After picking as many popberries as she could carry in her arms, Prim waddled through the front door and into Serendipity's cozy hut. She was in awe of how much witchiness could be crammed into such a small space. A large cauldron was front and center, surrounded by shelves lined with mysterious ingredients and equally-mysterious books. Various magical artifacts adorned the central table, a nearby desk, and even the ceiling. The room was warmly lit by the glow of a dozen-or-so candles, casting a fragrance Prim identified as... cinnamon? A stepladder by the front window led up to a large hammock suspended from the ceiling, roughly eight feet up in the air. Was that Seren's bed??

"Just put those down on the table," Seren called out as they shut the door. "Thank you~!"

With a sigh of relief, Prim let the popberries tumble out of her arms and onto the table. Seren promptly strode past her and took their place in front of the cauldron. 

"Prim! Come take a look at this cauldron!" Seren requested, and Prim quickly hopped over to take a look. Seren was tall, and could easily see into the cauldron, but Prim was only four feet tall (if you counted her ears). She hurriedly brought a chair over and scrambled on top of it.

Seren clapped their hands together and spoke up, "Also, welcome to my home. Have a cookie!"

Seren spun around, retrieved a plate from a nearby desk, and offered it to Prim. 

"Wow! Honey cookies!" Prim excitedly grabbed one and began nibbling on it. Seren followed suit.

"Now, this is what I was working on before I found you in the popberry bush," Seren explained, taking a bite of their cookie. "By the way, Prim. If you weren't looking for popberries... why were you in my berry bushes?"

Prim froze mid-bite. "Ohhh. I, uh... well..." she began, guiltily, "I knew a witch lived here, so I decided to... come and watch you... secretly..." She was barely audible by this point, hiding behind her cookie.

Seren whirled to face Prim as their mouth fell open. "You were spying on me out there??"

Prim shrank even further. "yes........."

"Unbelievable!" Seren cried, clapping a hand to their chest. "You can't see a thing from out there! You'll have a much better view from in here, I assure you!"

Prim released the breath she was holding and almost fell off her chair with relief.

"So!" Seren continued, tossing the rest of their cookie into their mouth, "This mixture in the cauldron is fine enough, but I was really hoping for some bubbles." 

They extended an arm and pointed to the table by the front door, still covered in popberries. "You helpfully reminded me of the popberries growing outside, which might be just what I need to get this going!"

Seren dramatically turned to face their new assistant. "From one witch to another, do you think you can help me?"

Prim almost choked on the rest of her honey cookie. A witch. Seren called her a witch! And she didn't even have a hat!

"Yes! Yes! I'll help you!!" Prim squealed.

"Okay..." Seren replied, a mischievous grin spreading across their face, "Go grab a berry and bring it back here."

Prim scurried over to the table and picked up a lone popberry. Popberries were large and red, kind of like cherry tomatoes with a rough texture. If you held them up to your ear, you could hear them crackling inside. Prim took a moment to appreciate the crackle before scurrying back to the cauldron.

"One popberry!" she declared.

"Very good!" Seren affirmed, picking up a large paddle beside the cauldron and giving the concoction a slow stir.

"Do you see that little white swirl in the middle?" they asked, pointing to a lighter spot in the liquid before it dissipated.

"Yeah, yeah!"

"When I say 'go', I want you to drop the popberry in. Try to hit that little swirl or get as close as you can."

Prim leaned over, careful not to fall into the cauldron. It wasn't scalding hot - it was actually pleasantly cool - but Prim did not want to risk falling into a mysterious mixture of unknown liquids.

"Okay..." Seren began, giving the liquid another large, slow stir. After a moment, the light swirl reappeared in the center.

"Go!"

Prim couldn't quite reach the center of the cauldron by leaning over, so she gave the berry a quick toss. It landed squarely in the middle of the white swirl, kicking up small droplets as it sank.

"Nice!" Seren called out, making Prim rather proud of her witchy work. Seren, still holding the paddle, studied the liquid for a moment.

"No good. We need more power. Grab another popberry!"

The two of them repeated the process: stir, drop, observe.

"No foam at all..." Seren observed, staring intently at the liquid. "We're going to need a lot more activation than this. Grab a big handful of popberries and get ready for my signal!"

Prim was quite excited now, dashing over to the table to scoop up a handful of berries. She returned with a heaping pile, stray berries tumbling out of her hands and onto the floor.

"Ah, I'm sorry!" she called to Seren as they began to stir again.

"No worries, young Primrose! I want you to drop all of those berries in at once. Get them as close to the center as you can, okay?"

"Okay...!" Prim replied, using her shoulder to hurriedly adjust her glasses.

"Aaaaaand... go!"

Prim dropped the berries in, giving them a little toss to land them closer to the center. As the thirty or so berries hit the mixture below, they began loudly crackling and upsetting the liquid. The room filled with pops and crackles as the mixture began to shake and churn. Stray sparks began shooting out of the cauldron, dazzling Prim's eyes and filling her ears with high-pitched sizzles.

Seren protectively threw their arms around their bunny-eared assistant and guided her a few steps back from the cauldron.

"We have liftoff!!" they shouted over the crackling cacophony. Prim stayed close to Seren but couldn't take her eyes off the lightshow before her. It was bright and loud, but she wasn't afraid. Her mouth fell open in an awestruck grin as sparks flew and steam bellowed from the cauldron.

After a moment, the pops and crackles died down, and a large head of white foam bubbled up on the surface. Seren gave a victory hop before running over to get a closer look.

They threw their head back and pumped their arms up in the air. "SHE LIVES!!" they cried, making Prim giggle. They swiftly stepped around behind the cauldron and grabbed a glass bottle. Leaning over the foamy mixture, they scooped some liquid up into the bottle and eyed it for a moment before tilting their head back and chugging it. Prim's grin of delight fell into a gape of shock. Not ten seconds ago this stuff was sparking, and Seren was drinking it!

"Primrose!!" Seren bellowed after finishing their drink, "Come have a bottle!!"

Prim hesitantly approached the cauldron. "What is it?"

"Birch beer!" Seren answered, scooping up another bottleful, "Made with real birch bark! The magic really gives it a kick. No alcohol, just sugar!"

They handed a full bottle to Prim, who held it up to her eye and curiously studied it. "Wha... what else is in it?"

"Oh, typical stuff," Seren began, leaning against the cauldron and taking another sip from their bottle, "flower flour, red knox, some timeseed to speed up the fermenting."

Prim stared blanky at the witch before her. She still had no clue what was in it.

Seren smiled brightly. "Okay, I won't force you to try it! But let me know if you change your mind. This stuff will be gone by tomorrow!"

Prim stared at the cauldron full of dark liquid. "But Seren... this is a lot of birch beer! Are you going to cask it and give it away?"

"Say, that's a nice idea!" Seren said, filling their bottle again, "Maybe I should leave a barrel before I go."

Prim tilted her head. "Go?"

---***---