his chair in the classroom. Miss Cheerilee glared at him, his classmates just simply looked on, some of them snickering and chuckling. “Pipsqueak, would you mind leaving fantasyland and join us in the real world? This is a very important lesson.”
“Sorry, Miss Cheerilee,” he said meekly.
The boys and girls chuckled. Miss Cheerilee shook her head and silenced her students, then continued her lesson.
Pipsqueak glanced down at the sheet of paper on his notebook. Earlier he began to write notes, but later he drew thunderclouds with lightning bolts coming out of them, and a ship trying to sail through giant waves. He turned to another page and copied what Miss Cheerilee had on the chalkboard. Pipsqueak turned his head to see a group of children sneering at him, laughing inwardly, then turning away. He rolled his eyes.
He paid attention to his teacher for the most part, but he found that Miss Cheerilee had a habit of droning on and on to the point he can’t even force himself to pay attention anymore. He forgot what she was talking about at that time. Pipsqueak sighed while trying get his eyes to stay open. As Miss Cheerilee continued to talk his eyelids were heavy, and for a moment all he saw was blackness…
… Cannon fire was exchanged back and forth from one ship to another. Fiery blasts created holes in both vessels. Captain Pipsqueak ordered his crew to load more cannonballs, and his parrot did the same. The blasts shook the surface he was standing on, but Pipsqueak stood firm. His second-in-command gave him his spyglass. He scanned the enemy ship, and he spotted Captain Gustavo Mustachio, cladded in white, with a little capuchin monkey on his shoulder.
“That dastardly devil!” spat Captain Pipsqueak. “Curse him and his mustache!”
More shots were fired, but Pipsqueak’s ship had took a great amount of damage from the battle. His parrot repeated Pipsqueak’s order for more firepower, but it was too late. Cannonballs from Gustavo’s ship had made impact with the deck, destroying one of the mainmast of the ship, bringing the sail down. The ship shook and tilted to one side. One of the sailors pointed to Gustavo’s ship, which was turning and heading their way.
“Prepare for battle!” Pipsqueak shouted. His crew drew out their swords and daggers while his parrot repeated the order several times.
Gustavo’s ship collided with Pipsqueak’s, nearly splitting it in half. The crew from the enemy vessel swung on ropes and fought the sailors in Pipsqueak’s ship. Swords clashed and ponies on both sides were cut down. Pipsqueak managed to fight his way through the crowd until he found Captain Gustavo standing near him. The wind made his white cape flow, and he drew out his sword. He sent his monkey away, watching it climb on the ropes. Pipsqueak charged at Gustavo, and the duel began. As one moved in for a kill, the other blocked the advance. Gustavo’s movements were smooth and swanlike while Pipsqueak fiercely swung his sword. They paid no heed to the battle surrounding them. When ponies got in their way they shoved them aside. Pipsqueak kept his guard, but one kick from Gustavo sent him tumbling backward, and the sword slipped from his hoof. Gustavo pointed his sword to his face, and the battle was over, and Pipsqueak’s crew was captured. Surprisingly the monkey returned, with a sealed scroll in its hands. Drat! thought Pipsqueak. He should have went for the monkey.
“Good work, Pipsqueak,” Gustavo said.
“What are you talking about?” asked. Pipsqueak.
“Oh, not you. We named the monkey Pipsqueak.” Gustavo’s snide answer resulted in mocking laughter. He opened the scroll, and his eyes widened. It wasn’t a scroll at all. It was a map to the City of Gold. “Yes… the map to El Dorado,” Gustavo muttered to himself. “This will do just fine.” He held the map high, and his crew cheered. Gustavo turned back to Pipsqueak. “And now for you, my friend. I must say, you look very tired. You must be given something as well for your efforts to hide this map from me. A nice swim in the water will cool you off.”
Gustavo ordered his ponies to bound Pipsqueak forearms and legs with rope. They wrapped a cloth around his mouth. They carried him to the edge of the boat, where his watery grave awaited…
… “Pipsqueak! Pipsqueak!” Miss Cheerilee yelled his name several times. Finally he opened eyes, and was met with a pair of eyes full of frustration. Pipsqueak was frozen in his seat. There was hardly a time she made that face. “Pipsqueak, I am very surprised at you,” she said.
“I’m sorry, Miss Cheerilee,” he said in a low voice.
“Pipsqueak, you have to pay attention. This is important.” Pipsqueak opened his mouth to speak, but fell silent. “Maybe you should stay inside during recess.”
“Yes ma’am,” he muttered.
Pipsqueak heard the class murmur under their breaths to one another. Once again they chuckled, giggled, covering their mouths. Miss Cheerilee ordered the class to get back to the lesson. Pipsqueak sadly looked at the drawing he made of himself. It depicted him as a sword-wielding ship captain.
As soon as lunch break ended Miss Cheerilee reminded Pipsqueak that he needed to stay inside the classroom during recess. He sat at his usual spot, someplace in the middle, and drew on a blank sheet of paper. Occasionally he glanced out the window to watch the other children. The boys were already forming teams for a game of ball. Pipsqueak wish he could be outside with the others, but it didn’t matter either way. He was much too small to play their games, and he was often picked last.
The class returned inside once recess ended. A few glanced at Pipsqueak, most of them were snickering as they did before. Miss Cheerilee continued where she left off. She pulled down a map of Equestria and talked. It was one of those moments where Pipsqueak listened, then instantly forget what she was talking about. He forced himself to pay attention. He didn’t want Miss Cheerilee to single him out. She pointed to the map, talked some more, but to Pipsqueak no sound came from her. He couldn’t take it anymore…
… Pipsqueak took out his map, and lowered his fedora to keep the sun from glaring his eyes. He was sure he was getting close to the ancient temple. Then he will find the hidden A’nutek idol, which was thought to be lost for centuries. First, he had to make his way through the tangled vines that blocked his path. He pulled out his machete and cut the vines to make his path. He stumbled upon a giant stone carving of a demon that caused him to almost lose his balance. Pipsqueak continued on the path, which thankfully remained undisturbed. When the last vine was cut, he found a cave. From the outside it looked a stone monster that always kept its mouth open. It must be where the underground temple is, Pipsqueak thought.
He rolled the map and placed it inside his saddlebag. As he venture further the sunlight faded, leaving him surrounded by darkness. Luckily he found a torch to light his way.
Pipsqueak took small steps as he advanced forward. He knew one wrong move will ignite a booby-trap. He dodged small darts that shot out of walls when he stepped on blocks with intricate symbols on them; he nearly missed spikes that quickly emerged from the surface; he swung from one side of the wide gap of the cavern to the other side. Pipsqueak was careful for the most part, but he slid down to a lower level by accident, where the walls were closing in on him until he used his whip to pull a lever which opened to another passageway. Pipsqueak slid downward, and found himself inside a large room made of stones. Statues of ancient gods stood sparingly apart from each other on opposite sides. But there was only one thing he noticed… the lost A’nutek idol. He approached it with caution, once again making sure he didn’t set off any traps. The idol was right within Pipsqueak’s grasp. He searched his jacket and took a small bag of sand, then, paced himself. He didn’t know what was in store for him if he laid a hoof on it…
… Miss Cheerilee caught him daydreaming again. This time she made Pipsqueak stay after school for thirty minutes. His punishment was to write the same phrase on the chalkboard repeatedly, how he should always pay attention during class, also to clean the erasers.
When the dismissal bell rang everyone had left the classroom, but Pipsqueak remained in his seat, head down in embarrassment. Miss Cheerilee approached him. She fixed her eyes on the boy, and gave him a piece of chalk. He wrote the phrase while Cheerilee graded papers. Chalk smeared his hoof, and when the piece was no more than the size of a pebble, he used a longer one in its place. He wrote I will always pay attention in class twenty-one times until Miss Cheerilee told him to stop. She gave him wipes to clean his hoof, then he went to the erasers. When all was done, Miss Cheerilee inspected his work for a moment, then let him go for the day. “Pipsqueak, this won’t happen again, will it?” she asked.
“I promise,” he answered.
“I am very disappointed in you today. You’re one of my brightest students. I’ve never seen this sort of behavior from you.”
Pipsqueak sighed. “It won’t happen again.”
Miss Cheerilee nodded and sent him off.
Stepping outside, Pipsqueak saw that the afternoon sun was still above. There was still time to have one last adventure before he had to go home. He strolled to the park, past the playground until he came through a large, wide, empty space full of grass and tall trees. Then he became Pipsqueak, the outlaw of Sherwood Forest, he who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. If he were friends with any of the boys from school, they could have been his motley crew of merry ponies. He guessed they simply didn't understand him. At the end of the day, Pipsqueak didn’t mind that he was alone. But if anyone wanted to play his imaginary games, he’ll gladly invite them.
