It was an hour after dawn when Twilight Sparkle discovered Fluttershy had left town. The day after Veil's exile, she went to Fluttershy's house, hoping to comfort her, but instead found the house empty and a note from Fluttershy on the door, saying she had gone to find Veil.
Grasshoppers chirruped their ceaseless high cadence; somewhere high in the cloudless blue a skylark trilled; bees droned busily from kingcup to meadow saffron, and butterflies perched upon scabious flowers, their wings like small, still sails on the calm air. Fluttershy stopped awhile, enjoying the feel of dry curling grass underhoof as she got her bearings. The sun was easterly and climbing toward high noon. She moved until it was against her right shoulder, striding off after Veil.
It took Fluttershy some time to shake off the feeling of depression she had encountered when leaving Ponyville. All morning she kept looking back, watching the town diminish in size as she got farther away. Finally she crossed a long rolling hill and Ponyville was lost to sight. The Pegasus knew what she must do: find Veil and bring him back, even though he had been made Outcast and sent away. Fluttershy had been forming her own plans for both of them. She could get some of her Earth Pony friends to help her build a small dwelling in the Everfree Forest. There she would live with Veil, teaching him how to behave well and showing everypony how he had changed for the good. Maybe, just maybe, the princesses would one day regret their decision and allow Veil to return to Equestria.
It was midnoon before Fluttershy decided to take a break and eat something. Choosing a shaded patch on the side of a broken hill, she sat down and opened her saddlebag. She selected a russet apple that Applejack had given her the other day. She recalled how she had helped Applejack harvest the apples, and then she remembered how that very night she had learned that Veil was the poisoner. She started to cry.
"Er, hrumm, hrumm, I'll 'ave that if y'don't like it, pony!"
She looked up to see a very fat robin watching her. It nodded at the apple. "Y'don't 'ave to eat that if'n it makes y'cry. Give it t' me, y'll feel 'appier, I know y'will."
Fluttershy hiccupped. The robin bobbed its head. "Gone an' give y'self hiccups now, 'aven't you, should never whinge while eatin', bad f'you!"
Fluttershy turned her head away, trying to stem the tears. "I'm n… not whinging, j… just l… leave m… me alone p… please!"
The robin fluttered off slowly. "Chipp! Not very good company, are yer?"
Fluttershy got her hiccups under control and shouted after the bird, "You didn't see a ferret pass this way, by any chance?"
"Might 'ave. Give me the rest o' that apple an' I'll tell you. 'S no good t' you, on'y makes y'cry."
Fluttershy passed over the remainder of the apple. The robin began pecking it thoughtfully, head to one side. "Ferret passed this way las' evenin'."
"Well, which way did he go, please?"
One wing shot out pointing southwest, the exact direction in which Fluttershy was traveling.
"That way! Bye-bye, crypony!" He flew off fast.
Suddenly Fluttershy felt drained and tired, exhausted by the long walk and her emotions. Curling up, she fell asleep in the twinkling of an eye.
A breeze, or an insect, or something tickling her muzzle, brought Fluttershy back to wakefulness. Slowly, she opened one eye and saw a set of purple hooves.
"Wake up, Fluttershy, it's only me!"
Fluttershy sat bolt upright, crying, "Twilight! What are you doing here?"
Twilight took her hoof. "You're my good friend, Fluttershy. I'm not gonna leave you to go off searchin' for Veil all alone."
Fluttershy seized Twilight and hugged her. "You're a true friend, Twilight, a good, loyal companion. Thank you!"
Without another word the two friends set off together, flying southwest.
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It was evening, still light, but getting on to dusk, and Veil was hungry and thirsty. The ferret had eaten only a few young dandelion shoots and some edible roots all day. He remembered something Fluttershy had told him once, which she said she had learned from Twilight. If you were dehydrated, you could suck on a stone for a while, and that would get the juices in your mouth working. He popped a flat pebble into his mouth, but it didn't help. His mouth just got dryer, and he began to choke and cough. Veil spat the pebble out disgustedly, his respect for Fluttershy decreasing by the second.
He noticed a faint glow from some hills, to the north of his route. Overcome by curiosity, he sneaked silently over. As he drew nearer the hill, he could tell the glow was being made by a fire in a small hollow at the hill's base. Flattening himself belly down against the grass, the ferret wriggled forward quietly. When he was close enough, he lifted his head and looked.
It was a hare in a blue and white robe. Veil had met hares before. Lord Sunflash sometimes visited Ponyville, and occasionally he had brought some of his Long Patrol hares with him. Veil could tell that this particular hare was a stranger to him, but decided to approach him anyway. Veil walked into the firelight with both paws spread wide and a disarming smile upon his face.
"AHHHH! A ferret!" the hare screamed. He pressed his ears down over his eyes in fear.
"Pray, friend, don't alarm yourself," Veil said, keeping his voice soft and low. "I come in peace."
Instantly the hare's manner changed and he became welcoming. "Oh. Ok." He pronounced OK like "Ock." "Allow me to introduce myself, old chap. My name is William David Truman Joshua Stag Hare, but you can call me Joshy, wot! I'm a wizard."
Veil improvised a pack of lies. "My name's Pinkie Pie. I lost my mother and father, aye, and a sister too, last winter. I've been on my own ever since, wandering field and forest. Er, did you say you were a wizard?"
"That's right! I'm on my way to the mountain of Salamandastron right now to use my magical powers to assist the Badger Lord Sunflash in defeatin' the evil ferret Warlord Swartt Sixclaw."
Veil started at the sound of that name, recognizing it as the name of his father according to Luna. "Swartt Sixclaw?"
"Yeah, they call him that because he has six claws on each paw." Veil hurriedly thrust his own six-clawed paws into his pockets.
"Well, I don't have anywhere in particular to go," the ferret said nonchalantly. "Maybe I'll go with you to the mountain and help." Help my father kill the badger, he thought to himself.
"Well, that sounds jolly good to me," said Joshy. "Only problem is the other creatures at Salamandastron might have apprehensions about trustin' a vermin. But I can vouch for you. I say, d'you fancy some scoff? I know I do. I'm flippin' famished, wot?"
"What's scoff?" Veil asked.
"Why scoff is food, don't ya know!"
"But I don't see any food around here," the ferret said.
"Well, I'm goin' to conjure it, wot wot! Stand back!" Joshy commanded as he pulled a magic wand out of his robe. "F-f-f-fried chicken!" And there it was. A whole bunch of fried chicken on the ground.
"I thought hares didn't eat meat," Veil said.
"Most of 'em don't, but this is different, 'cos I didn't kill another animal to get it. I just created it by magic."
Veil picked up a piece of chicken from the ground and munched on it. It was delicious. He had seen chickens on a farm near Ponyville once and always wondered how they would taste, but Fluttershy had forbidden him from eating them. After they had had their fill of chicken, Joshy said "Watermelon!" and a whole bunch of watermelon appeared on the ground. Finally, gorged, they lay down for the sleep of the night. There was still a lot of food left on the ground, but Joshy said, "Just leave it there. Some other hungry creature will come along an' eat it, wot."
"Which way is Salamandastron?" Veil asked.
Joshy waved a paw. "Way south in the west. But now we need to get some sleep. We'll continue on the jolly old journey tomorrow."
The hare was asleep in seconds. Veil could hear him muttering the names of dishes in his sleep. He snickered to himself. The fool had left his magic wand unattended. Some wizard! This might come in handy, he thought as he pocketed it. He also stole a knife and a bunch of the uneaten chicken, wrapping it all up in a blanket to make a bundle. There was far too much for him to carry it all, but he took what he could.
When Joshy Stag Hare woke up in the morning, he had a wound on his head, crusted with dried blood around a swelling lump. "Hmm, must've rolled over an' hit a rock in me sleep. I'll just whip out my wand an' heal myself, wot- I say! Where's the bally thing got to?"
His wand was gone! And his knife was gone! And his blanket was gone! And Veil was gone! And most of his food was gone. The robin that Fluttershy had met the previous day was there and he was pecking at the remains of the fried chicken. Then another robin flew up and said, "Dude, that's bird meat. You're eating another bird."
Then Fluttershy and Twilight arrived on the scene. "Oh, you poor thing! What happened?" Fluttershy cried.
Joshy relayed a halting account of the previous night. "Ferret, said his name was Pinkie Pie, camped with me, gave him supper an' a blanket to sleep. Woke up this mornin', head achin', food gone, knife an' wand gone too. Huh, ferret gone an' all!"
Twilight looked at Fluttershy and shook her head. "That must have been Veil. First he tries to poison Pinkie Pie, then he steals her identity. I'll see what I can do for the hare."
"Oh, I say, are you an alicorn? I've heard legends about them. Capital creatures, wot?" Joshy chuckled as Twilight healed him with her horn.
"I'm Twilight Sparkle and this is Fluttershy," said Twilight.
"Pleased to meet ye. My name's William David Truman Joshua Stag Hare an' I'm a wizard. But you can call me Joshy, wot wot!"
"Okay, we will," said Twilight.
"What brings you to these parts?" Joshy asked.
"We're looking for the ferret, Veil," Fluttershy said.
"Veil? The fella told me his name was Pinkie Pie."
"Pinkie Pie is one of our friends from Ponyville," Fluttershy explained.
"Veil tried to poison her," Twilight added. "Instead he ended up poisoning many other ponies. Our princess banished him from Equestria, but Fluttershy wants to find him for some reason."
"Veil will be good someday. I just know it," Fluttershy insisted stubbornly.
"I guess the story he told me was a flippin' pack o' lies then," Joshy mused.
"Why did you even trust a ferret?" Twilight asked.
"Well, y'know, you can't just say that all creatures of a certain species are bad. When I used to live up in Noonvale, I had a friend who was a rat."
"You know he's actually Swartt Sixclaw's son?" Twilight asked him.
The hare's ears shot up. "Oh corks! An' I told him that Sixclaw was attackin' the badger mountain! Now he'll probably try to join up with his father, wot!"
"Maybe not," said Fluttershy. "Maybe we can catch up with him in time and I can convince him to come back and live in the Everfree Forest with me."
"Well, this is what I propose," said Joshy. "Your ferret friend is doubtlessly headed for Salamandastron, an' I'm goin' there too, to help in the battle. Why don't we all go together, wot? I can show you the way."
"That sounds like a good idea to me," said Fluttershy.
"Do you want to take some of this food with you?" Twilight asked.
"No, that's ok, I can conjure more whenever I jolly want t- Hang on a tick! No I can't! The blighter took my wand! Well, I suppose I'll have to take it back from him when we find him. Give me a little extra incentive, wot?"
He shook the ponies' hooves and the three of them set off, tracking the ferret once more.
P.S. Joshy Stag Hare is Basil Stag Hare's father.
