Chapter 3: Mission Distraction

Not much to say.

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Wanderlust sneezed and wiped his nose with a hoof. "Stupid rain." He muttered as he trotted through the rain trying to find someplace to wait out the storm. He finally settled on a building that looked rather like a gingerbread house. He walked in through the open front door and was immediately hit by a wave of heat.

A content smile spread across his face as he quickly warmed up and he shook some of the water from his mane. Looking around, he found that the building was in fact a bakery. His eyes locked on a tray of blue cupcakes. His stomach growled lightly and he quickly looked through his saddlebag for his bag of bits. After moving a few objects to the side, including a sleeping Ginger, he found the bag and quickly counted the bits.

He counted twenty bits. "Not too much money left. I'll just get one." He thought as he trotted up to the counter and rang a small service bell.

After a few seconds, a bright pink pony hopped through a doorway from what Wanderlust assumed was the kitchen. He quickly recognized her as Pinkie Pie. As a precaution, he tensed his back legs just in case he would have to jump out of the way to avoid another tackle/hug from the pony.

She apparently recognized him as she had a large grin planted on her face. "Hey Wanderlust! Welcome to Sugar Cube Corner! The best bakery in all of Equestria!"

"The best in Equestria, huh? That's quite a claim to make." He smiled politely but was unsettled that she knew his name. He was pretty sure he never told her what his name was.

"Yeah it is..." She put a hoof to her mouth in thought before she gasped sharply and hopped up onto the counter. "I know what we must do! We must go to every other bakery in Equestria and try out their cakes!"

Wanderlust snorted in laughter. "Maybe another day Pinkie. Right now I'd just like a cupcake." He said indicating the nearby tray.

She giggled and hopped back down. "Okie dokie!" She grabbed one of the cupcakes and put it in front of Wanderlust. "That will be five hundred bits please."

Wanderlust felt his eye twitch lightly. "Isn't that a little pricey?" He asked trying to figure out whether she was kidding or not.

"Fine. Name your price" She said simply.

"How bout one bit?" He suggested.

"One hundred." She shot back.

"It's progress..." He thought before he responded with three bits.

"Fifty."

"Four bits!"

"A thousand!"

"Five!"

"Seventy!"

"Six!"

"A million!"

Wanderlust quickly realized he wasn't getting anywhere with this but still he continued this ridiculous form of haggling for more than five minutes.

"Fifty!"

"Six and a half!"

"Two bits and you help me throw Fluttershy a birthday party!"

"Done!" Wanderlust quickly spit out as soon as she said two bits but stopped as he heard the rest. "Wait...Throw Fluttershy a birthday party?" He questioned remembering the shy pegasus he had accidentally yelled at in the park.

"Yeah. Tomorrow's her birthday!" She answered with a squeal. "Me and my friends are throwing a party at her house but we need someone to keep her out while we set up. It's a surprise!" She whispered.

Wanderlust crossed his front hooves in front of his chest in a big 'x'. "No can do. I've only met her once so it would be kind of weird if-"

"You already know her? Well that makes things simple!" She hopped around the counter and placed her hooves on Wanderlust's shoulders. "Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to keep Fluttershy occupied for as long as possible tomorrow."

"Why does that sound so familiar?" Wanderlust wondered silenty before asking. "Isn't there anypony else you could ask to do this?"

"None of my friends could do it. Fluttershy would know something's up! This party needs to be a surprise!" She exclaimed and leaped into the air.

"Come on Wanderlust...think of an excuse!" He silently scolded himself. "I-I wouldn't even know how to get her to come with me." He offered weakly.

This made her pause for a moment. Putting a hoof to her mouth, she took on a look of concentration.

Wanderlust took a step back as a light bulb appeared above Pinkie's head. "What the hay!?" He gasped and pointed at it. "Why is there a light-" He stopped talking as the bulb flickered and turned black.

Pinkie sighed in frustration before she trotted over a nearby closet. She dug through it for a moment before returning with a fresh light bulb.

Wanderlust watched in both horror and fascination as Pinkie Pie seemed to defy all logic and unscrewed the floating light bulb. Tossing the dead bulb away, she then proceeded to screw the remaining bulb into thin air. Instantly the bulb glowed bright.

"I've got it!" She exclaimed and started digging through Wanderlust's saddlebag while he watched the floating light bulb.

After a few seconds, Wanderlust watched her trot back in front of him, drawing his attention away from the horrible perversion of the laws of physics. He saw a small mass of brown fuzz in her hooves and Wanderlust quickly identified the form of his sleeping bunny, Ginger.

"Fluttershy loves animals! Just show her this little guy and she'll follow you anywhere!" She explained.

Wanderlust quickly snatched Ginger out of her hooves, suddenly feeling very protective of his animal friend. By this point, Ginger was awake and proceeded to hop up onto Wanderlust's head. "My bunny." He thought possessively as his pet settled into the soft bed that was his mane.

"Please do it!" She begged.

"Fine! Just get me my cupcake." He growled as he grabbed two bits and tossed them on the counter.

She cheered and went behind the counter to retrieve his cupcake.

Wanderlust just glared at the floating light bulb for a moment before it fell to the ground with a crash.

"How am I supposed to keep her away from her house without seeming like a creep?" Wanderlust wondered as he munched on an apple while Ginger sat nearby nibbling on a carrot that Wanderlust had gotten from a pony who called herself, believe it or not, Carrot Top.

"How am I supposed to even approach her without seeming like a complete weirdo!?" He asked himself as he put a hoof to his forehead. His question was answered as he heard a set of loud thumping.

Looking over, he saw Fluttershy scratching Ginger behind the ears receiving dozens of small foot thumps in return.

"Aren't you just the cutest little bunny. Would you like to come home with me little guy?" She cooed as she continued scratching.

Wanderlust felt a look of annoyance cross his face and he cleared his throat loudly eliciting a loud meep as her attention switched to the pony sitting nearby.

"I-I'm sorry...Was I disturbing you?" She asked quietly.

"No. I was just wondering why you were trying to steal my little bunny friend." He said before standing up and trotting over, his apple now forgotten.

Ginger looked between the two ponies and quickly hopped over to her owner. After a moment, a small layer of black sparkles engulfed the bunny and her discarded carrot before both floated onto his back. The glittery aura quickly dissipated and she quickly resumed gnawing on her carrot.

"I-I wasn't trying to t-take your bunny!" She squeaked and took a step back. "I-I'm sorry!"

Wanderlust shrugged it off. "It's okay. No damage done. I just don't want anyone taking Ginger." He said and looked back at the little brown bunny. He had grown attached to the little fluff ball, even if he had only had her for a few days.

Fluttershy wasn't paying attention to the bunny anymore and instead was focused on the pony standing in front of her. She remembered his name was Wanderlust and she also remembered that smile he had flashed at her when she met him. Her cheeks burned slightly at the memory. She led out a quiet squeak and hid behind her mane slightly when he turned back to her.

"So, Miss Fluttershy, are you doing anything right now? Cause I saw this nice little cafe in town..." He asked. "Wow. Sounds like I'm asking her out on a date." He thought and felt the need to face hoof.

"Sounds like he's asking me out on a date!" Fluttershy thought and her face quickly turned bright red.

"You sick or something?" He asked and stuck a hoof to her forehead. "You feel really warm."

She tried to say, "No, I am perfectly fine." Unfortunately, it came out a little like this. "N-N-N-No I-I a-am p-p-per..." Quickly her words dissolved into an incomprehensible mess of stutters.

Wanderlust put a hoof over her mouth gently. "Calm down. I can't understand you." He said and removed his hoof.

She took a deep breath before speaking. "I'm not sick. I feel fine."

The stallion just nodded and felt a familiar weight drop onto his head, meaning Ginger had returned to her perch on his head. "So, you wanna get some food or what?"

She shook her head. "I-I'm not hungry." She admitted.

For some reason, Wanderlust felt strangely disappointed but ignored it.

It must have shown on his face, as Fluttershy quickly started apologizing. Wanderlust just shushed her. "Doesn't matter. You're not hungry, you're not hungry. Simple as that."

She smiled, glad that he wasn't upset. "So...Where are you from?" She asked hesitantly.

"Me? Canterlot. Haven't been back there for a few years though."

"Why not?" She asked, intrigued.

He shrugged. "Nothing for me there anymore. Family's gone."

She tilted her head. "They move?"

"They're dead." He answered simply.

Fluttershy flinched at this. Not at the words themselves, but at the tone he used. There was no emotion in his voice when he spoke. There had been no anger, sadness or even a hint of defeat. His tone just sounded dead as if he didn't care.

"I'm sorry..."

He snorted and sat down with a thump. "Don't be. Might as well not even have had a family. Didn't even attend the funeral."

The words sounded like they belonged in the mouth of a very bitter old stallion but, again, there was no emotion. Despite the bitter nature of the words, not an ounce of feeling came from the words.

"B-But why..?"

"Let's not get into this right now." He said and scratched his nose with a hoof. "So what about you? You got any family?" He asked. "If I want to keep her away from her house for a while, I should just keep her talking. Just gotta wait for Pinkie to give me the signal. Better hurry up."

She nodded and then went on to explain that she had family living up in Cloudsdale. She didn't have any siblings but she did visit her parents once a month despite not liking the heights.

"So what do you do for a living?" He asked.

"Well, I'm kind of a care giver." She said slowly.

"A care giver? For like foals?" He asked skeptically.

She giggled and shook her head. "For animals." She said and turned to show him her cutie mark.

"Three little pink butterflies. How appropriate." He thought and felt his gaze lingering on her flank. He tore his gaze away when she asked about his cutie mark.

"You wanna see my cutie mark or you just wanna look at my butt?" He joked making her blush. He just smiled at seeing her flustered and slipped his saddlebag off revealing a cutie mark in the shape of an old rusty compass. "I'm an explorer." He said noting her look of confusion.

"You explore? Where?" She asked.

"Everywhere!" He answered and Fluttershy could have sworn his eyes started sparkling. "I love exploring this world! The thrill of seeing things that haven't been seen for centuries!" A look of pure joy crossed his features. "That's actually why I came to Ponyville. A friend said that this was a good place to visit and rumor has it, that there are some ancient ruins in the Everfree Forest!"

"You actually want to go into the Everfree Forest!?" She squeaked. "But there are manticores and cockatrices and timberwolves in there!"

A wicked grin appeared on his face. "That's what makes it fun."

Her shock quickly subsided and she giggled. "If you say so."

They continued talking like this for another hour. Wanderlust told stories of the things that he had seen and Fluttershy told Wanderlust about the adventures that she and her friends had gone on.

"Wait, wait...You yelled at a dragon?" Wanderlust laughed and clutched at his stomach.

"Yes! He hurt my friends. What was I supposed to do?"

Wanderlust put a hoof on her shoulder. "You, my friend, are one brave pony. And kudos for having the courage to stick up for your friends. That's a very admirable trait in a pony."

Fluttershy blushed at his compliments and put a hoof over his.

Before either pony was fully aware of what they were doing, they were leaning in towards each other. They were inches away from each other before a loud whistling was heard.

Both ponies quickly jerked backwards and looked to the source of the whistling which appeared to be a rocket shooting up into the sky.

"What the hay...?" Wanderlust wondered until it exploded into a giant party hat before it quickly faded into nothing. "I wonder what that means." Wanderlust thought sarcastically before he turned to look at Fluttershy who was currently curled into a ball.

"Scared of fireworks?" Wanderlust asked.

She poked her head up and nodded slowly. A moment after, their eyes locked and they both remembered what they had been about to do before the firework had gone off.

They both looked away blushing.

"Why did I almost do that?" They both thought at the same time.

Wanderlust was the first to recover. "Maybe, we should get you home." He said looking to the slowly darkening sky.

She nodded mutely and trotted a few steps away.

"Hey!" He called making her stop. "I said we. I'd still like to walk you home." He said with a smile.

She looked back with a look of uncertainty but it turned to a look of gratitude as she noticed Celestia's sun dipping close to the horizon. "O-Okay."

He was about to trot up to her when he remembered something. "Two seconds." He said before he grabbed Ginger from atop his head. The bunny yawned in his hooves and looked up at him. "Sweet dreams, little bunny." He muttered softly and placed the sleepy bunny in his saddlebag atop a small scarf he picked up in the Crystal Empire in case he ever had to go through cold weather again.

He spied the stone lying next to Ginger and glared at it. For nearly two whole days, Wanderlust hadn't heard the voice at all. While he wasn't particularly anxious to have it back, he did have to wonder what happened to it. He dismissed the thoughts and turned his attention back to the mare standing patiently nearby.

"Shall we get going?" He asked after he had trotted up to her.

They both stood on Fluttershy's doorstep. She opened her mouth to say goodnight but Wanderlust put a hoof over her lips.

"Fluttershy, happy birthday." He said with a smile and threw open the door with his magic.

"SURPRISE!"

Chapter 3 is done. Yay. I hope you all enjoyed reading this more than I enjoyed writing it because I will be honest: I hate writing. But I love MLP so I'm doing this anyways.

Please leave me any comments on things that I need to improve. For example, the pacing, my grammar/sentence structure, or just anything that I'm not really being clear on.

Anyways...GOODBYE.

PS: I hardly ever proofread my stories so mistakes may be frequent.