Written by: DreamWings
Rated Everyone
Pipsqueak was his name; Pipsqueak was his look; but Pipsqueak was not his nature. Pipsqueak, ‘Pip’ for short, was always trying to find new and extraordinary things to do. Every day was a new adventure in his eyes. And every adventure needed a new outfit. Whether he be Pipsqueak the Pirate or Pipsqueak the Parrot (One of his best costumes so far) he always had to dress up in a different way. Nopony knew why he liked to dress up as other ponies so much but nonetheless it never stopped their amusement in it.
Pip’s parents often worried about their son’s love for fancy dress. To them it seemed rather peculiar and un-pony like, but they had to live with it because Pip was never going to change his love for costumes and nopony was ever going to change his mind.
Every morning it took quite an effort for him to search through his wardrobe and look for something he hadn’t worn before. Sometimes he wouldn’t come out for days; spending his time making a special hat or prop that he needed to complete his latest creation. Nightmare Night was a perfect time to really get his brains into gear and come up with a wonderful idea for the celebration. Foals from near and far (near being Ponyville, far being Trottingham) admired him immensely for his use of materials to make something perfect. True, it wasn’t his special talent maybe, but it’s what he enjoyed doing and would never give up on.
Today’s morning activities were no different to the usual; Pip disappeared inside his large oak wardrobe and didn’t come out for a while. He always got changed in the wardrobe for some reason and he never came out for at least twenty minutes. Every day he went in there and every day he, an Earth pony, magically came out wearing a different outfit. The friends who had been over to his house on Nightmare Night to wait for him to get ready had laughed a lot when he had vanished completely into his room for a long time. It was a constant joke among them that there must be some kind of Magical Costumes land hidden at the back of the cupboard. Pip laughed along with them; he knew that wasn’t true.
In fact Pip just really loved costumes and had brought over a large collection of them with him from Trottingham. He had outfits for Princesses, Princes, Knights, Bakers, Monsters, Desserts, Pirates, Princesses, Famous Ponies, Jesters, Continents, and Planets. He basically had every costume you could ever think of inside his room. However, this did not satisfy the little colt, he needed new costumes all of the time, wearing the same on a couple of days running would just be shameful to him. Most of the money he saved up was spent at a Fancy Dress shop in Trottingham and all of these outfits had to be bought on bulk the rare times they went back to see the rest of their family. Pip had even taken the step of going to Sweetie Belle once and begging her to ask her sister to make him a party dress (an order that shocked Rarity when she was told). Sweetie Belle only agreed because she liked Pip, he was a nice colt, and if it hadn’t been for him she would have never been able to get the pointy fangs that completed her vampire costume last Nightmare Night.
Pip was brave to the point he loved to be scared. You’d think that most ponies would be horrified and embarrassed to even consider wearing silly costumes like dressing up in a party gown so he could be a royal version of Pinkie Pie for the day. He had no fear or worries about what ponies may think of it, and was possibly the only pony who hadn’t chastised the Cutie Mark Crusaders about posting gossip about him in the Foal Free Press. He was happy with whom he was and he was happy with his costume choices.
Today however, Pip seemed to be having a problem in deciding what to wear. Every so often an outfit would shoot out of the cupboard and onto his bedroom floor. Soon a whole sea of clothes was strewn everywhere in the bedroom; you could barely even see where Pip’s puppy, Matey, had been resting. The only evidence that he was still there was small muffled barks that could be heard every so often. Pip still carried on digging through his supply; not happy with his choices. This one was too new, that one was too old, that one needed to be fixed, and that one needed more sparkles. No, Pip was not happy at all.
Ponies not from places where he had once lived before would have been extremely confused to see a colt stress so much over what they would consider a trivial decision. Ponies didn’t often wear clothes anyway right? Well, no, that’s wrong, because Pip wore clothes all of the time; a lot more than every other pony had. Even Rarity could not amount to wearing as many outfits as the young Pip had.
“No, that’s not right”, he mumbled inside the wardrobe. “That hem’s far too low.” He let out an exasperated sigh and wandered out of his hiding place. Nothing, there was nothing he truly thought he could wear today. All of his outfits were not at the same level as they should be; he needed more, he needed inspiration. Sadly, he couldn’t find it anywhere in his chest of special treasures.
There was only one outfit in the cupboard that he had never worn before and he wasn’t sure if it would be ‘right’ to wear it or not. It was so strange and peculiar that even he would blush to wear it. He wasn’t sure how much respect he would get for choosing it either; he didn’t want to lose his friends over an outfit. In the end, he supposed, they liked him for him but the problem was that wearing good costumes was what he was; it’s what he did, and nopony would understand if he didn’t keep to his own standards of dressing up. It was so unfair.
Matey barked and shook himself out of the pile he had been lost under. He shot over to his master and gave him a loving lick all over his right hoof. Pip smiled. He would have gone in his dog costume, so he could be like Matey, but he had only worn that a couple of weeks ago and it wasn’t time for him to wear that again. Pip peered around the room looking for any signs of a costume he could have perhaps missed in his clear out. Nothing. He could still think of nothing. Which meant…he gulped…he had to wear that horrible outfit after all.
Ponies gasped as Pip wandered in his new attire down the streets of Ponyville towards the school. They all stared, bewildered, unable to move from the spot. There were cries of ‘Has he gone mad?’ along with phrases like ‘Poor dear.’ And ‘Somehow he doesn’t look right today.’ Pip didn’t like it, he didn’t like that he had to wear his most embarrassing costume. He blushed scarlet as he wandered into the playground. The foals all turned and he could hear giggles amongst the crowd. They thought this was funny, but Pip didn’t find it funny at all. His friend, Snappy Snaps, moved forwards, his camera hanging around his neck. He looked quizzically at his small friend for a few minutes before asking:
“Pip, what are you wearing?”
Pip looked down at his orange stripy shirt, his light blue jeans, and his white, flash trainers. It was mortifying to dress in this way.
“I suppose,” he said. “I’m dressed as Pipsqueak the Average Foal…who wants to play football with his friends.”
Pip ran off after the ball on the floor. His friends smiled and ran to join him and soon a whole game had begun. Pip laughed and his white teeth gleamed in the sunlight. He was still the best at costumes.
Was anypony else expecting something very different....
Great story BTW.
This overall premise sounds very similar to an episode of The Simpsons called '22 Short films about Springfield'. Nice!
1450915
Well, of COURSE Simpson's did it. To be fair, developed completely independently heh.
1450962 Well, a good idea is still a good idea, even if it's already been done in one universe before (and what good idea hasn't been done before?). I might give this a read some time, all the same.
1451635
Anyone who doesn't know that at this point is...living a rather sheltered life, to some extent, heh.
1451086
You should there's a lot of unbelievable talent involved in this. It's bloody awesome
Also, anyone care to take talk of this over to EqD is more than welcome, heh. The amazing effort all these authors have put forth into one single project deserves to be shared, but I'm not good on that sort of PR, heh.
...and, after...oh...I dunno, over three weeks, up next will be my own piece and I can stop feeling guilty about this sitting here. Too bad it probably won't go over that well, haha. Oh well.
This was different. I like!
1451722
No, he's right. It's technically incorrect to put two spaces. It was only done so because of the limitation of the typewriter (I can only assume that article talks about it, with the mention of monospaced type, since I didn't bother to read it). It's an old habit we're all taught, hell I double space after periods. I would never be so hard on people for it, but generally it's a good idea to try and break the habit.
1451731
OK, one, it's Strahd. For two, I killed that bastard. Mwahahahahah!
1452433
Double spacing is incorrect?
Mind = blown.
I am going to hunt down every grammar teacher I ever had.
I saw the ending coming a mile away, but it was still an enjoyable read. Certainly an interesting idea.
Um... why is Princesses listed twice?
1450635
I was expecting him to go out in nothing at all
1452644 Well then. Your mind is cleaner than mine.... And that I all I am going to say about that.
1453519
I figured. If its any consultation, I had the same thoughts, until I remembered the rating, then I had to revise my opinion.
1452522 I hoped someone would notice the two Princesses in the list. He likes dressing up as the Princess.
1451722
That's okay. I didn't expect anyone to just up and believe me. That's why I linked the article. Mr. Manjoo has probably forgotten more about the English language and typography than I've ever known. Read the article. You won't regret it.
1452522
Because *wink*.
1452644
Stupid Sexy...Pipsqueak?
Glad to see all the positive reaction here--make sure you go and support any authors you particularly enjoy!
Just heard about this from Chengar, Now I have a shitload of stories to read
1456519
And we're only one third of the way through it (and it's still growing, hahaha). Glad to have you here reading the fruit of these authors' labors.
Awwwwwwww.....Pipsqueak is the best colt!!! *Hugs him* He is so adorable! Nice route with the story...making him love costumes and all. It's a clever twist since so many authors just portray him as a pirate/sailing enthusiast (myself among them). This was really awesome!!
Is the begining something of an extended Mr Ben reference?
1487444 I have no idea what Mr Ben is .
... I am dissapointed. You reference "Chim Chim Cheerie" in the title, but the story is only about Pip looking for a costume to wear. I was expecting chimney sweeps to come up somewhere. Rats.
I also don't think that Pip would wear clothes more than any other pony. I think of him more of a kid. Just wanting to play with the friends he has, speaking with his ADORABLE british accent, and just being a kid.
An entertaining story - A very fun and original take on Pipsqueak, I do say. The writing could definitely use work, though. Overall, it needs more showing and not telling (you've probably heard of that before).
There were also many parts that read very clunkily - Parts that I had to read over more than once in order to properly understand; And that's something you need to avoid at all costs.
-Most of the money he saved up was spent at a Fancy Dress shop in Trottingham and all of these outfits had to be bought on bulk the rare times they went back to see the rest of their family.
This is an example of a sentence that needs to be broken up, either in to two parts via a comma, or made in to two sentences altogether.
-All of his outfits were not at the same level as they should be; he needed more, he needed inspiration.
This seems an unnecessarily roundabout way to word things. Simply saying "None of his outfits were at the level they should have been" would have been much easier and quicker to read. Try readings what you write aloud to yourself, if possible; It can help quite a lot of filter out awkwardness.
-In the end, he supposed, they liked him for him but the problem was that wearing good costumes was what he was; it’s what he did, and nopony would understand if he didn’t keep to his own standards of dressing up. It was so unfair.
This is another exaple of trying to fit way too much in to too little of a space. Need some commas to break it up.
Also, the latter half of this part seemed unnecessary: We understand by now what sort of characterization Pip has, so at this point it's rather repeditive to continue mentioning how costumes are his thing.
-[H]e had to wear that horrible outfit after all.
Ponies gasped as Pip wandered in his new attire down the streets of Ponyville towards the school.
Page break, page break! While it is understandable, adding a page break, or at least something like "So it was that ponies gasped as Pip wandered [...]" would have helped the flow a great deal.
Potential for improvements aside, this was still quite entertaining. It's an original take on a character who doesn't get much attention, and the punchline was very amusing. I wish you luck, Mr./Ms. Dreamwings, in your future writing endeavors!
1452644
Nothing at all!
Nothing at all!
This was a very good story. It shows how ponies (and people) she embrace and be proud of who they are!
~LATEP