Wild Yeast was not the Muffin Mare. Aside from his total lack of gender dysphoria, his bustling bakery managed much more than mere muffins. He was a purveyor of pastries and other baked goods to stores and restaurants throughout Canterlot. Thus, in order to have product ready in time for their openings, his workday had to start in the wee hours of the morning.
While the bulk of his profits came from his business customers, the zoning laws required that he have a retail presence at his bakery, so he maintained a small café with counter service. The store was more for appearances than anything else. There would be days when only the local constabulary would grace the counter, eager for a shot of sugar and a cup of black wakefulness. While the retail side was more of a hobby for him, he kept the store tidy and decently-stocked as a matter of pride.
Days off were a luxury he could seldom afford. Unless arrangements had been made well in advance, he and his crew would arrive for work under Luna's moon, regardless of how prepared they might be. The bulk of the tasks could be done by rote, allowing them to be productive while their minds wandered. More often than he'd care to admit, Wild Yeast had mornings that seemed to be more dream than reality. This was one of them.
The absurdity had started shortly after he'd unlocked the dining area. Wild Yeast had been placing half a tray of cherry tarts next to a lone tray of chocolate muffins when an owl had dropped onto the counter. The stallion had blinked in amazement; the door and windows had been closed. Before he could recover from his surprise, the owl had nudged a letter over to him. It was an order for four of the muffins. Not knowing what else to do, he had placed the order in a to go box and tied it with a bit of twine. The bird had hooted at him and dropped a few coins on the counter before picking up the package in its talons and taking flight. Somehow, it and its payload had disappeared mid-flap. Bewildered, Wild Yeast had examined the coins. They were silver and copper, rather than the familiar gold of an Equestrian bit.
He was still puzzling over the whole encounter when he reemerged from the back with a tray of banana nut muffins. To his surprise, there was another owl with yet another letter. This one wanted two chocolate muffins and four cherry tarts. With a shaky horn, Wild Yeast filled that order, and, like its predecessor, the bird took the box of food after leaving some coins.
His next trip from the back saw yet another owl waiting. This one bore a letter requesting a half dozen of the banana nut muffins. After placing the ginger rolls he had been carrying in the display case, he rushed to fill another to go box. That task hadn’t been completed when yet another bird arrived with a demand for the ginger rolls. This time, when the bird deposited its gold coin, it stopped to pick up several of the silver and copper coins he'd already collected. Since the new coin was a different color than the others, Wild Yeast could only assume it was making change.
That had been the template of his morning. Every time he brought out a tray, it wouldn’t be very long before an owl came with a letter requesting something from his displayed goods. It became so hectic that he had his apprentices make extra just to keep up with the birds’ demands. With no clue of the value of the new coins, he was unsure of the impact this would have on his bottom line.
He was just filling an order for two dozen chocolate chip muffins when the mare who ran the shop next door to his own entered, presumably for her usual.
“Good morning, Mystic Book,” the frazzled stallion called out. “Take a seat; I’ll have a batch of croissants fresh from the oven in just a few minutes.”
“Oui, thank you,” said the mare as she watched a bird disappear with its burden. Strangely enough, she didn’t seem surprised by the sight.
That clinched it; this had to be a dream.
Fred and George Weasley made their way down the stairs to the common room. For once, it was easy to discern which was which since they were each favoring different body parts. The visible welts on their faces were also distinctive, making it impossible for them to easily imitate each other, not that they weren’t planning on using glamours to facilitate their oft-used ruse. The challenge factor had just been raised a few notches.
They were surprised to find the seventh-year prefect waiting for them.
“Fred, George,” Fay said, motioning for them to come over to attend her. “A few quick words, please.”
“That depends . . .” said George.
“. . . on whether or not stinging hexes are involved,” Fred finished.
“We are past that,” Fay said, “for now.”
George started, “Then we don’t see . . .”
“. . . why not,” Fred finished.
“It won’t take long,” Fay said. “I just wanted to let you know that I sent the alpha mare of your herd a letter informing her of your foolhardiness.”
The twins stared wordlessly at the prefect.
“In the future, when, not if, you cross the line, I shall be contacting her before punishment is issued,” Fay continued.
The twins continued to stare.
“This shall not apply to the loss of points or detention,” Fay said.
The twins continued to stare.
“or the minor use of stinging hexes.”
Yet more staring was accompanied by some flinches.
“But anything more than that, she will be contacted,” Fay finished.
The stares continued.
“Do you understand?” Fay asked.
The twins nodded dumbly in acknowledgment.
“Good,” Fay said. “Good talk. I’m happy that we understand one another.”
The twins continued to stare.
“I’ll be going now,” Fay said. “I have other duties to attend to.” She then made her way out the portrait portal and was soon gone from sight.
Fred turned to his twin and asked, “We’re in a herd?”
“That is some critical news.” George replied.
There was a pregnant pause.
“I feel like someone should have told us,” George said.
“Or somepony,” Fred added.
“There is that,” George agreed.
“To be fair, Fay just told us,” Fred said.
“The word ‘belated’ comes to mind,” George added.
“There is that. Right?” said Fred.
Silence marked another pregnant pause.
“Any ideas on how we can take advantage of this?” Fred asked.
“No, I’ve been too busy wondering how this is going to come back to bite us in the bum,” George answered.
“Hopefully it’ll wait until after the welts heal," Fred quipped.
Professor McGonagall sighed as she looked down at the two first-years before her on the other side of her desk. “When I summon a student, is it too much to ask for them to come alone?”
“Yes ma’am,” Apple Bloom replied. “If’n it’s one o' mah herd, Ah’ll be there as well.”
Resisting the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose, Professor McGonagall said, “Miss Bloom, this is a delicate matter for Mr. Longbottom alone. If he wishes to share with you after the fact, that is his choice, not yours.”
“I don’t mind her being here,” Neville said.
“Mr. Longbottom,” Professor McGonagall said, “the subject I need to discuss pertains to your parents.”
Neville blanched before sending Apple Bloom a worried look. “I . . . I . . . I . . .” he sputtered.
“Now, Miss Bloom, if you wouldn’t mind waiting in the corridor, we shan’t be long.”
“She . . .” Neville squared his shoulders and stood taller. “She can stay.”
Professor McGonagall studied the young boy for a second. “Very well, Mr. Longbottom,” she said. “I have a simple message to relay. Your Gran has contacted me. It being the weekend, she has decided to come collect you this morning for a visit. You are expected to be prepared to depart within the hour.”
“Yes ma’am.” Neville gulped.
“As you can see, this is nothing nefarious,” Professor McGonagall said to Apple Bloom. “You may return to your friends; your presence is not required.”
Apple Bloom took in the tense posture of her colt. “Ah don’t think so ma’am,” she affirmed. “Ah kin see that Neville needs the support of his herd.”
“I’m afraid that you need permission to leave the castle,” Professor McGonagall said. “We have covered that very subject recently; I trust we do not need to revisit it.”
“No ma’am,” Apple Bloom said. “Ah know we were given permission to accompany our herdmates when our presence is needed.”
“Yes, that was a peculiar clause that your guardians insisted on including.” Professor McGonagall mused. “However, I assure you that it shan’t be needed in this case.”
“Neville don’t have ta face anything alone,” Apple Bloom insisted.
“Very well,” Professor McGonagall sighed. “I see you are determined. However, I warn you that Mr. Longbottom’s guardian has the final say in the matter. That is nonnegotiable.”
“Thank you, ma’am,” Apple Bloom said. “Ah’ll get tha others.”
“No,” Professor McGonagall said. “This shall not be turned into a major undertaking. Not to mention only four of your group have that exception.”
“But . . .”
“Do not push your luck, Miss Bloom.”
“Yes’m.”
“Be at the front door in thirty minutes.” Professor McGonagall dismissed the children. “Mr. Filch shall escort you to the gates to meet with Regent Longbottom.”
The members of the Crusaders looked up as two of their number descended the stairs into the trunk.
“How’d it go?” Luna was the first to ask.
“Neville needs ta go with his Gran ta visit his parents,” Apple Bloom answered.
“She didn’t say that,” Neville protested. “How’d you guess?”
“She did too,” Apple Bloom corrected.” She jus’ didn’t say it with one sentence.”
Neville just gave Apple Bloom a gloomy look.
“Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom said, “you and Harry Potter will be going with.”
“You don’t need to,” Neville said. “I can handle it. This isn’t the first time.”
“Ah kin see that y'all kin use the help,” Apple Bloom said, brooking no argument
“Don’t worry Neville,” Harry said. “We’re here for you.”
“This isn't the first time,” Neville repeated.
“Give it up,” Scootaloo broke in. “The last time you handled it alone was the last time you’ll handle it alone.”
“I’ll have Gran,” Neville said softly.
“And you’ll have us, too,” Harry said. “When are we leaving?”
“Head down ta the front door, right now,” Apple Bloom said. “Y'all don’t have much time.”
“Okay.” Scootaloo and Harry accompanied Neville up the stairs, the discussion closed.
“An’ how is it going with the project?” Apple Bloom looked in the corner where two girls were on the floor, poring over a book.
Sweetie commented without looking up. “This is harder than we thought.”
“There are a lot of prerequisites that we haven’t covered yet,” Hermione added. “This is going to take some time.”
Apple Bloom sighed. “Is there anything we can do ta speed it up?”
“That wouldn’t be a good idea,” Hermione said. “There are all kinds of safeties built into the spell and the book specifically warns against taking shortcuts.
Parvati looked over Sweetie’s shoulder. “It doesn’t look too hard,” she commented.
“That’s just the final spell structure,” Sweetie said. “There’s a lot of theory to go with it, as well as exercises for perfecting the proper mindset.”
“Is all of that necessary?” Parvati asked, studying the spell matrix. “Can’t we just use this and go?”
“I’m going to have to agree with Parvati,” Dean said. “You don’t need to know how to put an engine together to start a car.”
“It doesn’t work that way.” Hermione huffed. “This spell demands the proper mindset, something like that doesn’t happen overnight, especially since it’s so counterintuitive with how we normally perceive reality.”
“How hard could it be?” asked Seamus. “We learned Bombarda and we aren’t supposed to be able to handle that for a couple years yet.”
“You mean, you learned Bombarda,” Ginny corrected grumpily. “The rest of us haven’t managed so much as a pop yet, not even Hermione or Sweetie.”
“The principle's the same.” Seamus shrugged.
“This is more complicated,” Sweetie said. “We can do it, but it is going to take time.”
“Complaining don’t git tha chores done,” Apple Bloom said. “It’s time to get our hooves dirty. How do we start?”
“Practicing the mindset.” Hermione said “Basically, it consists of thinking of yourself in two places at once and then correcting yourself by placing yourself in only one spot.”
“That doesn’t sound too hard,” Dean said from his place on the couch.
“It’s an oversimplification,” Hermione huffed, “and it’s harder than it sounds.”
“That still doesn’t sound too hard,” Parvati said. “I do that all of the time.”
“What do you mean?” asked Ron.
“Padma,” Parvati clarified.
“Oh,” Lavender said. “I can see how that would be a head start.”
Hermione rocked back on her heels, placing her hands on her hips. “That’s only part of it. You have to think of yourself in the other spot when you pull your thoughts back and you have to keep the spell matrix in mind while you do it. It takes years of practice, hard years of practice.”
Parvati stood up staring forward; her eyes went glassy as she concentrated.
“Don’t even think of it!” Hermione barked. “Besides, you can’t apparate inside of H . . .”
*Pop!*
“No, that still doesn’t . . ."
*Pop!*
". . . sound too hard . . ."
*Pop!*
". . . at all."
The other stared, astonished, as Parvati had thrice instantaneously disappeared from one part of the room and reappeared in a different part of the room, finally stopping at the other side of the room, glowing slightly.
“I think that counts as more than a head start,” Luna observed.
Hermione demanded, “Do you have any idea how dangerous that was?”
“No,” Parvati admitted.
Hermione threw her arms in the air, shrieking in frustration.
“Calm down, Hermione,” Apple Bloom said soothingly. “She jus’ proved we kin do it.”
“That was dangerous.” Hermione gritted her teeth.
“You did say there were safeties on the spell,” Abigail pointed out.
“We didn’t know how it would react to the Hogwarts' wards!” Hermione shouted.
“Wait a minute,” Sweetie said, narrowing her eyes at Parvati as the glow faded. “Take pony shape for a second.”
“Okay.” Parvati shrugged and shrank. There was something distinctly different about the pegasus.
“Arrrrgh!”
*Thump!*
*Crack!*
Lavender looked at the couch that Apple Bloom had just assaulted with her forehead. “We really need to move up learning Reparo,” she commented.
“Someone stop Sweetie!” Seamus snapped. “I think she’s going to attempt the same thing on the wall.”
Hagrid had seen a lot of interesting things in his lifetime. His experience with the lesser-known creatures of the world was particularly acute. Some of the wonders he had witnessed would elicit an extreme reaction. Being locked in a room with a lovable graphorn was either the stuff of a bed-wetting nightmare, or the subject of an equally messy dream. For Hagrid, the number of things falling in the former category were vanishingly small.
There were still things that the half-giant found disquieting. The scene he found fell in that tiny category. He had been informed that someone was attempting to force their way onto the castle grounds via the main gate. As keeper of the keys, it was his duty to investigate. Of all the things he imagined that could be so emphatically triggering the wards, three small girls collectively using the remains of the main gate as a battering ram was not one of them. The four other girls who acted as an audience were an even greater surprise.
“'Ere now!” He barked. “What do you think yer doing?”
The girls stopped what they were doing and gave him their undivided attention. There may have been traces of guilt on their faces but the predominate emotion he detected was anger.
“There’s a wall,” one of the girls whined, “an invisible wall.”
“That there is the wards,” Hagrid said. “You must be right mad at someone if you’re tripping them. Yer right lucky they’re on their lowest setting or you’d be spending time in the hospital wing.”
“We need to get to the castle,” another one of the girls said.
“Too right you do.” Hagrid took the remains of the gate from the three holding it. “Yer not supposed to be leaving the grounds, now are you? What’s going through yer heads? Now git going, I’ll fix this.”
“We can’t,” the first girl whined. “The invisible wall.”
“Well, yer just going ta have ta leave yer anger behind, ain’t cha,” Hagrid said.
“It isn’t that simple,” a girl with bright blue hair said.
“Sure, it is,” Hagrid said. “Look you didn’t hear it from me, but with all of you new students coming in the middle of the year, you weren’t added to the wards in the normal manner. That means you have a few hoops to jump through in cases like this. Just focus on not wanting to harm anyone in the castle. That ain’t proper anyway. Whatever has yer knickers in a twist isn’t worth hurting no one.”
“But . . .”
“There ain’t no 'buts'.” Hagrid hauled the pieces of the gate into position, and the gate started repairing itself as soon as they were in place. “I can see that whatever it is was enough for accidental magic. Little slips like you wouldn’t be picking up this here gate otherwise. You have two choices: ye can calm down an' maybe talk out yer differences all peaceful like or you can come with me into the forest. There is a deadfall tree there needing taken care of. A few hours of good hard labor is sure to give you time ta cool off.”
“We have good reason to be angry,” insisted one of the girls with pink locks.
“Judging by yer hair, I'd wager you ran afoul of the Weasley twins. 'Taint but a harmless prank, easily fixed. You lot wouldn’t be first to fall to their sense o' humor, now would you?”
“Prank?”
“They are known for it, ain’t they.” Hagrid said. “Now, which of you will be helping me chop up some wood?”
Sighing, the girl with seafoam green hair took a few hesitant steps forward, crossing the ward boundaries without issue.
“See now, it weren’t that hard,” Hagrid said approvingly with a wide grin.
The girl with bright blue hair tried next. There was a flash of light and she was thrown back ten feet, landing on her back.
“Looks like I’ll be having help after all,” Hagrid commented.
“I want to try again,” groaned the blue haired girl.
"Then you better be leaving yer anger back there,” Hagrid said.
The green haired girl called back, "It's time to be icy, Icy, not hot."
There were no more problems as the girls crossed the ward line and Hagrid shooed them towards the castle.
Berryshine was of two minds on her current situation. She couldn’t say that she was enthusiastic when her new father had talked her mother into her going to the same school he did. She couldn’t say that she had been upset either. It wouldn’t be farfetched to say that she agreed because she had nothing better to do. The only annoying thing was the addition to her name that she now had to remember to acknowledge.
She had felt trepidation at the thought of leaving her friends behind. The thought of having to make new friends was even more daunting. It was, therefore, more than just a pleasant surprise that several of her schoolmates had also shown up on the first day. They weren’t her normal social circle; after all, Rumble, Spike and Button Mash were colts. Lily was quiet but likeable, and she’d spent some time in her company back in Ponyville. Then there was Dinky; you’d have to be some kind of deranged pony not to adore Dinky. All said, she wasn’t crazy or desperate enough to hang out with the Crusaders.
That day had dawned with their first day off from classes, something she had, surprisingly, been enjoying immensely. Thus, the occupants of the muggleborn tent had found themselves with free time -- well free time after the impromptu house meeting where it had been emphatically drilled into their heads that tickling Spike when he napped on a couch would no longer be tolerated. The scare over the near death of one of their own had been repeatedly highlighted. Supposedly, dragonfire transportation was not supposed to work on living creatures, and the Princess didn’t appreciate having couches dropped on her head. That was good to know. But seriously, who knew Spike could breathe fire in human form? That probably had something to do with how Edna managed to ride the flames.
Once they had suffered through the scolding, the group had broken up. Rumble was the first to leave, with Lily in tow. They and several of the other colts headed off to watch Quippass practice. Truthfully, trading quips was something at which Rumble exceled, but Berryshine was surprised that Lily considered it interesting. Spike had mentioned something about having his rulebooks in his saddlebags before he and Ralph had set off seeking Draco. Whatever they were up to, Berryshine wasn’t interested.
Thus, she had found herself wandering the castle with Button Mash, Dinky, and her human, Dudley. They must have been a pathetic sight, since it hadn’t been long before they had been invited up to the Gryffindor common room to play games. Color Berryshine surprised, but it hadn’t taken Button Mash two steps in before he gravitated toward the squat arcade game around which several other colts had gathered. Actually, there were some fillies mixed in with that group, and Dudley had followed Button Mash soon after.
Nor did it take to long for one of the prefects to declare button Mash would be held to the Lavender time limits, whatever those were.
As for herself and Dinky, they had been drafted into a game called Risk. The rules were simple, but it was captivating nonetheless and Berryshine found that Dinky had a competitive streak, as well as being ruthless as far as little pieces of plastic were concerned. It was actually more than a little scary.
Yes, Berryshine was of two minds. She hadn’t seen her mother in several days, but at the same time, she was having fun, making friends, and learning interesting things.
It was a somber group that gathered in the Janus Thickey Ward of St. Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Well, 'gathered' was not quite accurate. Two of the children were keeping their distance from the family out of respect. If either of these two were the sort for tears, then the waterworks would have been in full effect. As it was, they were hugging each other as they watched their herdmate and his Gran reconnect with two loved ones who weren’t even aware that they were there. That too was not quite accurate since the woman had handed Neville a candy wrapper. At some level, she had recognized her son.
There was no doubt in the children's minds that the small piece of trash was more valuable than all of the property they owned in Canterlot.
There was no doubt that the visit took a lot out of Neville.
There also was no doubt that he wouldn't miss it for anything.
“Ooooh, what’s that? That’s not like any wrackspurt I’ve ever seen before.”
Harry and Scootaloo looked at each other before looking up. “Luna?”
“Not that wrackspurts are easy to see without spectrespecs, but this place is filled with them.”
“What?” asked Harry.
“There.” Luna waved a hoof at the Longbottom family. “I don’t think that’s a wrackspurt, it’s too big and bumpy.”
“I don’t see anything,” Harry said, squinting in confusion as he adjusted his glasses.
“Really?” Luna sounded surprised. “I’ve been able to see them easier ever since I started Hogwarts. I assume it is due to practicing magic more.”
“Miss Lovegood.” Neville’s Gran had caught sight of the little pony perched on the ceiling. “What are you doing here?”
“Checking on my herdmates,” Luna answered.
“How did you get here?” Neville’s Gran demanded curtly. “I was only aware of the two tagalongs.”
“Parvati teleported me,” Luna stated. “We were all worried about Neville.”
“There was no need to worry,” Neville’s Gran said brusquely. “That doesn’t explain how . . .”
Her words were interrupted when Luna launched herself off the ceiling and darted through the space between Neville’s parents’ heads.
“Miss Lovegood!” Neville’s Gran gasped.
“Mmm?” Luna queried. “mmm mm?”
“What are you doing?” Neville’s Gran demanded.
Luna swallowed. “I don’t know,” she replied, “but it felt like the right thing to do.”
“This disturbance is most unbecoming. You are the Minister’s daughter; I expect you to behave accordingly,” Neville’s Gran snapped. “Once again, how did you manage to follow us here?”
“Parvati teleported me,” Luna repeated.
“And how, pray tell did she manage that?”
“I don’t know,” Luna admitted.
“And how do you plan on getting back?”
“I suppose I could floo to the Three Broomsticks and fly from there,” Luna said, unperturbed.
Augusta Longbottom wasn’t one for pinching the bridge of her nose but she felt like now was a good time to give it a go. “And where is this Parvati friend of yours?”
“I don’t know.” Luna shrugged. “Most likely back at the castle.”
“So, she apparated you here and then went back?”
“No,” Luna said. “She sent me by myself.”
“Don’t be foolish,” Neville’s Gran snapped. “You can’t apparate someone by themselves. You have to go with.”
“Oh?” Luna said. “I believe that was what Hermione was trying to tell Parvati before she sent me.”
“She couldn’t have sent you by yourself,” Neville’s Gran stiffly decreed. “That’s impossible.”
“It is?” Luna said. “Then I suppose I oughtn’t tell Parvati just in case that causes her to stop doing it.”
“We obviously picked the wrong time to leave the castle,” Neville murmured. “We missed all the fun.”
Augusta gave her grandson a shocked look.
“Did we miss anything else?” Harry asked.
“Parvati got her cutie mark,” Luna said helpfully.
“It seems to be Parvati’s day,” Neville said before turning to his mother. “She’s one of the herdmates I’ve been telling you about, Mum. For that matter, so is Luna here.”
“Oh, we also took Sweetie to Madam Pomfrey for head trauma.” Luna continued. “She’s another herdmate. Don’t worry, Madam Pomfrey said she’ll be fine in a little while.”
“How did Sweetie get head trauma?” Harry asked.
“Her head isn’t as hard as Apple Bloom’s.” Luna stated. “Neither was the couch, for that matter.”
“Enough of this foolishness,” Augusta said. “I shall be returning you to the school forthwith. Rest assured; I shall be having words with your head of house.” With those words, she began ushering the children from the ward. Somehow, she managed to overlook Scootaloo, who hadn’t moved from her position next to the wall.
After watching the others leave, Scootaloo approached the two adults still sitting unresponsive in their chairs. A look of determination crossed her face as she spoke. “I know it’s not your fault and I know you don’t mean to hurt him, but you are. For Neville’s sake . . .” Scootaloo turned to leave and catch up with the others. “. . . you need to wake up.”
Anyone watching the room would have said that nothing had changed -- anyone except Luna.