PoE Ch4: The Littlest Cook

“Piper!” A shrill voice shouted through the house.

“I’m coming!” A small pale white bat pony called back. He hurried to put tea cups on trays while he flipped pancakes and poured milk into glasses. He was trying to cut bread slices and spread them with butter, chop bananas and peel apples. All while an annoying bell jingled on the wall behind him. Another bell joined the first as a screeching voice shouted out his name.

“Piper!!”

“I’m coming! I’m coming!” He shouted back. Everything was done on the trays so he placed them on a metal cart and pushed them out of the kitchen. The cart was far taller than himself, so it was hard to steer, but not as hard as the ramp to upstairs was. He pushed against the huge cart trying to take it upstairs to the screaming ponies all demanding their breakfast.

“PIPER!”

“In a minute!” He shouted back, straining to push the cart. Finally he had made it to the second floor and quickly sped the cart to the bedrooms. Reaching the first, he opened the door and said,

“Good morning Drizzle. Sleep well?”

“As if you care.” Sighing, he went back to the cart and carefully pulled the tray out. It was far too big for him to hold with just his hooves, so he rested it on his head and pulled it further down his back until it rested entirely on his head and back, his wings outstretched to keep it balanced. Completely covered by this tray full of breakfast foods, he carefully made his way into Dizzle’s room and waited at the side of her bed until her magic lifted it into her lap. On his way out, a pile of clothes was dumped on him as she said,

“Take that ironing and have it back in an hour. One hour!” He pulled himself out of it and took the straw basket by the door to put the clothes in. He dragged the handle by his teeth out of her room. “Did you hear me?!” Her shrill voice cutting through his ears.

“Yes Drizzle.” He replied. Leaving the clothes outside the door, he proceeded onto the next room where the screeching shouting was still going on. Opening it, he repeated his usual greeting;

“Good morning, Analyst.”

“Well, it’s about time!” He walked into the room with the tray on his back once more and placed it on her bedside table. A hoof pointed past him and said,

“Don’t forget the washing. And don’t be all day getting it done either!”

“Yes, Analyst.” He dragged another large basket of clothing out of the room and proceeded onto the last room. Breathing in deep, and gulping back the fear in his stomach, he slowly opened the door.

“Um-m-mm.” He whimpered.

“Well?” A cold voice spoke out of the darkness, “Come in, foal.” With the last tray on his back, he carefully made his way into the room. This tray was lifted from his back by a dark blue aura, but he kept his eyes to the floor.

“Good morning… Lady Tremane…” His meagre voice spoke out. Although he did not look at her face, he knew she hadn’t given him even a glance in his direction.

“Pick up the laundry and get on with your duties.”

“Yes Lady Tremane.” He proceeded to drag the last of the baskets of clothes out of the room, but a screeching voice screamed through the house.

“Mother! Oh, Mother, Mother!” Analyst came barging into the room, hoping from one leg to the next, all while shaking her hair. She knocked into Piper and glared down at him. “You did it! You did it on purpose! Ooo Mother!” Her mother shouted over her and glowered down at Piper.

“Now what did you do?!”

“He put it there! A big ugly spider! Under my teacup!”

“Piper!” Lady Tremane shouted out.

“Yes Lady Tremane?” He whispered, frightened.

“Analyst, leave. Piper, close the door.” Analyst pranced out of the room, her head and tail held high as she stuck her tongue out at little Piper. Piper slowing crawled after her and closed the door. He stood staring at it until-

“Come here.” That cold voice said. Turning around he saw that Lady Tremane had climbed out of bed and was waiting for him to walk forward. This wasn’t going to be good. He scurried up to her, knowing how she didn’t like to be kept waiting. Scared, he blurted;

“Oh please, you don’t think-”

“Hold your tongue!” She shouted at his sensitive ears. Straightening and standing tall before him, she said,

“Now… It seems some of us have time on our hooves.”

“But I swear-”

“Silence!” Another pause before she spoke. “Time for vicious practical jokes. Perhaps we can put it to better use.” A hoof delicately touched her chin, “Now… Let me see. There’s the large carpet in the main hall. Clean it! And the windows of the upstairs and down. Wash them! Oh yes… And the tapestries, and the draperies.”

“But I just fin-”

“Do them again! And don’t forget… The garden, then scrub the terrace, sweep the halls, and the stairs, clean the chimneys, and of course, there’s the mending and the sewing, and the laundry.” With every new item added to Piper’s list of chores to do today, his face fell further and further to the ground. “Oh yes, and one more thing.” she added, “See that the cake for the dinner party is done and decorated.” Sighing deeply and moaning through his teeth, Piper replied;

“Yes Lady Tremane.” A sharp pain hit him over the face and he fell backwards across the ground.

“Don’t give me that attitude, foal! I’ve raised you since the day you were born! I didn’t have to; I could have left you to die! So that attitude is not what I deserve from you! Get your chores done and make sure they are done properly!”

“Yes Lady Tremane.” He said quickly; holding back the tears that already fell down his face. He took hold of the laundry and dragged it from the room.

One by one, he brought the cart back to the kitchen and took each of the laundry baskets to the wash room. There he set to washing and ironing all the clothes, hanging some out to dry while the ironed clothes went back upstairs in the closets. He continued down the list of chores he had to do, all while listening to Drizzle and Analyst’s music lessons. Their voices were more out of tune and broken than if someone had dropped a piano off a building and played ‘Oh Fortuna’ on it. But he went on with his work. Lunch came and passed, and it was nearing evening. He decided he’d best get to the cake before it was too late for the dinner party. Piper was forced to do everything around here. He cleaned for them, he gardened for them, he looked after the animals for them. But out of all the jobs he was forced to do, it was cooking that was his favourite. While they didn’t care for his work, and their only thought was ‘When is my food done!’ He tried his best every time to give them a culinary master piece. Cooking was also the only time he had to himself. Drizzle and Analyst never stepped hoof in the kitchen, and it was a far way from any of the lounging rooms. So he was free to do as he wished as he cooked. A personal favourite past-time of his, was singing the songs Drizzle and Analyst had been trying to sing earlier that day, as he tried to figure out the proper tune of them out of their ghastly renditions.

One would ask why he; a young bat pony colt, was the soul caretaker of his huge house. Others would wonder why he even bothering to stay there and endure their abuse, or what a bat pony was doing living with unicorns to begin with. While it was true he was very busy, taking on tasks much too difficult for someone his age. And it is true again that the abuse has caused him to run away on more than one occasion. But the reason he stays... Is because he has nowhere else to go.

There are many dangers out in the world for a pony like him. His parents learnt this lesson.

Piper signed, his mind trying to think of his parents. No matter how much he tried, he could never picture them. Of course he couldn’t. He’d just been born when they died. Hadn’t even opened his eyes yet. His guardian, Lady Tremane had told him the story; two bat ponies being chased by hunters. The stallion stayed back to defend his pregnant wife while she continued. She ended up running into the garden of Lady Tremane’s home. Exhausted and wounded, she gave birth to him before dying. Lady Tremane’s now passed husband, and father to Drizzle and Analyst, had come out to find out what was going on. He found the pregnant bat pony and helped her give birth. He learnt the name of the foal from the mother before she collapsed, never to rise again.

Now years later, Lady Tremane’s husband was dead, and here he was; stuck. Having to endure every harsh word, every hoof lashed out in anger, and every chore that the Lady Tremane and her two bratty daughters could dish out. While it wasn’t a perfect life, it was the only one he knew.

***

Finished. Everything they had asked him to do today was finally done! And it was only 2am... That gave him 3 and a half hours until he had to be up to feed the animals and cook breakfast. Yay... At least he didn’t have as many things to do tomorrow...

Oh, who was he kidding? They’d make him repeat it all for a laugh.

Up in the loft of the house; was Piper’s room. He had a window to look out at the sky, and a large tattered couch cushion to sleep on. That was about it. Sitting on his “bed”, he laid his head on the open window sill, staring out at the stars. He longed for a home. A real home. Somewhere he could be happy, where he was loved and appreciated. He wanted that more than anything. He knew he should get to sleep, but.. in a moment. Gazing at a star in the sky, he sang out across the land;



He gulped in a deep breath, his eyes locked with the star.



Just then, a shadow passed over the star. It was for a barely a second, but he saw the star flicker from sight. Then another and another! Something was flying high in the sky, and at night! He strained his hearing and heard the flaps of wings. It had to be Bat Ponies! Or dragons.... Pushing that thought from his mind, he glared into the sky looking for their forms again. He flew out of the window and was high in the sky searching for them. He shouted out;

“HELLO?!” But the shadows didn’t look to be returning. He shouted out again; “HELLO!!!” He didn’t know why, but he had to get their attention. Frantically he screamed for them again, “COME BACK!!!” Only his voice was louder than he’d ever heard it before, it echoed through the air. He even heard it bounce back to him. How could it do that?! But he had lost sight of the shadows. It was probably for the best. Who knows what they were.

Flying slowly back to his room. He curled up on his “bed” and tried to sleep. The handkerchief around his neck was the only layer he had to cover him. Lady Tremane wouldn’t even give him a blanket for the cold. Shivering and exhausted, he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

What must have been only a minute later, he felt someone nudging him. His first thought was that he was too tired to get up. His second thought was of Lady Tremane’s hoof kicking him across the flank. In a second he bolted up from his bed and ran to the corner to avoid the swinging hoof of Lady Tremane.

“Whoa! What’s gotten you so spooked?” It was a mare’s voice, but not the cold voice of Lady Tremane. He turned and saw a Bat pony with light blue spiky hair at his window. Another Bat Pony; a stallion with a grey coat and light purple hair had pushed her out of the way and said,

“Maybe it’s because a stranger is hanging through a window and just woke him up?!”

“Lay off Alto, he’s the one who called us, remember?” This spiky haired mare climbed through the window and strode casually up to Piper. “So what’d you need kid?” Piper was too shocked to speak, the mare however was looking around his “room”. “Do you really live here? Seriously?”

“W-who are you?...” He whispered, cowering in the corner.

“Kid, you can get up, I’m not going to bite ya. I’m Calypso. What’s your name?”

“Piper.”

“Why do you even live here?”

“...” Piper looked away from her, his ears down low as his hooves rubbed over each other. “I-I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

“You must have pretty crap parents to keep you in the attic.”

“Calypso!” Another pony, a huge stallion had his head peering in the window. His body far too big to fit through it. Piper gasped at the size of him. “You can’t speak like that around a foal!”

“What?! What I’d say?” She exclaimed. A black pony with red hair gritted her teeth next to Calypso and wacked her over the back of the head. Piper hadn’t even seen her come through the window, he hadn’t even seen her in the room!

“Who are you?!” He exclaimed at all of them. His small body shook as he glanced at the staircase. Lullaby started walking towards Piper, Calypso meanwhile went to tackled her, but Alto gripped her arms and held her back. Piper pushed himself further into the corner and shrunk smaller the closer this new pony came. Soon her shadow was over him and he trembled with his eyes bulging out, staring at her.

“Hello.” There was a long pause of unblinking stillness before Piper answered.

“Hello.” His voice a tiny whimper.

“My name is Lullaby.” She looked down at him, concern etched on her face. “Are you okay?” She brought her hoof closer to him to pet his head, but he flinched suddenly away from her. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing...” Tilting her head at him, she slowly laid down on the ground and had her head down flat so she was at his level. Smiling she asked,

“What are you doing here Piper? This is a Day Pony’s town. Shouldn’t you be with a colony?”

“What’s a colony?” She chuckled a quiet laugh and said,

“A colony is what a town of Bat Ponies is called. So why do you live here?”

“Because... because they took me in when my parents died... I’ve been here since the day I was born.”

“I’m sorry to hear that about your parents Piper. My parents are gone too.” Her hoof rested on his own, but he flinched and pulled it away from her. Worry came over her. “Do you like it here?”

“It’s... It’s... I don’t know... Okay?... I guess....”

“Just okay?” Calypso butted in, “For a family that makes you sleep in the attic on a worn pillow, I’d thought you’d have more to say than just ‘okay’.”

“Calypso!” Lullaby hissed back. Her eyes locked with Piper’s again and she didn’t budge her gaze. “Piper, I know we’ve just met, but I’m worried. Worried about you. What is wrong? You can tell me. Us. We’re all family here.”

“Family?” She saw a spark in his eyes.

“Of course. All of us are family. While we aren’t all related to one another, we do care for one another. Your family are the ones who care about you, not who you’re born into.” She smiled at him, a calming, caring, and friendly smile. He looked past her to the window where he could just see the stars.

“Could it be?” He wondered, “My wish?” His tail shook happily; slowly at first, but it quickened. His head lifted from the ground and he started to stand up.

“Could... Could I be a part of your family?” He asked, hope filled him, he thought his heart might burst.

“We would love that.” Lullaby had just barely lifted her head from the ground when an adorable white puff of fur latched onto her neck and hugged her with all his might. Burying his face under her chin, his eyes filled with tears for the first time ever in joy. Lullaby paused in surprise, but returned the hug.

Piper pulled away and beamed at her, the smile was probably never going to be removed from his face again. Rushing over to a different corner of the room, he leaned over into a cardboard box. This held a few odd items that he had with him. His only possessions. There wasn’t that many to be honest.

He had a small, hoof stitched teddy bear he had made himself. Its body and head were flat since he had nothing but tiny scraps of material to stuff it with, pulling it out he placed it on the ground next to him. There was three different sized notebooks, these were his recipe books. All the new ideas for recipes, and even classic recipes, he put in there. He took those out too. Along with the pencil. And finally, two halves of a musical pipe. He signed when he picked it up. He had found it, years ago when he was cleaning out the music room. It had been lost behind a cabinet and forgotten. He’d thought... He’d thought no one would notice if he took it.

It had been lying behind there for so long. They wouldn’t mind.

So he took it.

After cleaning it up, he began to play it. It was wonderful, while he wasn’t perfect, he still loved the sounds. Wasn’t long until Lady Tremane found him and...

Piper dropped the broken instrument back in the box and turned to the group. Picking up the few items he had, he asked,

“Can I bring these?”

“Of course you can Piper.” Lullaby picked up his items from his hooves and carefully placed them in her saddle bag. She made sure that they wouldn’t get damaged by anything else she had in there. Once they were perfect. She held out a hoof for Piper to take.

“Come on, we can go now.” Tentatively, Piper stretched out his hoof. He was slow, and unsure, but Lullaby was patient. He hooked his hoof with hers, and she lead him to the window. Upon reaching the window though, he froze.

“Are you ready?” She asked eagerly.

“I don’t know.” Leaning down and whispering in his ear, she said;

“Only one way to find out.” With that she took off out the window and hovered in the sky with the other three ponies waiting for him. Piper looked back into his “room”. It was the only home he had ever known, could he really leave it? For good this time? He looked back to the group, about to tell them he couldn’t. But upon seeing Lullaby’s caring smile, and eyes that never left his, eyes that told him he wouldn’t have to be afraid. He realised something.

”I can have a family. And one who cares for me.” Without a word he shot off into the sky and latched onto Lullaby in a hug. She returned it, just as he knew she always would. These were arms he could feel safe in. So safe, that when he fell asleep in them, he knew she would never let go.