Witchers Weed

by Orkus

Holiday's End

Striga finally awakened to the sound of a small draft blowing through the room he lied in, and someone humming a cheerful earworm in the background. Sitting his sore, wicker body up, he saw that he reverted to his pony-shaped self while he slept, and currently had thick, crimson bed sheets sprawled out over himself. Before he let his head down with a groan, he traced the humming to the blurry, white shape of Serendipity, who stood nearby, next to a small, wall-mounted shelf. She was tending to several, empty plant pots on the shelf by scooping soil into them from a green bag she held over her back, and had what the Black Witch quickly realized was Augur clinging onto the tip of her horn, observing his surroundings from high up.

"Morning," Serendipity said, with a hint of ebullience in her voice, after hearing his moan. Placing her bag of dirt down and turning herself around, she gave him a warm smile as Augur flew from her head to the air in front of him. "How are you feeling?"

"Sore. Confused. Alive," he replied, his tone full of relief. "What happened? Where am I?"

"Back at my house," she stated. "You've been out for almost two days. And don't worry about your moth, I've taken good care of him."

"But... where's Luna?"

"Gone," Serendipity said again, plopping herself next to his bedside. "After I asked her to let you stay, she left you in my care. The princess also told me to tell you that she's going to be keeping a very close eye on you, just so you know."

"You... you and Luna were the last things I saw," he said again, lifting his head from his pillow slightly. "How am I alive?"

"I convinced her to save your life," she smirked, as Augur decided to fly to her horn again. "But not because of what you tried to do to me. I'm still a little ticked off at that, especially because of how Luna phrased it."

"But why?" asked he. "Why do you not want me to change you into a creature like I? To replace your thoughts with whose you once possessed? You would be happier that way. We would both be happier that way."

A small interval of silence came between the two. "As tempting as that may sound, I like myself the way I am," Serendipity finally responded. "I love my life the way it is, right now. If you were to just give me her memories, and erase or alter all that I've known throughout my life... I don't want that. And after how you described Thysania to me the other day, I don't think she is the kind of person that would want that either."

Striga went as quiet as he heard her response and reasons, looking down to the wooden floor in a depressed way. "What happens now?" he decided to inquire next, looking back up to her as she left his bed. "What would you have me do?"

"To tell you the truth, I still haven't thought that far ahead," she tried to chuckle. "It hasn't even been three days since I found out you were not only a black witch, but also a giant, wooden moth-monster that makes dreams for a living, and how I'm, supposedly, the reincarnation of your wife. I'm still kind of trying to... process all that information in a way that makes sense. I haven't told my parents, or anypony else that much, of course."

Serendipity slowly got back to her hooves, and walked away a small distance. Every step she took seemed to echo throughout the mostly-empty room.

"I'm stepping out in a few hours to give my farewells to my cousin," the half-changeling spoke again, as she located and picked up her bag of earth, slumped it over her shoulder, and then approached the doorway. "With the holiday over, she's heading back home with her parents."

"What will you want me to do while you're gone?" Striga asked.

"Hmm... nothing, right now. You should just rest and heal up a little more," she replied, tilting her head partially. "And remember, don't even think about running. Luna gave me the cryptic statement that she placed a few "precautionary" spells and charms on you to make sure you can't go anywhere without unpleasant consequences."

Upon her leaving the room, Augur hopped from Serendipity's horn to the wall, and began to crawl toward his master. After reaching him, the small insect gave Striga a curious glance. Striga returned with one of his own.

"What does this all mean?" he asked the insect in a hushed whisper. "She despises what I had planned for her, yet, she is the reason I am alive and with her now. Can I... make something of this, my friend?"

The feathery antenna on the bug waved about as it tried to shrug.

---

The clouds had broken at long last the day before, revealing a blue sky, and finally letting the sun shine its fullest across the land.

A carriage, sporting a dark orange color, stood on the road at the edge Ponyville. Its six-pony crew waited attentively in polite silence for their charges, who were in front of the carriage, to finish their business so they all could be on their way.

As Longinus and Carol spoke of cheerful ideas on how they should schedule their next get-together with Thoraxis, Petra, and Skia, Serendipity stood off to the side with Charybdis, who still held onto Hesperus with a hoof.

"And remember, Chary. You have to take care of him in every way the directions describe. Especially with the plant food," she said in a serious tone, poking her in the chest with a hoof. "If you don't feed him it, he'll grow to a monstrous size and cause an unknowable amount of havoc. Got it?"

"Got it," she smiled, before placing the plant she held down on the ground and jumping at her in another, strong hug. "See you soon, Seren."

"I'll see you soon too, Chary," the half-changeling smiled, hugging back. "Hesperus, you behave yourself, you hear?"

"Oh, don't worry about me," the snapdragon rose cackled in an not-so-reassuring way, as he saw the two break off. "I won't cause any trouble."

"Charybdis, are ye coming?" Carol spoke from behind them. The filly spun her head around and waved back.

"I'll be right there, Mama!" she shouted, before looking at Serendipity again and pick up Hesperus once more. "Bye, Seren. "

"Goodbye, Chary," the blind half-changeling responded, closing her clouded, red eyes gleefully. She heard her friend bound away with a crunching of snow, followed soon after by the creaking sound of the door to the carriage closing. With a quick order from the driver, the ponies pulling the coach began to trot off, and the noise of their hooves and the carriage's squeaking wheels gradually became distant. A new sound, one made by what Serendipity realized was her own family, grew closer to her until they were upon her.

"This was a good Hearth's Warming, wasn't it?" she asked the three as they surrounded her, watching their friends leave by her side.

"The best," Thoraxis grinned, putting his hooves over her and Skia's shoulders, pulling his two daughters close to him in a loving embrace as Petra joined in; each laughing together merrily all the while. "The best."

Author's Note:

It is finally done. I am tempted to do another, final sequel (or possibly a spin-off starring either Skia, Charybdis, or both), but I have noticed that with every story I make in this series, the views dwindle considerably more than the last. So, until I make a final decision, I happily thank all who have decided to read this story, and humbly applaud those who have read all of the others in the series as well.

Goodbye for now, my friends.

Comments

[RandomClick]

Thank you for making all of these stories, I had a lot of fun reading them. While I hope you might make another one, you don't have to.

Although if I have to say one thing, it seems like you had fun writing these stories.

[Tik-Tok-deerpony]

ah, that's to bad. I really liked your series a lot.

[Skye Mist]

Aw...
But oh well! This series was one of my favorites!

[Grekoy]

I await your decision.

[HogPilot]

Are you going to make an epilogue to elaborate on what happens to Striga after this story?

[The almighty bread god]

vomzi.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/32-goodbye-gif-266.gif

[Orkus]

7019531 Just released the spin-off

[Vitae]

7018647

I would really like to see that actually, Striga wasn't a "evil" character per se, but one that was hunted and alone for centuries.

He has the right idea about nightmares and the like, it does fit the theme of the principles of the princesses that they not see the good a tiny bit of discomfort can have on developing the individual and society as a whole.

[Edguy0009]

7019541
Where?

NVM found it.

This could use a sequel.

[Kichi]

Are more sequels planned?

[Shadowshame]

These stories have been really well made and really entertaining and I know it's been years since you stopped writing these but I would just like to point out that sites like this are for sharing stories I get that opinions matter because of some instinct that makes us want the approval of the big groups but the thing is you should write because you want to write not because of the views and likes you will get on FIMfiction those in strictly my own opinion should be a minor side benefit of sharing your work.