//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: The Most Ancient House Of Pie // Story: Pinkie Pie goes to Hogwarts // by WoomyWobble //------------------------------// "Congratulations misses Pie, it's a beautiful healthy baby girl." The nurse quickly put a blanket around the crying newborn and floated her over towards the parents, who were cooing over their new offspring. She cast some more diagnostic charms to double check and found everything to be normal. "A healer will come by shortly to patch you up." Igneous thanked the nurse and continued staring at his new daughter. His fourth. "Look at that little tuft of hair. It almost looks pink." Claudia agreed with her husband. Then she smiled. "Pinkie, that's what we'll call her. Pinkamena Diane Pie." Igneous looked at his wife and gave her a tender kiss. And returned to gazing at their new daughter. xxx 3 ½ years later Pinkie was a smart girl. Mummy says daddy isn't coming home today but Pinkie knows. Her elbows were creaky. Daddy's coming home today, so she sneaked out of her bed and waited for him in the garage. He's going to be so surprised! Daddy liked Pinkie's surprises. … … … "This is taking to long!" She said aloud, so she gathered a bunch of garage rubbish together and stacked it so that she could reach the door opener. When the door was open and she gracefully fell of the stack on her butt. "Owie." She realized that her daddy won't actually come any quicker when the garage was open. Still the fresh air was nice. It was a beautiful summer evening. The sun was still on the horizon, red though it might be, and it was still lovely and warm outside. Suddenly Pinkie could hear the roar of an engine. He's coming! Pinkie jumped into the pile of rubbish she created. The car came closer now. Louder and louder the engine went. Then there it was. Daddy's home! The door opened and he stepped out of the car cautiously. Wand at the ready. The garage door was open but there was nobody in sight. That was not right. "SURPRISE!" Igneous was so startled that he dropped his wand. Pinkie jumped out of the pile and started running towards her dad. "Were you surprised? Huh? Were you? Were you?" "Very surprised." Pinkie's dad said picking her up and placing her in his arms."Aren't you supposed to be in bed sleeping?" "No." She said giggling "My elbows were creaky so I knew you would be home today. So I waited in that pile over there to surprise you and then I waited and then you came in the car and then I yelled SURPRISE! And then you dropped your wand and picked me up and asked me whether or not I'm supposed to be sleeping which is clearly not what I'm supposed to be doing." "Because your elbows were creaky." "Yeah." She nodded. "You're a little rapscallion you are." Igneous started making raspberries on her belly. Pinkie started laughing and giggle snorting. "Come on let's go talk to your mum about your little escapades." Igneous picked Pinkie up and carried her under his arm like a sack of potatoes. Pinkie climbed all over her father with the dexterity of a spidermonkey and when they entered the living room they found Pinkies mother sipping on some freshly brewed hot tea. "Hey there beautiful! Look what I found!" "Oh Igneous, you're home!" She quickly put down her tea and gave her husband a kiss. "Eww gross." Claudia finally noticed Pinkie on top her husbands neck dangling precariously of of him. "Now that is odd, I distinctly remember putting you to bed young lady." She scolded taking Pinkie from her husband. "You wanna tell me how you got in the garage?" "Oh that's easy, I climbed out of bed, put on some clothes and just walked over there." "And pray tell what gave you the inclination to do that?" "My elbows were creaky." "Pinkie we've talked abou-" But then some cogs started turning inside Claudia's head. Her husband was standing right here. Inside the living room very much early. "I surprised dad! It was a lotta fun. I'm gonna go to bed now. I'm kinda tired." Pinkie skipped her way towards the stairs and crawled her way to her room. "I'll check up on you soon so don't get any more funny ideas!" Claudia shouted up the stairs snapping out of her ruminations. "That child's way to weird sometimes." Igneous embraced his wife from behind and kissed her neck "Let's just count our blessings. She wasn't the only one, remember what Maud was like?" "Yes, but that was different though. Pinkie really did know you would be home early." "Maybe she's a seer?" "...No I don't think so." Claudia grinned. "It's not nearly nebulous enough." She turned around to look at her husband. "I guess you're right, let's just count our blessings." She grabbed a cup of tea for her husband and they sat down in the living room discussing Igneous latest business trip. xxx 6 months later Claudia was worried. Pinkie was shivering in her bed. She had taken her temperature but there was nothing wrong with it. She stroked her daughters curly oddly coloured hair and gave her a kiss on her forehead. "I-i-it's o-o-o-okay m-m-m-mum. I-i-it d-d-d-doesn't h-h-hurt. I-i-i-t's j-just a w-w-weird f-f-feeling." Claudia Smiled wanly at Pinkie. There was a knock on the door. "You can come in." Maud entered the room holding a dish with some fruit, a sandwich and a glass of milk. "I've made breakfast." "That's very thoughtful of you Maud. Thank you." Maud placed the food on the bedside table and sat next her mother. Silence settled in the room accept for Pinkies rattling against her bed. They sat like that for quite a while Claudia stroking Pinkies hair. When suddenly the shaking finally stopped. "Wow, I don't know what that was but it was a doozy. I'll have that breakfast now." She gulped the food down faster then was humanly possible. Maud and Claudia sat looking at their youngest family member looking a little flabbergasted. "Are you okay now Pinkie?" Maud asked. "Is it over?" Pinkie shrugged. "I tell you what, I want out of this bed though. Let's go bake a cake!" she couldn't explain it but she was feeling a nervous energy that could only be resolved through the creation of baked goods. With a snap of her wrist she removed the comforter and jumped out of bed. Ready to seize the day. xxx It was going to be an old fashioned apple pie. filled to the brim with delicious apples, raisins, cinnamon and the secret ingredient: other. First she diced the apples in tiny little bits. In the meantime Maud was working the dough. Maud was good at that. She was really strong. Claudia kept a close eye on Pinkie making sure she was safe with the knife. It didn't matter, Pinkie knew what she was doing. Once everything was sliced, diced, mixed and kneaded it was time for assembly. First though the pie bottom had to be set. Fifteen minutes in the oven it shall go. This way the filling wouldn't soak through the bottom all that delicious juicy goodness when it starts baking. After that was done they put the filling in. After that they covered the filling with strips of dough and weaved them over and under. And then it was time to put it in the oven for realsies this time. Pinkie and Maud where sitting in front of the oven looking in. This was the most exciting bit. When you could see the dough turn that delicious golden brown and the smell of home baking filled the whole house. Mabel and Lime, Pinkies other sisters, came barrelling in from the living room. "Pinkie!" Lime shouted."Are you baking again?!" "Uh huh." Pinkie responded to Lime distractedly, her gaze intent on the oven. Mabel and Lime sat beside Pinkie and Maud. "Tell us again about the oven Pinkie." "The oven is a mysterious devise that turns ordinary household foodstuffs into delicious cakes and pies. It was used since ancient times and may in fact be the oldest cooking method there is. For the ancient ones knew that the application of heat on dough and sweet fruits was the way to go." "The butter would melt, the eggs would solidify, the sugar would dissolve and the flour would just sort of hold it all together. The perfect harmony of crunchy, chewy, sweet and sour are all at our fingertips with this wonderful machine." Pinkie started stroking the oven gently. "This particular model has a maximum temperature of 350 degrees Celsius. That's 662 degrees Fahrenheit. It has a self-cleaning function and the interior is lined with a stainless steel alloy capable of withstanding extreme temperatures." "When it is baking a pie like it is now only the outer heating elements will turn on. This allows for even heat distribution and makes certain that the pie will bake evenly all the way through." All the Pie sisters gave a satisfied sigh. Pinkie loved reciting the infomercial. Once the oven made a satisfying ding noise the pie was ready. Lime placed it in the windowsill when she noticed something. "Girls it's snowing!" A desperate struggle ensued wherein four girls desperately tried to look outside a window while making sure that the pie stays in place. Followed by quickly scurrying towards the door and putting on jackets, scarfs, hats and mittens. Claudia made sure everybody was wrapped up nice and snug and decided that you know what? It's a nice day, might as well join 'm for a bit of winter revelry. And this way she could keep an eye on Pinkie. And so it happened on this lovely day that four children and their mother started a snowball fight that escalated into a great snowball war with every member of the Pie family on the estate. Snowmen where made and transfigured, forts where built and reinforced, cannons out of seemingly nowhere fired great dollops of snow at the different factions. "The Great Scuffle" as it was called lasted well into the sunset. Claudia was about to call the girls, when she heard something. From the western hills a strange otherworldly howling sounded across the estate. Everybody who heard it stopped and listened. It was a beautiful moment in the early evening moonlight. The moment got disturbed however by the sound of an engine in full throttle. Pinkie knew that sound. It was daddy's car! The sound was coming closer quickly as did the strange musical howling. There was a tension building in the air. When Pinkie looked at her mother for assurances, she did not find them. Her mother looked scared. When her father rounded the corner and came speeding towards them, she saw what caused her fear. They looked vaguely like wolves, only they had far too many eyes and far too many mouth's that had far too many teeth. The wolves didn't seem to run as to glide across the snow. "Bombarda!" Her mother didn't hesitate as her spell flew true, yet the creature she was aiming for seemed to disintegrate, letting the spell fly right through it. He reformed seconds later none the worse for wear. The spell exploded harmlessly behind. "Shit." Pinkie never heard her mother swear before. Her mother picked her up in one arm. With the other she was flinging spells towards the creatures. Other adults where taking her example and started casting magic of their own. "Girls get in the house!" Claudia kicked in the door. Right at that moment her father came sliding in and crashed the car against the tree in the front garden. The airbags popped and he was trapped in the crumpled car. The creatures where upon his car like vultures upon carrion. "WHY! DADDY!" Pinkie's shrill cry echoed over the estate. Claudia threw Pinkie inside the house and ran towards the demons casting terrible magic Pinkie never thought possible, surely mummy would protect them? Maud caught Pinkie with both arms, put her on the ground, and shut the door. "No! Mum and dad are still out there!" Lime shouted at her sister. "We have to go sa-" One of the windows exploded inward and one of the creatures grabbed Lime by the throat and bit. Blood. To much blood. Lime was dying. Pinkie knew it with a certainty that only death could bring. Mabel was next, the creature didn't even try to eat them it was death they wanted. The wolf started to move towards Maud but Pinkie was faster. She grabbed the pie from the windowsill and threw it at the foul thing with all the strength her four year old body could muster. The pie wobbled through the air but struck the creature right in it's many eyes, and where none of the spells proved useful, a piece of pie seemed to do the trick. An otherworldly howl rang through the house as the wolf creature tried to get the pie out of it's eyes. "Run Pinkie!" Maud threw a vase through the window on the opposite side."Run!" Maud grabbed Pinkie and helped her climb through the window. "Go!" Pinkie wasn't brave. She knew that. She wanted to stay with Maud but she was to scared. So she ran. She ran. She ran. She ran. Passing burning houses and trees. Towards the sea, sight blurred with tears.. She could still hear the creatures behind her howling and following. When she reached the sea, exhausted and with raggedy breath. The creatures were closing in on her. She just wanted to be somewhere else. She fell on her knees in the cold salty water. Anywhere else. And with a loud crack she disappeared.