Down in the Postal Service house, things were winding down. Dinky and her mother, Ditzy, had finished doing the dinner dishes, had finished brushing their teeth and finished their baths. They had gotten all nestled in their pajamas, had each a glass of warm milk, and a muffin, and now, with Dinky tucked into bed, Ditzy smiled at her daughter, and ruffled her hair with a hoof. "Goodnight, Muffin," She says, warmly, leaning in to kiss her daughter on the temple.
Dinky giggled, then said firmly: "Mommy, you're forgetting something important!"
Ditzy was puzzled. What had they forgotten? Her eyes set agoggle at this, as she sat down. She held up a hoof. "Bath?" But no, they'd had their bath. "Snack?" .. And their snack? "Wishing Star?" But no, tonight wasn't the night of wishing star wishes. She blinked, and confused, looking to Dinky for an answer.
Dinky grinned, and said, "You forgot my bedtime story!"
Ditzy blinked.. And then smiled sheepishly. So she had! She stood again, and made her way over to the bookshelf in her daughter's room, which was more laiden down with stuffed toys and such than it was books; only three large books sat on the shelves, and it was one of these that Ditzy picked up, and turned, returning to the foal with. She set it down gently, and then beamed, climbing onto the bed to sit at her daughter's feet.
Ditzy was no good at reading; she was far better at spoken orders, and remembering where she was supposed to go, if it was important enough. But her daughter, Dinky, was a genius as far as someone in her situatuion could be, so Ditzy left it up to Dinky to read bedtime stories to them both so they could both sleep. "Story!" Ditzy said, cheerfully, nodding.
"Yup!" Dinky said, as she turns the large book open, and sifted through the pages, before stopping on one thoughtfully. "How about this one! The Pied Piper of Hooflen!" "Okie dokie, Muffin!" Ditzy agreed, remembering that had always been one of her favorite stories, too.
"Okay!" Dinky grinned.
And as her mother lay her head down on her hooves to listen (and perchance to dream), Dinky cleared her throat and began.
"Once upon a time..."
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The fine village of Hooflen sat in just to the sunny side of a mountain; a river ran the border of the town to one side, and to the other was a forest that had a trail deep into the mountains. Hooflen was prosperous because they were surrounded by fertile farms to either side of them, and there was always plenty of food for everypony. So much food in fact that one summer, during a very prosperous time, there came to be trouble with a bunch of hungry rats.
And so the town gathered in the square of Hooflen, before their wise, benevolent mayor mare, Midnight Star; a beauty of lilac and mauve was she, with the most powerful unicorn magic any of them had known. She stood atop the podium stage of their town square, letting the words of her people be heard while her diminutive secetary took notes.
"Them thar rats is makin' it real hard t' store th' vittles for mah family," A yellow pony with a blonde mane (who's family were known to harvest apples) was heard to say; her brother, a tall red stallion, agreed: "Eyeeup." Her name was Applebutter, and she was right sick and tired of chasing rats out of her barn. "Ah stamp at them, and Ah shoo'em off with my hat, but it t'aint never done nothin!" She drawled angrilly. More voices rose out of the cacophany.
"Those DREADFUL beasts keep eating all my darling Bianca's food," The resident tailor, Treasure, complained, as she raised a dainty white hoof, and tried to smooth down her frazzled purple mane. "They've chewed holes into all my BEST fabrics, and they've made it so hard for me to sleep at night that I can't even settle my nerves enough to make bubble tea! Look! My magic's positively ruined!" The vain unicorn announced with an overdramatic flourish as she tried to use her horn to streaighten her hair, and instead only upset the persian cat she'd had riding on her back, causing the feline to yeowl and wail in dismay.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," snorted an azure-pelted pegasus as she swooped from the sky, hovering near Treasure, "Complain all you want about your stupid girlie dresses. The real tragedy is what they've done to my sports equipment!" She crossed her hooves, and scowled, multi-colored tail a-twitch, "All my ziplines got chewed through, I can't do ANY mountain or rock climbing!"
"Prisma, you're a Pegasus, why are you Bclimbing/B mountains?" Asked Treasure with an arched brow.
"So I can jump off, duuuh!" Prisma retorted, "Tsh, it's like, only the most coolest thing ever, especially if you have a bunjee cord on your hooves!"
This was met with blank looks from the gentlecolts and fillies around her who knew Prisma, but then the arguing began again, and Midnight Star was at a loss as to what to do.
"Oh Fang," She sighed, to her dragon friend, "What are we going to Bdo/B about this?"
"Oh oh oh oh! I know! I know!" A sudden squeal came from the crowd, as a pink pony with cotton candy colored hair made her presence known by hopping around from back-hoof to back-hoof, flailing bothe forehooves in the air. "Pick me, pick me, pick me!"
Mightnight Star cringed, and sighed, but then dutifully asked: "Yes, Confetti?"
The exhuberant pony leaped to her back hooves in delight and said, "We should glue itty bitty wings to their backs, and then they'll be bats, and will only want to go out at night and eat bugs! And when it's time for the fall Spook festival we can use them as decorations! Just think! ~IItty Bitty Ratties squeak but itty bitty batties fly an/I-MMPH!"
"Here, Confetti, have an apple popover." Applebutter said, silencing the pink pony mid-song by shoving said pastry of apples into her mouth with a hoof. Midnight Star smiles warmly, but was innerwise thankful for Applebutter's intervention. Sometimes, Confetti could just be so.. strange!
But this did not help the cacophany of the ponies around her. The crowd turned once more to her and began talking all at once. 'Let's get a dragon to chase them away!' someone suggested, 'Let's get a bunch of cats to eat them!' another tried. Suggestions and complaints came from everywhere, and Midgnight Star sighed. "At this rate, Fang," she said softly, "Our best idea might be to just build a Bnew/B town, and move there!"
In all the noise, however, no one had noticed a cloaked pony making her way into the square, and standing at the back of the crowd. Equally, no one noticed when she pulled her hood down, and tried to attract their attention, for her very small voice. The pastel yellow pony with a rose pink mane and tail tried hard. "E-excuse me? P-pardon? Hello?" But try as she might, she just wasn't heard over the noise. That was when she pulled out a flute, sat down, and began to play. The sound was so rich and beautiful that soon, all the ponies present had fallen quiet, and begun looking around, to find the little mare sitting there, a blush coming to her cheeks from all the eyes on her.
Midnight Star arched a brow. "Hello? Uh, thank you for the music, but.. can we help you?" She asked tentatively.
Song ending, the flautist blushed again, then in a small voice said, "I-i can't help but overhear you're having trouble with rats," her voice barely a whisper. Midnight Star had to lean forward and cup a hoof to her ear to hear her. "I m-might be able to help you," the little pony said, before she held up her flute.
"You see, I'm a piper.. and I can play music to soothe any beast. I could play a song to lead the rats away from your town, and to a place with lots of open space for them, and with food and sunshine, and oh, they'd so very much like it.."
Midnight Stare blinked. The other ponies began to talk to one another, some nodding, others unsure. It was a NICE idea, but.. could it really be done? Of course, there was the fact that they'd been brought to attention by the flute. If THEY could be, why wouldn't rats? "Well, I suppose it's worth a try," Midnight Star said, "But we don't have much to pay you.."
"Oh no, I don't need to be paid," the shy little pony said, "I'd be happy just to help because you're in so much need!"
"... Well, if you're sure," Midnight Star said, warily. But then she smiled. "Let's give it a try. Everypony go and throw open your house windows and doors, so the rats can hear the song of the piper!"
The pony horde scrambled off, and soon every house, building, silo, and room in the village had their doors and windows open, so that the piper's music could be heard. Then, Midnight Star turned her stage over to the little flute carrier, and said, "It's all yours." It was, perhaps, the silliest idea she'd ever heard of, but.
But.
The little pegasus pony stepped up, and began to play. The music was a jaunty jig, and at first the ponies were tempted to dance along with it, but then they were distracted with awe: As the piper played, the rats began to stop gnawing and feasting, and began to sing. Yes, the rats were singing along with the music, and leaving their holes and the grains, and the food behind to gather in the square around the piper! With a happy smile, once she had a large, heavy group of rats around her, she began to prance down the street, and away, followed by the rats. Big rats, small rats, fat and skinny, all leading a parade down the middle of town.
All following the piper.
And off she lead them, into the mountains, and it went on for a day and a half. And on the night of the second day, when all the rats were gone, and everyone was happy, the Piper came back, and said, "I hope that helped," in her small voice.
Hope it helped? The town threw a huge party for her success, and Confetti herself was seen to be shoving cupcake after cupcake in the gentle little pony's direction. When they asked for her name, she simply said, "Oh, just call me Bidrsong," sheepishly.
Birdsong, now the town's hero, soon gained a statue in her honor, and was given the title of 'Chief Animal Manager' for her efforts. She was given a nice house on the edge of town where it was nice and quiet, and lived out her days nursing wounded animals back to health, and joining the village for parties, playing music for everyone to dance to.
"And they all lived happily ever after," Dinky said, smiling, as she closed the book. She looked up to her mother to find Ditzy was sound asleep, sucking on her hoof, with a smile, at her feet.
The little Unicorn, giggling softly, murmured, "Good night, Mommy," as she set the book on the table by her bed. And then, she blew out the candle, and settled in to sleep herself, dreaming of singing rats and a happy pegasus named Birdsong.
Who, in her mind, looked oddly like Fluttershy..