“You... you don’t want to hurt me?” Fluttershy asked.

“No, of course not,” he said softly. “Why would I want to hurt you? I would never hurt anyone. Please. Come. Let us leave this alley. You are new to the city, yes?”

“Um, OK,” she got up and started to follow him. “How did you know?”

“Just a guess. You seemed to me as if you were very frightened. As if you had not been here before. By the way, I am named Mbilimwezi. But all of my Equestria friends just call me Billy.”

“Oh, yes, it’s just so big. So frightening. I’ve never been to a place like this before. I just got overwhelmed. I’m so sorry that you had to help me. I must look so foolish.” They reached the end of the alley where it rejoined the sidewalk. They both stopped.

“HA!” he laughed loudly.

Fluttershy jumped up, startled. She hadn’t expected that at all.

“You do not look foolish at all! One year ago, I was the exact same way.”

“You were?”

“Oh, yes. I am an immigrant you know. One year ago I come to this country. I arrived on a boat, with many others. They came in families. They came in couples. Many had family or friends waiting for them. Me? I have no one. I have no money. I just sit on the dock, thinking maybe someone come and pick me up. But, of course, no one ever came.”

“Goodness. What happened?”

“I had to live. I had to find a place to sleep. I had to find a job. Everything seemed so strange to me. I did not know the language. Everyone got angry with me when I tried to talk to them. I did not know if some one would steal what little money I could make. Even the police officers seem like they are not good for helping me. The buildings seemed so big. The streets seemed so cold.”

“That’s what it seems like to me.”

“Ah, but I was all wrong! Sure, it is difficult at first, but I learned. I got a job. I got a roof over my head. I talked to ponies. I know my way around. Now? Everything is different, Beautiful. I cannot get enough of this city. I want to know every street and corner. This is the greatest city in all the world, I swear to you. I love this city. Look! This city is beautiful!”

Billy stretched his hooves wide across the street in front of them. All of the windows had bright neon lights in them. Food vendors hawked their meals, and scents wafted on the currents and eddies of the air. Limousines and taxis and delivery carts of all sorts mingled in the street. A million different ponies passed by on the sidewalk, from all classes of society. Fluttershy had a sudden sense of what Billy was talking about; it seemed like anything was possible in this city, even wonderful things.

“Really?” said Fluttershy.

“Really. Believe me on this. I am telling you the truth. This city is beautiful.”

“Then I wish I had more time to see it.”

“You are not in Manehattan for long?”

“I’m going home tomorrow morning. I was on my way to the hotel for the night.”

“Ah. May I walk you to your hotel then?”

“That would be lovely.” They stepped out of the alley and were lost in the flow of the sidewalk traffic. Fluttershy still didn’t know where she was going, she was just going in the same direction she had been when she ducked into the alley. She didn’t tell Billy, first because she was scared to look foolish, second because she wasn’t sure she wanted to go to the hotel. Billy was pointing at different buildings and discussing their history. None were real landmarks, but each had a story to tell. One had been the tallest building in the world for a few months a hundred years ago. Another had been in a famous film.

“I wish I could see it all,” Fluttershy said.

“Forgive me for asking, Beautiful, but are you sure you need to go back to the hotel? I could show you around the city. I will show you all of my favorite spots, guarantee!”

“Um, well, that sounds nice. But it’s already dark. I’m sure everything is going to close soon.”

“HA!” Billy laughed loudly again.

For a second time, Fluttershy jumped into the air, startled. But this time she smiled. When she noticed that Billy was also smiling, her grin grew wider.

“Darkness means nothing in this crazy city! It is wild! This city has many nicknames. Would you like to know what my favorite one is? The City That Never Sleeps!”

Billy was good on his word. He showed her as many of his favorite places as he could. They caught the second game of a double-header at Trotters Stadium. Fluttershy was shocked at how loud it could get with all those thousands of ponies applauding at once. She had never seen such a vivid green as that grass under the lights at night. They left a little early when the game was a blow out. Billy bought her dinner from some sidewalk vendor. It was some foreign food from a country that she didn’t recognize, but it was the most delicious thing she had ever tried. It had little sliced carrots and radishes and cucumbers in all kinds of spices and some kind of vinegar sauce. They had ice cream cones, and he led her on a walk past Times Square. There were enormous signs in the most amazing colors that towered over her. It reminded her of tulip fields, only turned vertically.

Later, Billy took her on a ferry out to see the Statue of Liberty. She had seen it from Manehattan, but it was different to be up close to it. The flood lights had the whole thing lit up. The straight blue-green patina on the copper statue seemed to glow against the night sky. Billy told her that it reminded him of her eyes, and that he was glad that he had the opportunity to see the both of them together, so that he could judge which was the more beautiful. She was too shy to ask him which won.

They ended their evening out on the balcony of the Empire State Building. They had both stopped at a bar just before coming there, and they had each had a glass of champagne. Fluttershy was just tipsy enough to go peering over the edge before quickly backing up again with a squeak and a giggle. As long as she wasn’t looking straight down, she enjoyed the view. If she squinted her eyes, it sort of looked like a big field full of precious jewels.

“The city’s beautiful,” she said.

“Yes,” he said, sounding more solemn than his usual jovial self. “It is beautiful, Beautiful.”

Fluttershy realized how late it was getting. She needed to go back to the hotel. She told Billy that she didn’t even know where it was. That was fine, he told her, and he taught her how to hail a cab. The driver knew where it was. Billy rode with her; he’d take the cab home after she got dropped off.

“Billy?” she asked him, as she got out of the cab.

“Yes, Beautiful?”

“I had a wonderful time in your wonderful city. Thank you so much.”

“Ah, this was my pleasure truly. I am glad you did not have the same experience when I first came to this city.”

“Billy?”

“Yes?”

“I never told you why I came here in the first place.”

“Ah, well. I was curious, yes. But I know you are shy, and I did not want to pry.”

“Billy?”

“Yes?”

“Would you like to come up to my hotel room with me?”

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