Fluttershy and Tristan had arrived in the city about a half hour later. It was about mid-afternoon when they got there, which meant that they had until roughly eight to do a few more things and have dinner before Fluttershy returned to her pegasus form. The trip was almost nothing but Fluttershy going on and on about their zoo visit. It was probably the most talkative that Tristan had ever heard her be. It did his heart some good to see Fluttershy so happy.

However, a ding from his car quickly ended that as the light on the dashboard warned him of his low fuel level. Fluttershy seemed to not have even noticed the sound as she continued on about the animals. Tristan sighed a little and glanced over to his pink-haired passenger.

"I'm going to need to stop and gas up the tank before we can do anything else." he informed her.

"Oh." Fluttershy said, ending her giddy chatter. "That's fine." She smiled at Tristan and snuggled her plush panda bear some more.

They found a gas station a few moments later and pulled in next to the closest pump. Tristan killed the engine and got out, keeping the door open. He put in his bank card and punched his PIN number in. Fluttershy, who remained perfectly seated, watched as people walked the sidewalks next to her. She tried to wave at a passerby, but was met with a look of skepticism. The stranger shook his head and ignored her, continuing on his way. Fluttershy slumped in her seat and sighed.

The nozzle thunked a few minutes later, signifying that the tank was full. Tristan replaced the nozzle and received his receipt from the pump. As he climbed back in the car and pulled the driver's door shut, he noticed Fluttershy's drastic mood change.

"Everything okay, Shy?" he asked.

Fluttershy looked at him with sorrowful eyes. "I tried to wave at somepony just now, but they looked at me funny." she confessed. "Is everypony here like that?"

Tristan smiled weakly and put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "Not everyone is exactly friendly to people they don't know." he explained. "Some people just aren't interested in making new friends. It doesn't exactly excuse them from giving weird looks or being unkind to you, but that's just how a lot of humans are."

Fluttershy sniffled a bit. "Kind of like Cranky Doodle Donkey." Fluttershy replied, finding common ground with Pinkie's experience. Tristan's eyes narrowed in confusion, but decided to go along with it.

"Uh... sure..." he answered. He pulled away from the subject, hoping to cheer her up. "What do you wanna do next?" he asked. Fluttershy thought to herself, but could come up with nothing. She had already had one of the best days ever. What more could she ask of him?

"I honestly don't know." Fluttershy admitted. "I-I've already had such a great day so far..."

Tristan also thought for a second, then was struck with an idea. He put the car in gear and made the quick drive to the city park, where he and Pinkie Pie had been the day before for the carnival. Today, it was a much different scene, as all the rides and booths had been taken down and removed. Fluttershy quickly perked up when they took a parking spot on the side of the street opposite of the park.

Tristan got out of the car and fed the parking meter some quarters. The screen displayed that they had about an hour and a half until expiration. Fluttershy got out of the car next, and the two crossed the street onto the lush, green grass of the park.

Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle had taken a rare break from the computer to do some theory writing with Spike in the kitchen. Rainbow Dash, who was seated in the recliner watching a motocross race, seized this opportunity and bolted to the computer seat. She looked around nervously as she picked up an unsharpened pencil with her mouth and typed out "how to deal with a crush" into Google's search bar. She hit the enter key and a split second later, thousands upon thousands of search options appeared before her. Not wanting to waste any time, she unthinkingly clicked the first result.

The page that appeared next was a post on an advice board. The user, "apples2apples", was apparently having the same problem. Huh, Rainbow Dash thought, Weird name. She ignored the thought and began reading the comments, hoping that someone would have just the information she needed.

Rainbow Dash ignored the following comments, as they were all attacking "BlackenedSunrise". She sighed, dropping the pencil she held in her mouth. As she went to close the window, a certain white unicorn popped up beside her.

"What's this?!" Rarity said in a playful manner. "Our little Dashie has a crush?! How exciting!"

Rainbow Dash panicked and tried to cover the computer screen the best she could. "W-What?! N-No!" she cried, but Rarity could see right through her defenses, smirking all the while. Rainbow Dash gave a sigh of defeat.

"Fine." she huffed. "I... I have a crush on somepony."

Rarity squealed in delight. "Oh, this is just fabulous!" she gushed. She pulled another chair up next to her rainbow-maned companion. "Tell me all about it!"

Rainbow Dash shook her head. "I can't." she replied. "I'm not gonna say anything about it."

Rarity was displeased by this and put on her best pouting face. "Can you at least tell me their name?"

The pegasus stayed resilient. "Absolutely not." she contested. "Its not exactly something everypony would approve of, if you catch my meaning."

Rarity dramatically threw a hoof over her forehead. "Oh, a forbidden love!" she swooned. "How romantic!" She paused her act to place a hoof on the back of an annoyed Rainbow Dash. "I do hope things work in your favor, dear." Rarity comforted.

Rainbow Dash simply sighed and left the computer desk, returning to the recliner and focusing her attention back on the race. Rarity climbed up on the chair for her turn at the computer as she smiled and closed the advice board's window.

It had been half an hour since Fluttershy and Tristan had arrived at the park. They had walked the area of the park and were now sitting on a bench next to the small lake that lay in the park's center. Fluttershy tossed some duck food on the ground at her feet. A couple ducks waddled over and quacked gratefully, causing her to giggle.

Tristan checked his cell phone, noticing that he was finally able to feel hunger again after his massive breakfast. He mentioned an Italian restaurant that was only a few blocks away from here and Fluttershy nodded in agreement. She stood and threw the rest of the food on the ground for the ducks, who were quickly amassing around the food. They walked off of the grass and back onto pavement, crossing the street back towards Tristan's car.

Tristan stopped by the parking meter and fed it a few more quarters, adding an hour to the display. That gave them two hours to eat and maybe stop at a few places before having to hit another part of the city. They continued walking to the next intersection and made a left, continuing the short walk to the restaurant.

Once inside, they noticed that business was surprisingly stagnant. There was very few customers in the entire restaurant, which bewildered Tristan. Any other time, it was packed with some more customers loitering about outside, waiting to get in. He began to have second thoughts when one of the waiters hastily walked towards him.

"Just two?" she asked, beaming. Tristan simply nodded, slightly freaked out by this girl's enthusiasm. She giggled a little as she grabbed two laminated menus from behind the host's desk and motioned them to follow her. They did, and she seated them at a small booth next to the door. The waitress quickly rambled off the specials before taking their drink orders. Tristan and Fluttershy both ordered iced teas and the waitress disappeared.

Fluttershy looked the menu over a few times, unsure of what she wanted. She read each item's description carefully and had finally decided when the waitress sprang back into view. Tristan ordered the lasagna and Fluttershy ordered the spaghetti with three cheese sauce. The waitress scribbled down the order, swiped back the menus, and disappeared again, leaving Tristan and Fluttershy sitting in a semi-awkward silence.

After a few minutes, Tristan finally spoke. "So," he began, "Is Equestria much like my world?"

Fluttershy thought for a second, then shook her head. "No," she replied, "Your world is actually more advanced than ours." She looked down a little bit, then back up at him. "I-I mean, we don't have TV or cars or computers."

Tristan tried to picture that for a second. No television, no internet, no phones. He shuddered a little bit, realizing just how attached to his gadgets he really was. And here was a person, er, pony, who had never even heard of anything like that before she came to his world, and she seemed perfectly content about that.

"What do you guys do with yourselves?" he asked, hoping to find clarity.

Fluttershy looked back and forth nervously. "W-What do you mean?"

"You don't have almost any of the technology that I do." Tristan said. "What do you guys do to keep from being bored all the time?"

Fluttershy perked up. "We have all sorts of festivals, holidays, and events." she happily answered. She then began explaining everything from the Running of the Leaves to Nightmare Night and Hearth's Warming Eve, which she found were oddly similar to a lot of his world's festivals, activities, and events. She was in the middle of describing Winter Wrap-Up when the zippy waitress dropped off their food. The smell of it was enough for Tristan to dive in immediately, followed by his pink-haired counterpart.

Tristan had finished his lasagna in record time and Fluttershy was about halfway done with her spaghetti when the waitress came by and dropped off the bill. Tristan took a quick look, then slipped his bank card on top. He laid back in the booth, giving himself some time to rest while Fluttershy finished her spaghetti. After the waitress came to take payment, the two started talking again about the celebration similarities between Earth and Equestria.

After a while, Tristan checked his cell phone. They had an hour until the parking meter expired, and roughly two until Fluttershy's transformation. After the waitress had returned Tristan's bank card, the two got up and left the restaurant. The sky outside had begun to soften, with very few clouds in the sky. Fluttershy asked Tristan about a small store they passed on the way to the restaurant. Tristan smiled and nodded, and began to make their way there. They didn't make it halfway before trouble somehow sniffed the two out.

Fluttershy was walking alongside Tristan when she heard something coming from the alleyway they had just passed. She stopped mid-step and tried looking into the alley. Tristan stopped a few feet further ahead and turned back to see what had piqued Fluttershy's interest.

A minute or so passed until the two put the thought into the back of their mind. They turned to leave when a shadowy figure jumped from the ally and grabbed Fluttershy, pulling her back into the darkness. Fluttershy tried to fight the best she could, but her strength couldn't best her captor's.

"Tristan!" she screamed. "Help!"

The captor put his hand over her mouth, still fighting to pull her deeper and deeper into the alley. "Shuddup!" he hissed. "If ya know what's good for ya, you'll keep quiet!"

Tristan instantly bolted down the alley after them. He had a gut feeling that something wasn't right about the alley, and now Fluttershy was getting kidnapped. "Stop!" he yelled. "Let her go!"

The chase went on for several more feet until the alley dead-ended into the back door of another building. The criminal tried to open the door, but thankfully for Tristan, it was locked. Tristan finally caught up with them, slightly out of breath, but still ready to do whatever it took to get Fluttershy home safely.

"Let her go." he said. Fluttershy mumbled against the criminal's hand, which showed no sign of a lessening grip. The criminal spat at the ground and glared at Tristan.

"Go find your own broad, buddy." the attacker growled. "This one's mine."

Tristan's rage got the better of him. He knew that he wasn't nearly as big as the other guy, but it didn't stop him from sprinting at full speed towards them. He drew back a fist. "Fluttershy!" he screamed. "Duck!"

Fluttershy managed to break free of the attacker's hand and did as ordered, just in time to see a fist fly beside her head. Tristan's punch landed between the eyes of the criminal, knocking him backwards a few feet. Fluttershy saw her opportunity to escape and took it. She wiggled free and stood behind Tristan, trembling and sobbing. The attacker regained his balance and glared at Tristan.

"You're gonna pay for that one, punk!" he threatened. He charged at Tristan, who simply stood his ground, waiting for the right moment. The criminal got just more than an arm's length away from him when he was greeted with yet another punch, this one finding his gut. Tristan's punch coupled with the kidnapper's running speed knocked the wind out of his foe, dropping him a second time. Tristan began walking towards the battered enemy when Fluttershy caught him by the arm.

"Please," she begged him. "No more fighting." Tears started to form in her eyes as she looked back and forth between her potential kidnapper and her rescuer. Tristan looked Fluttershy over for any possible wounds, but thankfully found none.

Tristan turned her around and they began a slow walk to the alley's exit. They got a few feet away from the main sidewalk when Tristan felt a sharp, cold pain in his left shoulder blade. He fell to his knees, screaming. Fluttershy gasped as she saw the source of his agony: a small knife that had been their attacker's last shot. She turned to find him, but he had somehow disappeared from the scene.

Tristan's breathing increased rapidly as he felt around for the blade. He touched it, sending a shock of pain through his system. It had to be at least half an inch in his flesh. Fluttershy winced as Tristan let out another agonizing grunt. Tristan took a deep breath as he quickly removed the knife and dropped it at his side. He screamed again, falling forward on his right hand. He took some quick breaths and attempted to stand. He wobbled from dizziness and had to use Fluttershy as a support stand.

"We have to get you home!" Fluttershy urged, tears welling in her eyes. Tristan nodded and the two made the pain-riddled walk back to his car. Once there, he quickly fished his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the car.

"A-Are you sure you're okay to drive?" Fluttershy asked, getting in and shutting her door. "Maybe we should get you to a hospital..."

Tristan turned the key over once he was seated and slammed the car in drive. "Can't." he breathed. "If we do, you'll be at risk of transforming before we can get home." He peeled out of his parking spot and sped down the street to the nearest intersection. "Maybe Twilight can help."

Fluttershy quickly nodded and removed her sweater, placing it behind Tristan's still bleeding shoulder. Tristan tried not to stare at the half-naked passenger and focused on getting home as soon as possible. He hung a left at the intersection and sped down the main road that would lead him home.

Aside from Tristan's occasional grunts of pain, the ride back to his house was otherwise silent. Fluttershy kept nervously checking the wound in Tristan's shoulder. The bleeding had gone down some, but he wasn't out of the clear. Every time she leaned over, her breasts would enter his peripheral vision, and he would have to keep looking away. Between his growing dizziness from blood loss, the task of driving, and Fluttershy's chest being in his face every so often, Tristan wondered if it could crazier than it already was.

At least she's wearing a bra he thought to himself.

They indeed made it home, Tristan making a sloppy entrance into his small driveway. Fluttershy flung the car door open as soon as the engine was killed and scrambled towards the house. Tristan pushed open his door with his good hand and stumbled up the remainder of the driveway and up the steps to his front door, where Fluttershy had already busted the door open.

Inside, the other Equestrians were derailed from all their personal tasks by the half naked Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash, who before hadn't moved one bit from her recliner, was floored by Fluttershy's sudden entrance.

"What's going on?!" she asked, annoyed. She then took notice of Fluttershy, who stood in front of a pale-looking, severely beaten Tristan. Twilight Sparkle, who ran into the living room from the kitchen, was completely unaware of the situation.

"Is everypony okay?!" she asked. She looked at Tristan, who stumbled in past Fluttershy and fell face first on the couch, letting out a loud grunt as he made contact with its cushions. Twilight trotted up to him and gasped at his bleeding wound. She immediately turned to Fluttershy, determined for answers.

"What happened to him?!" she demanded. Fluttershy recoiled at Twilight's harsh tone, but proceeded to quickly tell them about how she was attacked and how Tristan saved her. She then told them all about the knife and how he was still bleeding. Fluttershy would have continued, but Twilight cut her off and started looking through some books for a medical spell.

After minutes of frantic searching, she finally found one. She sped back over to Tristan and removed Fluttershy's bloody sweater and Tristan's shirt, shuddering at the severity of the wound. The others gathered around to watch as Twilight began magicking the wound back together. It took about five minutes for the wound to be healed, and no one spoke the entire time, fearing the worst of their host.

The spell finished, Twilight levitated Tristan, flipped him face up, and gently placed him back on the couch.

"Tristan!" she said, shaking him. "Are you okay?!"

Sadly, she received no answer. Tristan had fallen unconscious during the procedure and lay perfectly still on the couch. Twilight sighed deeply, then looked at the others.

"I need blankets." she said, trying not to yell. Her voice was broken and somber. Spike shot up and ran to Tristan's bedroom to retrieve a couple blankets and pillows. He ran back into the living room, where Twilight levitated the blankets over him, then Tristan's head for the pillows. She moved the computer chair over beside his head and sat, watching Tristan as he slept.

Tristan was jolted awake in the middle of the night. He sat up in a panic, his vision not yet accustomed to the darkness. His vision eventually came, and he saw that he was on the couch in the living room, and the other's lay sleeping at various places in the room. He looked next to where his head lay to see a wide awake Twilight staring back at him, tears forming in her eyes.

"Hey, Twi." he said groggily. "What happened?"

Twilight threw her front hooves around Tristan's neck and fell onto him, sobbing gently into his chest. He was knocked back down onto the pillows by this, but somehow felt no pain. He felt the shoulder that was injured to find that the wound was completely healed. He smiled and returned the embrace to Twilight.

"Thank Celestia you're okay." Twilight said, still sobbing. She tried to keep her voice down as to not disturb the others. "I don't know what I would have done if something had happened to you." Her eyes shot open and she sat up a little on his torso, wiping her tears away with a hoof. "I-I mean, we would all be in trouble if something had happened to you."

Tristan chuckled a little and stroked her mane. "It was just a scratch." he joked, hoping to raise her spirits. "But thank you." he continued soberly. "I would have been in pretty bad shape if it weren't for your magic."

Twilight smiled and carefully climbed down from the couch. "Please get your rest." she urged. "You need it." She nuzzled Tristan and walked across the room to lay down next to Spike. A faint glow emitted from her horn to light the way. She curled up next to the sleeping dragon and quickly fell asleep. Tristan too shut his eyes and, as quickly as Twilight, faded back into his painless slumber.