Piv awoke the next day to his usual morning hunger. It was no small wonder he had been feeling a bit more peckish than usual lately; his encounter with Meta taught him that he fed from the affections of other ponies. It was only reasonable that the more they cared for him, the better and more full he would feel. So! His decision to give space to the pony that cared for him the most was the cause of all his discomfort. He needed to start spending time with Veil again.
Besides which, maybe she'd already had plenty of time to sort things out for herself. Maybe seeing Piv again was just what she needed, too? He wouldn't know unless he saw her. He could always back off again if she still needed space... after just a quick little meal. The thought made him feel guilty, but he was sure there wasn't any real reason for that. After all it was a symbiotic relationship! He got what he needed to live, and she got to keep her friend. The alternative was for him to starve and for her to lose Pivotal Pledge forever.
He arrived at Veil's Lab to find a note upon her door. 'Out to gather ingredients in the Everfree Forest & visit Zecora.' His brows drew together with worry. Living in Ponyville, It hadn't taken long for him to hear a few stories about the Everfree Forest. What he knew so far did not reassure him. Not everypony agreed on the details, but one thing they did all agree on was that it could be a very dangerous place.
He quickened his pace to a brisk trot, taking the road south out of town. The warm and inviting atmosphere of Ponyville gave way to wilder foliage. The last glimpse of civilization he passed was a cozy looking cottage that appeared to be home to quite a large number of animals, and then the forest closed around him. It was very unlike the forest in which he'd first awoken, a place which he'd since learned was called the White Tail Forest. Although morning was not yet half passed, Celestia's sunlight had no home here. The trees grew so thick that not a single ray reached the ground.
A challenging shout broke the silence from somewhere ahead, and Piv's eyes widened as he recognized Veil's voice. His trot broke into a canter, though he was careful to watch his footing lest he stumble like the last time he rushed to somepony's aid. He only prayed that this time he was not too late!
Emerging from behind a tree, he found Veil facing down a pack of large wolf-like beasts made entirely from wood. Her wings were spread wide and she was beating her beige plumes fiercely, yet instead of flying away she simply maintained a hover. It seemed she was defending a small cart she had brought along with her. The wooden wolves regarded her cautiously, tension in their postures, as they rumbled threateningly.
"Veil!" He cried out in alarm.
She turned, surprise clear on her face and in her voice, "Piv?!" It was all the distraction the nearest wolf needed. Seeing her back turned, it leapt at her with a snarl, claws extended! Time slowed, and the moment seemed to pass like cold molasses inching down the trunk of a tree as he watched the creature flow smoothly through the air. He hadn't really known what he would do when he arrived, but the moment her eyes fell on him Piv had felt a surge of energy. Letting instinct guide him, he took that strength and shaped it through his horn.
A brilliant bolt of teal energy lanced out and caught the wolf full in the chest, blasting it apart into sticks and twigs. It's companions snarled in anger and advanced on him, seeming to lose interest in Veil entirely. "Back off!!!" He let loose another bolt, though the approaching wolf saw it coming and dodged neatly to the side. Piv backed up to give himself more room to fire, but they howled excitedly and quickened their approach. They were too many, too close, too fast. He was finished.
"EYAAH!!!" Veil shot in from the side and delivered a terrific shoulder tackle to the leading wolf, knocking him over and pushing him away. She then resumed the posture he'd seen her in when he'd first arrived, hovering off the ground facing the wolves and beating her wings. It was now he noticed she also had cymbals strapped to her hooves. "Go on, get out of here!" She shouted at them, as she started loudly beating the cymbals together.
The wolves seemed to lose their nerve as she flared her wings, shouted, and slammed the cymbals together to create an unholy racket. Piv watched in awe as they cringed, edging away from her ferocious display. Once the first wolf broke and ran, it was all over. The cowardly beasts all turned tail and fled into the forest. Stunned, Piv fell back on his haunches and uttered the one word left in his mind, "Wow."
With the wooden monsters successfully routed, Veil broke off her display and alighted gently on the ground. Her expression was still quite fearsome as she turned on him, "Why would you try to use an attack like that on a timber wolf?!"
He ducked his head, "How was I supposed to know they'd respond like that? Most animals aren't in a rush to get blown apart!"
Veil shook her head, "Getting blown apart doesn't hurt a timber wolf." She pointed a hoof, and he saw that the sticks of the supposedly defeated beast were beginning to reassemble themselves. "Come on. It will just be a bother if we're still here when it pulls itself back together, and the noise I had to make might attract some other unpleasant things." She put her cymbals onto her cart and hitched it to herself before leading the way further into the forest.
Not knowing what else to do, Piv followed her. "I... I'm sorry about that."
She sighed, "Just another thing you can't remember. It's fine, I'm getting used to it." He didn't know what to say to that, so they continued in silence for a few moments. Finally she glanced over at him, "I don't mean to snap at you, it's just... that was really dangerous. You could have been hurt. Why are you even out here, anyway?"
He couldn't help but grin sheepishly as he responded, "I was worried about you. I'd heard what a rough place this is."
Her expression softened into a playful smirk. "Off to save the princess, were you?" Her choice of words made him blush. The princesses were the most powerful ponies in all of Equestria. They didn't need saving, they did the saving!
"Yeah, well." He glanced at her, "That was pretty cool back there, you know. Not many ponies would face down those brutes with nothing but a pair of cymbals."
It was her turn to blush. "It's just part of the job."
"Part of the job?" He cocked an eyebrow at her. "For a pharmacist?"
"Haha, yeah! It sure is when so many of the ingredients you need are found right here." She waved a hoof at the deep greenery around them. "Besides, if things had gone just a little differently I might a have become a Wonderbolt instead. Stuff like this is right at the top of their job description."
Surprised, his other eyebrow shot up to join the first. "That seems like a very different job! Why would it ever have come down to those two?"
Veil took a moment to gather her thoughts. Her tone was thoughtful, and perhaps nostalgic, when she answered, "Ever since I was young, I've wanted to keep ponies safe. I haven't always had the power to do that, which was very frustrating for me." She took a small detour around a rock in the path before continuing, "When I was trying to figure out what to do with myself, what it came down to was that as a Wonderbolt, I knew there would still be a lot of things I couldn't protect ponies from no matter how hard I fought. You've got to have specialized knowledge to save somepony from a disease. So I became a pharmacist." She gave him a cocky grin, "And I can still kick butt when I need to, even though I'm not a Wonderbolt!"
They both chuckled at that, and continued on amiably toward Zecora's home.