Home is Where Your Heart Is

A pair of solid ice blue eyes watched a gray pony as it galloped through the rain. The eyes followed his form as he pasted the alley it was hiding in. After a few moments, the pony had vanished from sight. The blue eyes blinked once and when they opened they were green.

In an instant a bright green light flashed in the alley and out walked a brown pony with a matching brown mane and a pair of light green eyes. With a quick look around the pony turned and galloped in the direction that the gray pony had gone in.

Quickly the pony found the gray pony entering a large building that looked strangely like it was made of food. The brown pony narrowed it's eyes and quickly entered the building. The pony looked around briefly and took quick note of all of the colorful food that was sitting in small piles around the room before finding his target sitting at a small table next to a window.

The gray pony was currently talking to a bright pink pony who was hopping in place while speaking. Seeing that his target wasn't alone, the brown pony turned and sat at a table near a corner of the room while being sure to keep an eye on the gray pony.

After a few minutes, he watched as the pink pony turned away from the gray one and started hopping away. The brown pony kept his gaze locked on the gray pony, who had pulled out a book to read, until everypony's attention was drawn to a loud gasp from the middle of the room.

The pink pony was staring directly at the brown pony and in a moment she was in front of him talking so quickly that it hurt his ears.

"Oh my gosh! A new pony in town! That's two new ponies in two weeks!" The pink pony squeaked with delight. "I was talking to my friend Wanderlust over there and when I was done talking to him I was going to go make some cupcakes but then I saw you! I bet you're wondering how I know you're new to town, right!? Well I know everypony in Ponyville and I didn't know you so you must be new! I'm so happy that there is a new pony in town! My name is Pinkie Pie, by the way."

The brown pony scooted backwards on his seat to try and get away from the pony who was practically screaming in his face. He tried to look past the pink pony to try and find the gray pony. Sure enough, he was still sitting at his table with his book.

"Oh! We need to throw you a party!" The pink pony screamed as she shoved her face into the brown pony's face. "Everypony needs a party and what's better than a welcome party!? Of course I just threw a welcome party last night but that's okay! We can throw you a party tonight! Oh, but my welcome parties are supposed to be a surprise!" The pony stopped talking for a moment and put a hoof to her mouth for a moment in thought. "I know!" She yelled making the brown pony cringe. "You never saw me. You didn't hear anything about a party. You will be surprised." She said a squeaky voice as she backed away into the shadows that did almost nothing to hide her bright pink coat.

The brown pony glared into the shadows after the completely visible pink pony. "Did it work?" She yelled and the brown pony just rolled his eyes as he turned his head back towards his target only to find him gone. He jumped off the chair and looked around the shop but found that the gray pony had disappeared. He made a very unponylike growl and stormed out of the store.

Looking up and down the street, he quickly realized that his target was lost. His eyes flashed bright green and he took off in a random direction to try and find the gray pony.

(Rewind!)

Wanderlust shook some of the water off of himself before he sat down at the table. He wasn't particularly hungry but he decided to wait out the rain in the sweet shop. He watched the rain for a few moments before Pinkie Pie walked up to him.

"Hi Wanderlust!" She said in her squeaky voice.

"Oh, hello Pinkie Pie." He said with a smile. "How are you today?" He asked conversationally.

"I feel super duper good!" She yelled. "I just made a fresh batch of extra-sugary cupcakes! Wanna eat one?"

"Maybe later." He laughed and noticed a brown pony walk into the store. The pony stared at him for a few seconds before turning and sitting at a small table in the corner. 'Probably waiting out the rain like me.' Wanderlust thought as he turned his attention back to Pinkie Pie. "Hey, I wanted to thank you for that party last night. It was fun."

Pinkie Pie smiled a big toothy grin. "I'll be sure to throw another real soon! Until then..." She said before pulling out a small piece of paper and handing it to Wanderlust.

Wanderlust opened it and saw that it was an invitation. "You are hereby invited to the next Pinkie Pie Mega Party!" Wanderlust read and then looked at Pinkie Pie. "Mega Party?" He asked.

Pinkie nodded. "Once a month I throw a Mega Party to celebrate!"

"Celebrate what?" He asked.

"Everything!" She squeaked and then hopped away.

Wanderlust smiled and slipped the invitation into his saddlebag before pulling out Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide. 'Might as well finish it.' He thought as he flipped to the last few pages. He was about to start reading when he heard a loud gasp and turned to see Pinkie Pie staring at the brown pony that had come in earlier.

He watched as she ran over and started talking in a frenzied tone. He heard the words 'new', 'party', and 'cupcakes' before he turned his attention back to his book. "Poor pony." He muttered as he started reading the last few pages. The last few pages were just notes on the Elements and on their wielders.

After reading the two pages Wanderlust turned the page and saw one final sentence. "Kindness, Honesty, Generosity, Laughter, Loyalty and Magic are the six elements of harmony and the six ponies who wield them are bound together by the power of Friendship." He closed the book with a smile and slipped it into the saddlebag.

Pinkie Pie was still assaulting the brown pony with her words as Wanderlust turned and looked out the window. The rain had stopped so Wanderlust decided to leave. He silently stood up and walked out the door, but not before seeing Pinkie Pie slink away into the shadows in an attempt to hide herself.

He turned and trotted down the street towards Twilight's library. It wasn't long until Wanderlust ran into a white mare carrying a large purple umbrella, despite the rain having stopped a while ago.

"Hello Rarity." Wanderlust addressed the mare as she turned to him.

"Oh, hello Wanderlust." She said

"How are you today?" He asked politely.

"I am well, thank you." She smiled. "Where are you heading?" She asked Wanderlust.

"I was just going to head over to Twilight's library." He answered. "I have to return a book I borrowed from her."

"Oh, well I was actually going there myself."

"In that case, allow me to accompany you there." He said in an overly formal tone as he dipped his head slightly.

Rarity laughed at his tone. "Very well." She said as both ponies started trotting towards the library.

In a few minutes, both ponies stood in front of the door to the library and Wanderlust knocked on it lightly. After a few seconds it opened, revealing Twilight Sparkle with Owlicious sitting on her back.

"Hello Wanderlust, Rarity." Twilight smiled and took a step back to let the two ponies in.

"After you." Wanderlust said to Rarity and followed her in. "Hello Twilight." He smiled at her and then looked at Owlicious. "Cool owl."

"Who." The owl squawked before flapping it's wings and taking off in a random direction.

Wanderlust watched it flapped away for a moment before digging through his saddlebag. After a few seconds he pulled out the Elements of Harmony book. "Just wanted to return your book." He explained as Twilight grabbed the book with her magic.

"Well thank you for returning it." She said as she floated it back to it's rightful place. "Are you still reading that other book?"

"I haven't started it actually." He said and scratched the back of his head with one of his hooves.

"Oh okay. No rush." She said and turned to Rarity. "So what do you need? I know you don't read a whole lot of books but I did get some new fashion magazines that you would like."

"Maybe later." Rarity smiled and looked at Wanderlust for a moment with Twilight following her gaze. "I actually came to talk about him." She whispered to Twilight.

Wanderlust was looking at some of the books on the wall so he didn't notice the two mares staring at him. He just scanned through some of the books but his eyes widened when he found an atlas of the world. He felt a smile appear on his face as he grabbed the thick leather-bound book and pulled it off the shelf.

He placed the atlas on the ground and started flipping through the maps of Equestria and it's surrounding nations must as a foal would flip through the pages of a picture book. He smiled as he thought of himself exploring these lands and the ones beyond them.

Meanwhile, the two mares whispered words back and forth between each other.

"Remember last night when Fluttershy got all upset and Wanderlust just disappeared?" Rarity whispered.

"Yeah I remember. You were trying to get Fluttershy and Wanderlust together right?" Twilight whispered back.

Wanderlust's ear flicked as he heard his name whispered. He continued to look at the maps but now he was also listening to what they were whispering.

"Yeah well, considering that Wanderlust vanished and Fluttershy got all upset, isn't it kind of obvious that something happened between them?" Rarity asked still being sure to whisper.

"Yeah, but should we do anything?" Twilight asked.

"I don't know. I mean it's not really our business what happens between them." She answered.

"But she's our friend." Twilight whispered.

"But that doesn't mean anything. I already tried to put them together and look how that turned out."

Wanderlust listened in silence. He swallowed past the lump in his throat and turned the page. He looked at a detailed map of Equestria and started reading over the names of the cities before his eyes stopped at a small town. He smiled as he read the word Ponyville at least a dozen times before putting a hoof over the small image of a house used to represent the town.

"I just want to know why Wanderlust would make Fluttershy cry." Twilight whispered.

"It's quite simple really." Wanderlust spoke before he could stop himself. "There is no future between the two of us."

Both mares gave a start when they realized that he had heard everything they had said. After a moment Wanderlust turned around and looked at the two ponies who were both staring at the ground in shame. He just shook his head and turned his attention back to the book.

"Why?" Rarity asked.

"Why what?"

"Why would there be no future between the two of you?" Rarity asked, the curiosity getting the better of her.

"Because I'm not staying in this town." He answered simply. He flipped the page and pushed the book in the direction of the two mares. On the page was a map of the world. "I'm not staying in any one place until I have explored the whole world."

Both mares looked between the map and the compass on Wanderlust's flank.

"You know it's funny how some of our names match us so perfectly." Wanderlust said after a moment. "Wanderlust...how appropriate." He laughed bitterly.

"You don't sound very happy about that." Twilight commented.

Wanderlust was silent as he closed the atlas and put it back on it's shelf. "Just because I'm good at something doesn't mean I always like it." He said after a few moments. "I mean I love exploring new places but I do wish that I had someplace that I could stay in but I can't stay here."

"Why not?" Both mares asked.

"That is a secret." He yawned.

Both ponies looked at him in disbelief.

"Well, I have to get going?" Wanderlust said as he walked to the door. He wished both mares a nice day and walked out.

As soon as he was gone Rarity turned to Twilight. "What do you think his secret is?" She asked.

"I have no clue but I'm going to find out."

Wanderlust yawned as he stepped onto the street. He trotted down the street in some random direction.

"And now I'm bored." He muttered as he tried to think of something to occupy his time.

He didn't have long to think as something crashed into the back of his head.

Everything had a fuzzy edge to it as Wanderlust's head spun violently. "Ow..." He grunted as his eyes started seeing solid shapes again. He stood up shakily and looked over to see a small blue scooter with a red wagon attached to it. Raising an eyebrow he looked around for the owner of the scooter.

After a moment he found three young fillies lying in a small pile. The three fillies were white, orange and yellow with varied colored manes. He trotted over to them and experimentally poked the white one in the side.

This elicited a squeak from the white filly and soon all three fillies opened their eyes. "Are you fillies okay?" Wanderlust asked as they untangled themselves from each other and stood up.

They nodded solemnly. Wanderlust looked at the fillies carefully for a few moments checking for injury but, aside from a few scrapes and possibly a bruise or two, they were fine.

"Well that's a relief." Wanderlust muttered as he checked himself for any injury. Despite a lump on the back of his head, Wanderlust couldn't find any real injuries.

"We're sorry." All three of the fillies apologized to Wanderlust.

Wanderlust just smiled and patted the orange filly on the head. "No harm, no foul." (Author note: Get the joke please.) He laughed. "As long as you are all okay, I can't be angry."

This elicited a smile from the fillies. "Are you okay though?" Asked the white filly.

"I'm positive." He answered.

"Are you sure?" She persisted.

Wanderlust took a step back inadvertently. "Yes, I'm sure."

"Are you sure?" All three asked in unison. "Because if you are hurt then we can be CUTIE MARK DOCTORS!" They screamed.

Wanderlust took several more steps back. "I'm okay really!"

"Oh..." All three said sadly.

"So um...why exactly do you want to be doctors?" He asked trying to keep them happy.

He succeeded as all three immediately perked back up. "We don't want to be doctors, we just want to know if we can!"

"Why?"

"We are the cutie mark crusaders!" Shouted the three in unison making Wanderlust wince.

"What does that mean?" He asked.

"We're trying to find out what our cutie marks are." The orange filly said.

"Really? So how's that going?" He asked.

"Not so well." The white filly answered sadly.

"Yeah, we aren't any closer to finding out what out special talents are." The orange filly added.

"Well how long have you been at it?" Wanderlust asked.

"'Bout a year." The yellow filly answered.

"That's nothing! I didn't get my cutie mark until I was out of school."

"Really!?" All three fillies asked.

"Uh huh. Thought I was going to be a blank flank for life but everything comes with time. Don't be discouraged." He smiled.

"Cool!" The orange filly flapped her little wings in excitement.

Wanderlust laughed as the three fillies hopped around in joy. "I gotta go now. Goodbye Cutie Mark Crusaders." He said and saluted them.

He smiled as they saluted him back. "Bye!" They said in unison as they trotted back over to their scooter and overturned wagon.

Wanderlust just turned away and almost crashed into a brown unicorn with green eyes. The brown pony looked at him with such intensity that Wanderlust took a step back.

"Um...Can I help you?" Wanderlust asked nervously.

The pony just smiled a cruel smile as it's horn flashed with a green aura. Wanderlust felt something slip away from him and his eyes glazed over. He stood there, still as a statue, as the brown pony turned and trotted away.

Fluttershy walked through the town with her head down. The events of last night were still fresh in her mind as she wandered aimlessly around town. She had hoped that a walk around town would help get her mind off things but, unfortunately, her thoughts remained only on Wanderlust.

'What did I do wrong?' 'Does he hate me now?' 'I can't believe I tried to do that.' 'I barely know him.' 'He seemed so sweet so why...' Dozens of thoughts like these bounced around her head so quickly that she almost didn't notice the pony standing a foot in front of her.

"Eeek!" She squeaked as she quickly back peddled to avoid crashing into the pony. "I-I'm s-sorry..." She raised her head to look at the pony and felt her breath catch in her throat as she looked at Wanderlust.

She stood there with held-breath as her face quickly filled with blood as her crush/rejecter stared at her.

Wanderlust stared at Fluttershy with no emotion evident on his face as he tilted his head to get a better look at the yellow mare standing in front of him. Did Wanderlust know this mare? He couldn't seem to remember why but Wanderlust knew that he had met her before. His thoughts felt sluggish as he processed the scared and embarrassed look that the mare was giving him.

Wanderlust stared at her for so long and with so little emotion that she stopped feeling embarrassed and actually started feeling concerned despite her feelings. "Wanderlust? A-Are you okay?" She asked.

'Wanderlust?' He thought. 'That's my name...right?'

When his expression didn't change, Fluttershy actually started to panic a little. 'Maybe he's sick?' She thought and experimentally put a hoof on his forehead to check but he didn't feel hot or feverish. "Are you okay?" She repeated.

'Why does this mare keep asking that? Who is she?' He thought. "Who are you?" He asked slowly as if his own words would confuse him.

"W-Wanderlust? It's m-me! F-Fluttershy, remember?" She said with her words coming out quick and panicked.

As soon as he heard his name his head cleared. "Of course I remember." He said with the first hint of emotion that he showed towards Fluttershy all day. "Why wouldn't I remember?" He asked incrediously. But the thing was, he hadn't remembered. He hadn't remember who Fluttershy was and he had trouble keeping his own name straight. Even now, he could feel the dense fog slowly settling back over his mind.

"B-But..." Fluttershy started. "Y-You asked who I was."

"Ha! I was just kidding." He smiled even as his mind turned sluggish again.

"W-Well. Okay I guess..." Fluttershy said, lightly kicking at the dirt. She looked up and saw that his face was, once again, devoid of any emotion. "Wanderlust?"

He just stared at her again. 'Who is this again?' He thought as his mind tried to fight through the fog and failing.

Fluttershy just sighed and gently, but firmly turned Wanderlust around. He didn't resist her turning him but he also didn't help her.

'What is she doing?' He thought groggily.

"Let's go see Twilight." Fluttershy said with concern evident in her voice.

'Who's Twilight?' He thought desperately searching for the answer. None the less, he started to silently follow the yellow mare as she led him back to the library that he left sometime before.

Fluttershy knocked gently on the door and within a few seconds a preoccupied looking Twilight opened the door.

"Hello Fluttershy." Twilight said and then shifted her gaze to Wanderlust in surprise. "Welcome back Wanderlust." She said and looked between the two in confusion. 'Didn't Wanderlust just say that he couldn't be with Fluttershy?' She thought and stepped back to allow them entrance.

Fluttershy walked inside while Wanderlust just stood in his place silently.

"Are you coming in?" Twilight asked.

"I don't know." He answered blankly.

"What do you mean 'I don't know'?" Twilight asked. "Are you coming in or not?"

"Umm..." Fluttershy cut in. "Wanderlust, please come inside."

"Okay." Wanderlust answered and walked in.

"Is he okay?" Twilight asked.

"I-I don't know." Fluttershy admitted. "He was just standing in the street doing nothing."

Twilight listened to her while she examined Wanderlust. "He doesn't look hurt. I mean not any more hurt than he did earlier." She commented as she looked at his body. After a moment she looked at his face and saw him staring at nothing with his eyes glazed over. 'That looks familiar.' She thought to herself.

Fluttershy walked over to Twilight. "I-Is he okay?"

"Who's he?" Wanderlust asked as he snapped back into focus.

"You." Twilight and Fluttershy both said in frustration.

"Well, I'm fine." He said. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Maybe because you were as intelligent as a rock a moment ago." Twilight said in annoyance.

"Well doesn't that make me feel special." He said as he rubbed his temple with a hoof. "I do feel kind of slow today. That weird pony..." He muttered.

"W-What pony?" Fluttershy asked quickly.

"Some brown unicorn. I think he did something to me." He said.

Some part of Fluttershy was relieved that he had said "he" and not "she" although the rest of her told that part of her to shut up.

Meanwhile Twilight questioned Wanderlust. "What did this unicorn do?"

"I don't know really. All I know is his horn flashed green for a second and then...I can't remember."

"What did he look like?" She asked.

"Brown mane, brown coat, horn, green eyes..." He listed the features. "I don't think I saw his cutie mark though."

She looked at Fluttershy questionally. She just shrugged. "I didn't see any brown unicorn." She said simply.

Twilight nodded and looked back at Wanderlust only to find his eyes glazed over again. She was about to grunt in frustration when a thought occurred to her. 'He looks just Shining did...' She thought in amusement. Her eyes widened in shock and she quickly grabbed the saddlebag off Wanderlust's back. She dug through it a moment before pulling out a large book.

Fluttershy walked over to her. "What is that?" She asked and gasped when she saw the changeling on the cover. The two mares shared a look before Twilight opened the book.

She quickly read through the Table of Contents and found a chapter titled 'Stolen Love'. Twilight swallowed as she flipped to the page specified. She began to read slowly.

"As reviewed in previous chapters, Love is the essence of all ponies. Love, and sometimes the lack of it, is the source of all emotion and without love, there is nothing. Ponies without love lose their will to live and, if not taken care of, will simply waste away into nothing. This is the danger of changelings. By stealing love from ponies, they steal their very lives. In this chapter, you will learn the symptoms of a love-deficient pony and the dangers of these symptoms."

Twilight went on to read the symptoms of, as the book called it, Love-Deprivation. There were three stages to Love-Deprivation and three different sets of symptoms for each.

Stage one was just slight grogginess and irritability. The symptoms of stage one disappeared after about a week or so and most ponies would not notice these symptoms to begin with.

Stage two was more severe. Ponies who had stage two Love-Deprivation were apparently described as being in a hazy state of mind with brief moments of lucidity. Many ponies in stage two apparently lost the drive to perform most activities including eating, sleeping, relieving themselves and many other basic necessities. Ponies in stage two are very open to suggestion and can be kept safe as long as there is a pony nearby who is watching out for them and tells them what to do. As the amount of time since the feeding increased, so would the times of lucidity and the confusion would slowly lessen. Full recovery was stated in about a month.

Twilight didn't even have to read stage three to know what happened.

"According to the book, we have two very big problems." Twilight said and turned to look at Fluttershy.

"What problems are those?" Wanderlust asked, once again lucid.

"Well..." Twilight started. "Problem one. You have stage two Love-Deprivation."

"What is that some kind of disease?" He asked bored.

"More like a deficiency." She answered and looked at Wanderlust. She face-hoofed when she saw the blank look on his face again. "Problem two." She grumbled. "Apparently Wanderlust is being targeted by a changeling."

Fluttershy knew that was the truth but hearing it said out loud made feel sick. "W-What can we do?" Fluttershy asked with her voice trembling.

"Well I'm going to get a message to the princess. See what she thinks we should do." She said and then looked at Fluttershy sadly. "I know about what happened last night Fluttershy, but in the meantime could you please keep an eye on Wanderlust?" She wished that she could pull the words back as soon as she said them when she saw the look of pain on Fluttershy's face. "On second thought-"

Fluttershy just shook her slowly. "No. I...I can watch him." She said with a sad smile.

"Okay..." Twilight said hesitantly and turned. "Spike!" She called.

"What?" Came a groggy shout from another room.

"Take a letter please!" She called and walked upstairs where Spike was undoubtedly just rolling out of bed.

Fluttershy looked at Wanderlust sadly as he stared back blankly. "Are you okay?" She asked him, although not expecting an answer.

To her surprise, he blinked and his eyes focused on her. "Shouldn't I be asking you that question?" He asked. "After last night..." He trailed off and looked at the ground.

"It's okay..." Fluttershy said sadly. "It's my own fault. I mean I like you but that doesn't mean you like me back."

Wanderlust looked up from the ground at her. "You're wrong." He said simply making her look at him in shock. "I do like you but that doesn't mean I can be with you."

"What?" She squeaked and took a step forward. "B-But isn't that how it works? T-Two ponies l-like each other and then..."

"Things are never that simple." He said sadly.

"W-Why can't they be?" Fluttershy asked with her eyes filled with pain and just a small bit of hope.

"I'm going stupid again..." Wanderlust grunted and put a hoof to his forehead. "Tell you what. If I ever recover from this, I'll tell you."

Fluttershy blinked a few times and looked into his now blank eyes. Her shoulders slumped and she sighed sadly.

A few minutes later, Twilight walked back into the room. Fluttershy looked at Twilight expectantly. "The Princess is going to send a few guards to Ponyville that are apparently trained to spot and deal with changelings and a potion that will apparently heal Wanderlust's current "condition"." She said indicating his glazed over eyes. "Until then, she said to just keep an eye on him and make sure that he has no more run-ins with any changelings."

Fluttershy looked at Wanderlust with worry as he stared at nothing. 'Is he even breathing?' Fluttershy thought idly. She started to panic 'IS HE EVEN BREATHING!' She screamed in her head but immediately calmed when she saw his chest rise slightly.

"Fluttershy." Twilight said, getting her friend's attention. "You have to be really careful. If for any reason, Wanderlust loses more love and goes into stage three, the potion will be useless."

"So he'll be stuck as an uncaring statue forever?" Spike asked as he walked downstairs.

Fluttershy laughed nervously for a moment before she fainted.

Twilight just glared at the baby dragon. She was about to scold him when a loud snoring came from behind her.

Turning around, she saw that Wanderlust was still standing in the same place that he had been before but this time his eyes were closed and he was snoring loudly.

"Great." Twilight said and put a hoof to her forehead. "Now I have two unconscious ponies to deal with."