Product of Friendship (My Little Pony)

3 The Impish Witch, Wisteria (3/3)

"Princess Twilight," a royal guard saluted to the Princess of Friendship. "Um, are you okay?"

Twilight garnered a ruffled coat from her bout with Thorax, but thankfully, she was able to restrain the changeling leader and hold him down long enough for her guards to fetch the depressant to cure him.

"I'm fine," Twilight assured the guard. "But more importantly, how is she?"

"There hasn't been much change to her condition. She still occasionally laughs and has that creepy smile, but at least her mind is still stable."

"At least there's no relapse," Twilight sighed. "I need to speak with her, alone."

"As you wish princess." The guard stepped aside from the Princess's path as she walked the long narrow path up to a platform elevated by the tall rocks of Tartarus.

Upon the platform, Twilight heard the snicker of a purple mare that was trapped within transparent walls. The mare leaned upon one of these walls as she grinned at the presence of the princess.

"Hello Poison Peck," Twilight stood before the wall. "How are you feeling?"

"Annoyed," Poison Peck smiled. "But I'm sure my face says otherwise. Give a minute, won't you?"

"That's quite disheartening. Even after how hard we've tried to cure you of your condition."

"Don't act like you're doing it simply because you care about me," Poison leered at the Princess. "We both know you just want information out of me."

"And I won't deny that is another reason why I'm doing this."

"Hmph, you're so honest and upfront, it's strange how no creature hasn't put a knife in your back yet."

"Because I like to see the good in creatures; however, I know it can be impossible for some. But, I like to think there is still hope for you."

"Please don't tell you're gonna go about that friendship spiel again?" Poison rolled her eyes.

"You're the second creature to say that today."

"Oh really, well it's nice to know that not every creature is a part of your cult."

"It's not a cult, Poison. Creatures always have the choice as to whether they desire friendship or not. I advised against the latter, but that's not my call in the end."

"I bet if I became a zealot of your ideals, you'd let me free."

"I would be very skeptical of the sudden change. But even so, I still couldn't let you free after the deeds you committed. You harmed a lot of creatures selling those drugs, you know?"

"It's their own fault. It's not like ever deceived them of what the dust did. They bought it, knowing full well what they were getting themselves into."

"What you sold spread chaos across my country with creatures getting overdosed and harming the public. We've finally managed to create a counter drug against it, but those drugs are still getting trafficked. Not just in Equestria, but even across our borders. The matter is getting out of hoof."

"—"

"I want to stop the production of the devil's dust. I still don't understand why you won't give me any information. You have no means of profit out of it anymore. Are you perhaps trying to defend your collaborators?"

"I don't have friends, Princess."

"Then who is Wisteria?"

"Wha...I don't know who you are talking about."

"Well, I think you do. I remembered that name being mentioned in the report, though it was written about a foal being named Wist. We never managed to find this foal, so we kept a missing post out across towns. Though, it proved pretty useless without a face."

A chuckle escaped Poison. "Is there a point to this conversation, Princess?"

"Poison, how do you suppose I know the whole name?"

"I don't know, maybe you heard rumors. I'm not interested in guessing games."

"I met her."

"...And how was this Wisteria?"

"Fairly young, brash, and very stubborn like some other pony I know. But most importantly, she appears fine."

"..." A smile appeared on Poison's face. Twilight would expect Poison to think the Princess would chalk it down as a side-effect from her unique overdose, but Twilight held another view.

"I want to help her Poison. Right now, she's causing problems for creatures by raiding their homes. And there's also the issue of her possessing devil's dust. I can't ignore her."

"...Is she a witch?"

"She likes to refer to herself as the wicked witch of the east."

"That's so cheesy," Poison chuckled.

"I want to make peace with her. But I'm afraid I know too little to get through to her. Won't you tell me about her? About her origins? Her goals?"

"I'm afraid I know just as little as you." Poison grinned. "Seems I'm just useless to you, aren't I? At this point, you might throw me to those three-headed pups down below. Those wretched litters always make a racket in these caverns, I'm sure I could make the perfect chew toy to shut them up."

"Will you stop with the suicidal thoughts!? This is already punishment enough for what you've done. I refuse to do anything beyond this. Wouldn't it hurt Wisteria if you spoke that way?"

"Hah," Poison guffawed. "You speak as if I have some sort of relationship with this witch. I'll have you know that we witches prefer to work alone. Partnership is not something we like to practice. We only accept the servitude of others."

"Things would be so much simpler if you just let down your walls."

"Well, these you have around me would be a start, don't you think?"

"And give you the chance to jump off this platform again? You may have those thoughts, but I do know you want it done quickly. Which is why you won't do it right now."

"You know me so well." Poison was unamused.

"If you're not going to tell me, then I'm just going to have to stop Wisteria the hard way."

"And how is that?"

"I'm going to catch her...though that's going to prove a lot difficult given what she has in her arsenal. I'll have to think of a way around it, so I'll be off if you're not interested in telling me anything."

Twilight began to walk away from the cage, but before she could descend the narrow path, Poison voiced, "Wait." Twilight stopped and looked back at the mare. "Did she ever mention what her purpose could be?"

"She said that she's looking for home."

"—"

"I truly hope she finds it."

Twilight then descended the narrow path out of Tartarus, leaving the witch pony in her lonesome. The mare contemplated in her mind for a long moment. A mixture of happiness and despair passed upon her face.

She raised a hoof close to her face. She brushed upon it with another hoof to reveal a scar on her skin. A wound that pretentious brat gave her during her larvae stage. Poison brushed the scar upon the snout, hoping to get at least a whiff of her scent.

"You idiot." A tear inevitably fell upon the mare's eyes as she began to flood more and more in her lonesome.

Wisteria descended upon a branch as she gazed in awe of the massive town that laid before her. "This place is huge." Her snout widened as she smelled the air around her. "But this has to be it. What else could this scent be? It has to be home."

Her eyes dawned upon a large sign next to the dirt path leading to the town. "So it's called Ponyville," Wisteria deduced from the writing. "So this is where home is."