The smell of salt water overpowered Ryan’s nostrils as he looked out at the horizon.

It had been one week and three days, making it the twentieth of February and a Saturday. Cinny had gotten the tickets to see the show on a Saturday so that Ryan wouldn’t miss any days of “work”. He didn’t think it mattered all that much any more; he never did much at work anyway. At this point, the Rarity and Twilight were really just handing him money to spend on himself. Half the time, he only worked two thirds of his day.

But he was fine with that. Who wanted to work, anyway, especially when the work was never really your first choice? Sure, he liked spending time with the girls, but he did prefer to spend his time with the guys on the weekend. He felt like he could be more like a guy around them. When around the girls, he had an inexplicable obligation to make things weird for them to get a laugh. He couldn’t explain it back home, and he couldn’t explain it here.

The ferry to get into Manehattan was a pretty big boat, but it still rocked in the waves of the harbor. Some ponies seemed to have a hard time dealing with it, including Cinny. She was next to Ryan, leaning over the rails, ready to feed the fish. Ryan stood next to her, in a fancy Rarity tuxedo, rubbing her back in an attempt to make her feel better.

“Don’t resist it,” Ryan coached. “The sooner it happens, the better you’ll feel.”

“How would you-URP- know?” Cinny asked.

“I’m a SCUBA Diver, remember?” Ryan replied, reminding her of the long forgotten fact. “I’ve been on my share of boats, thrown up my share of times. You’ll feel way better, and the taste doesn’t take too long to go away. Especially if you drink something.”

Cinny didn’t reply right away. She was keeping her eyes on the city, trying to prevent the inevitable for as long as possible. Ryan, though, didn’t need to stare at the unmoving city for nausea purposes. He was still trying to take in the sight, and accept that there was a lot more about Equestria that was similar to home than he had ever thought. Some of the city’s names were actually starting to annoy him.

“And what would-” She swallowed. “What would you recommend?” she asked, doing everything in her power to keep up.

Ryan thought. “Well...” He could either keep her like this, or make her vomit sooner. “The best thing you can drink is cockroach stew.” He could hear Cinny start to heave, but she kept it in check and instead gave Ryan a death glare. “Or you could drink a Cran-brrrr-ita.”

“What’s a Cran-brr-ita?” Cinny replied.

“I hope you never have to find out,” Ryan replied. His brother told him to try it after he concluded it was nasty; Ryan would have sworn it burned his taste buds off.

Cinny turned back to the water. “Why would you make me want to throw up?” Cinny asked painfully.

Ryan sighed. “Because it’ll make you feel that much better,” he replied matter-of-factly.

“Tell me, Ryan,” Cinny asked. “Who would want to kiss a vomit-mouthed lady?”

Ryan shrugged. “You asking me to?” Ryan replied and leaned in closer. “Cuz’ if that’ll make you feel that much better-”

Cinny promptly lost it all over the side of the boat, creating a large splash in the water below. In the water, fish were already swimming up and taking bites of the chunks of undigested food on the surface, practically making fun of Cinny by eating her food. Ryan leaned back while Cinny coughed and recovered from the endeavor.

“Well, if that’s how you feel,” Ryan said with a fake frown. Cinny shook her head and let out a few more coughs.

“Oh, you... You know I don’t think you’re THAT gross,” Cinny said with a smirk of her own. “Only that you’ll kiss something with barf in its mouth.”

Ryan chuckled. “If the price is right,” he said. “Feel better?”

“Much,” Cinny said.

He could see her knees trembling from the violent action, so Ryan moved himself under her and picked her up on his back. Once she was secure, he carried her to the front of the boat, where the city was almost within docking distance. He heard her sigh in relief at the sight of stable land, and once they were up, he found a place to sit and set her down, then sat next to her.

“Am I glad that this is over,” she said as the boat hit the dock.

“You and me both,” Ryan replied. He stood back up and picked her up. “Now, let’s go.”

Carrying her in front of him, Ryan waited for the ramp to lower so they could get off the boat. There was no one on the dock waiting, so as soon as it was down, Ryan rushed down the dock and onto land. If Cinny was going to throw up, Ryan needed to make sure he had stable ground to drop her on.

“Thank you, superhero,” Cinny said with a batting of her eyelashes.

“You’re welcome, perpetual damsel-in-distress,” Ryan said, earning a look. “Come on, you were practically asking for that one.”

“Well, when I get pony-napped, I expect you to come and save me.” Cinny crossed her forelegs as she spoke.

“And you also expect me to whisk you away, to take you and make you mine forever, like a knight in Shining Armor?” Ryan asked jokingly. “I’ll get you, but you’ll have to walk yourself out of there.” That wasn’t true, he would totally carry her out.

“Deal!” Cinny said.

Ryan continued to carry the heavier-than-she-looks mare to the street, where they waited for a cab to show up. Ponies gave them extremely confused and odd looks as they passed by, since most of them were vastly unfamiliar with the story of the Human. The way Cinny held onto Ryan’s neck, most just assumed that they were together, and that he couldn’t possibly be dangerous.

Eventually, a cab stopped not too far from them, so Ryan ran over to hop on. Right as he jumped on, a stallion got in on the other side. At first, the two just stared at each other, unsure of what to do. Then, the stallion gave Ryan a very grumpy-looking frown, one that said Get off my ride.

“I think this cab accommodates more than two,” Ryan reasoned. “We can go to your destination first.”

“Good,” the stallion replied. They all sat down in different spots, though Cinny opted for Ryan’s lap, and went off.

They rode through the heart of the city, Timeturner’s Square, and Ryan and Cinny marvelled at the sights. It was there that Grumpy Man got off, where Ryan saw a grumpy-looking cat as his cutie mark. Odd.

Anyway, Ryan and Cinny continued to look around, taking in the sights. There were neon signs everywhere, like Ryan would expect in the nineteen-twenties. Ponies ran about, as did some gryphons and what appeared to be regular horses, plus a whole lot of other races. Manehattan looked to be as much a melting pot of culture as New York. It made sense, really.

The puller turned around. “Yo, where you going?” he asked, his accent heavy.

“You know this city better than me,” Ryan said to Cinny. “Your call.”

Cinny thought for a moment, then looked around. She seemed to be scrutinizing everything, from the signs, to the streets, to the ponies, and to the buildings. For a moment, she didn’t speak, leaving Ryan to glance about himself. Just as the puller was growing impatient, Cinny finally spoke again.

“Take us to thirtieth street,” she commanded. The puller nodded and started off in that direction.

Ryan was curious about the destination. “What’s on thirtieth street?” he asked. “Is there a restaurant? It is close to lunch.” His stomach growled lightly at him.

Cinny shook her head. “Nope!” she replied giddily.

“Well?” Ryan asked, though he received no answer. “What’s there?”

“My auntie and uncle live here! My parents used to take me here to visit them all the time, and we would do all kinds of things in the city while we visited. I’ve been meaning to see them again.” Cinny explained.

Ryan was suspicious, though. “That isn’t all, I can tell,” he said.

Cinny smiled sheepishly. “Well, the last letter I got from my parents said that they would be visiting Manehattan to see family today. They are probably over there now.”

Ryan looked flatly at her. “Your parents,” he said, receiving a nod. “You didn’t do this so that I would meet your parents, did you?” he asked.

“No, I just remembered after I bought the tickets,” Cinny said. Ryan wasn’t too sure he believed that, but he let it go.

“Alright,” he said. “Anything else you want to tell me?”

“Umm, yeah,” she said. “My cousin will probably be there too. He was like a brother to me.”

“Oh joy, this can only go well,” Ryan thought sarcastically. “That sounds like it might not be the most peaceful experience,” Ryan said.

Cinny waved a dismissive hoof. “Oh, no, not at all. He tends to assume the worst about stallions around me, but you’re not a pony, so you’ll be fine!” Ryan still wasn’t too sure about what she was saying.

They rode the cab through the busy streets, nearly running over pedestrians and trying to remain unseen in the cab. Ponies and other residents of the city would yell at the cab driver, but sometimes, the pedestrians would yell at them instead. When they did so, Ryan would give them a glare and mouth for them to keep on walking while they could. Soon, they stopped before a small apartment building.

“Here we are!” Cinny announced excitedly. “Celestia, the memories I have in this place.”

Ryan tossed the cab driver some coins and sent him off. When he looked up at the building, he thought that it was identical to a New York apartment. The building was classic brick, at least on the outside, and had uniform, patterned windows for the residencies. Some of the windows had shutters, others had AC units. Some were just wide open, even though it was not the warmest day, letting the air flow inside freely.

“Reminds me of New York City,” Ryan said casually.

Cinny ran forward. “Come on, I want you to meet my family! They might feed us while we’re here!” Ryan liked that idea and ran in after her.

Inside, it was still a lot like a New York apartment, though there were some distinct differences. Everything looked extremely clean inside the hall, and the paint looked like it was redone at set intervals of time. The carpet was well-groomed, vacuumed and cleaned frequently. The lights were all very bright, meaning they were replaced any time they were broken. The stairs looked extremely secure against the wall.

“So what floor are we going to?” Ryan asked.

“Third floor up, apartment fourteen C,” Cinny replied, already starting up the stairs.

Ryan followed he rup the flights of stairs. He hadn’t climbed that many stairs in Equestria, but he was just now noticing how shallow most of the steps were. There were close to triple the number of steps and each one was about half the size of a normal human stair. Ryan supposed that it made sense, since the ponies couldn’t lift their legs up the way a human could.

Up the stairs, they went down the third floor hall and found apartment fourteen C. Cinny knocked excitedly on the door while Ryan stood back, waiting for it to open up. As they waited, Ryan gauged Cinny’s anticipation of seeing her family. She clearly loved them very much, and loved this city. Given how happy she would be to see her family, her family would probably be very happy to see her as well. Hopefully, that would work in Ryan’s favor.

Slowly, the door started to open, and a pair of eyes looked out. Cinny just smiled wide and bright, staring back at the eyes. The eyes shifted to Ryan for a moment, then went back to Cinny who was still smiling. Then, the door closed again, and swung back open.

“Cinny!” a stallion shouted as he stepped out.

Cinny lunged forward and grabbed him in a hug. “Hey Ari!” They held the embrace tightly for a moment, then let go. “How have you been?” Cinny asked.

“Good, good. Life’s been pretty easy for us here, what with all the exports to Saddle Arabia lately.” Ari looked behind her. “Who’s your... friend?” he asked.

Cinny stepped back and leaned on Ryan. “This is Ryan. He’s a good friend of mine, just arrived in Equestria not one year ago.”

“HE’s a good friend,” Ari repeated, narrowing his eyes at Ryan. “Well, I’m Ari. What might your name be?” he asked, extending his hoof.

Ryan took it and shook. “Ryan,” he replied. “I’m a human from the United States of America. Equestria is different, I can say that much. And in a good way, too.”

Air liked that. “Well, come on in, see the rest of the family!” Ari said to Cinny.

They walked inside, where Ryan had to remove his shoes to avoid ruining the nice carpet further in the apartment. When he removed his shoes, Ari sniffed the air once and looked down. He didn’t seem shocked when he saw the shoes that the feet smelled bad. Ryan also removed his tux jacket and hung it on a rack next to the door. While he went through this, Cinny was already going inside to see her family. Ryan finished and went to follow her, but was stopped by Ari’s hoof.

“Now, I understand that you aren’t exactly a stallion,” he said. “But I hope you know that I see her like a sister. Anyone who breaks her heart is gonna be regretting it on my watch.”

Ryan looked him dead in the eye. “Well, I have no intention of doing that,” he said. “And that makes two of us. I don’t like it when people hurt my friends, or prevent them from being happy.”

Ari blinked at Ryan surprisedly, not having expected a warning to come from the human as well. Then, a little smile cracked onto his face, and he nodded to the human. While he was trying to protect his sister, he could see where he might go too far. And he could respect that Ryan wasn’t going to be letting him go that far.

“Alright,” he said, turning around. “Oh, and before you go in, feel free to wash your feet in the basin in the closet there.”

Ryan opened up the closet on his left and looked down to find a small basin. There was fresh water inside it and a bar of soap next to it. Ryan sat down and stuck his feet in, finding it to be ice-cold. Through gritted teeth, he went to work making his feet smell less so that he would be presentable to the family.

When he finished up, he stood and walked into the apartment. It was nice, with good carpet, tasteful decorations, and well-maintained furniture. The coffee table had several little books on it, plus one undrank coffee. The scent of the light brown drink wafted through the apartment, hopefully masking the travelling smell of Ryan’s socks and shoes by the front door.

He could hear chatter in a room to his right and went in that direction. When he got there, he found a rectangular archway, and through it, a group of ponies sitting around a table in a small kitchen. From the looks of it, he would barely fit in there with what little room was left, so he stayed outside and listened to the conversation. It was primarily small talk, one thing or another that happened recently in the city or Ponyville. At least until Cinny brought Ryan up.

“So yeah, like I told you in the letters, he’s not any race in our world. He was brought here by Discord after Discord nearly got him killed,” Cinny explained. “He’s great, and he does really well in Ponyville. We’re here in the city today because I got us tickets to see Hinny of the Hills.”

“And I’m still convinced she just wanted me to meet her family,” Ryan commented from the side.

He had startled everypony but Aria and Cinny, who had positioned themselves to see the archway and his arrival. When Cinny and Ari’s parents turned around, their eyes became massive circles on their faces at the sight of the only human in Equestria ever. Ryan let them stare at him for a moment, letting them take in his sight, then spoke to break the silence.

“It’s good to meet you.”

One of the stallions shook his head. “Oh, good to meet you,” he said. He had a deep, southern voice. “I’m Cinny’s father. My name is long and hard to pronounce, so you can call me Pappy.”

“Alright, Pappy,” Ryan replied.

Pappy nodded. “Yes, and with any luck, you’ll call me Pops, and I’ll have grandfoals to tell stories to as well!” he said with a laugh. Ari and Cinny had been drinking some water, and both spat it out at the same time.

“Dad!” Cinny shouted.

“Well, I can’t promise you grandfoals, but we can always try,” Ryan replied with a smirk.

“Ryan!!” Cinny shouted. Pappy and Ryan both howled like monkeys at her mortification.

The mare next to Pappy, Cinny’s mother, shook her head. “These stallions are always thinking about that,” she said to her daughter and sister. “Even you, Ari.”

“What?” Ari said in shock. “What have I done to be a part of this?”

“Don’t think your parents don’t tell us about your relationship with that mare,” Cinny’s mother said. “Just like we talk to them about Cinny’s life.”

“Mom, what the hay?!” Cinny shouted. Meanwhile, in the background, Pappy and Ryan were barely able to stay upright.

“Well, Ari is the one who wanted to know the most,” Ari’s mother said, deflecting the blame. “He says that someone needs to watch out for you.”

Cinny turned angrily to Ari. “Ari, I’ve said it SO MANY TIMES, I can take care of myself. And if not, I have Ryan to help me.”

All eyes turned on Ryan, who took a moment to quell his laughter. Pappy tried to speak, attracting their attention for a moment, but was unable to do so, and could not keep their attention. So, they looked back to Ryan, who had just recovered from his fit of laughter.

“I can always help out,” Ryan said. “I can chase the guys off, I can keep them away, I can lock the door after she lets me in for the night-”

“Argh!” Cinny shouted, putting her hooves to her face.

Her brother, Ari, seemed only partially amused. He chuckled lightly at her embarrassment, but seemed to be giving Ryan a side glare at the same time. Ryan played it off with a little look of his own, reminding Ari to be mindful of his own role.

Her mother patted her on the back. “Oh, just ignore them,” she said. “Stallions are stubborn and silly.”

“And yet, here you are, married to one,” Pappy replied.

Cinny’s mother got up and trotte dover and nuzzled his face. “And you’re my stubborn old fool,” she said.

Ryan enjoyed watching the family. They had a great dynamic going, one that almost ensured peace in the end and few serious conflicts. The only ones that seemed like they could arise were involved with either Cinny’s love life or family gossip, which was never particularly significant. Except in the cases of illegitimate children, but there was no reason to worry about that.

“This is fun and all,” Ryan cut in. “But Cinny and I were looking for a place to go eat lunch.”

“Right, I had totally forgotten about that,” Cinny said with a silly smile.

Her aunt shook her head. “See? They always have one thing on their mind at a time, usually food.”

“Or romping!” Pappy exclaimed, getting another frustrated sigh from his daughter.

“Exactly,” Cinny’s aunt said. “I suppose that there are some places you could go, but I’m afraid that I can’t show you how to get there. Pappy and Jelly can show you around, but we have to remain home for some furniture.”

“So Jelly is her name,” Ryan thought, looking at Cinny’s mother. What could have inspired her parents to give her that name?

“Sure, I could show you around,” Jelly said. “But we should go now so that we get a seat at a restaurant.”

She and Pappy stood up and said bye to Cinny’s extended family and left the kitchen. Cinny gave a quick glare to Ari, who put his hooves up defensively before she left. Ryan stayed behind a bit next to the archway, then nodded to the family as he exited. He didn’t care about the protective gaze of Ari on his back as he left. He probably wouldn’t see him again anyway.

At the door, he put his socks and shoes back on and left with Cinny and her parents. It felt a bit awkward for him, being the male companion of Cinny who was also not a pony, but her parents didn’t show any level of concern. At least, while she was there, they didn’t.

They walked off down the hall and down the stairwell, chatting all the way. There was this really nice restaurant down the street, a classic pizza place, that had been there for three decades. Cinny’s parents offhandedly mentioned that that was only about eleven years older than them, meaning they were around forty-one. And it was eleven years older than Cinny, making her nineteen, just barely older than Ryan, and not too far from the age that her parents had kids. Ryan couldn’t help but wonder if she was expecting to find somepony soon.

But his thoughts quickly shifted again as they left the building and went into the busy streets. At first, they were looking for a cab, but Ryan said they should just walk, that it was better for their health. They insinuated that Ryan couldn’t go the distance, being a biped, to which he responded by going into a deep Seiunchin dachi and going the distance like that. Ponies looked at them funny while they moved, but, against the wishes of Cinny and her parents, Ryan went the whole way like that.

By the time they reached the restaurant Jelly was raving about on the walk, Ryan’s quads felt like they were ablaze. He didn’t show it, though, in an attempt to look tough in front of Pappy and Jelly. When they entered the restaurant, Ryan glanced around. There were no chairs, unfortunately, only cushions. And the tables were not designed for humans, so Ryan couldn’t properly extend his aching legs underneath them.

“Hi, do you have any tables available?” Jelly asked the waiter at the front.

Ryan hung back while they talked. “Hmmm,” the waiter said, not looking at her. “I’m afraid that we have no tables available at the moment. I am terribly sorry.”

“What do you mean?” Pappy asked aggressively. “I see three table,s clean as a whistle, over there.” Ryan looked; they were, in fact, quite clean.

The waiter shook his head. “Those are special tables, for special guests. I am afraid that they are not available to you.”

Pappy grew red in the face, classic New Yorker coming out of him. Or Manehattanite. Whatever. He was about to go off at the waiter, being held back by Jelly, when Ryan decided to jump in.

“I think that we qualify,” he said, shoving his hand in front of the waiter. The waiter looked up and started, jumping back. “We would like a seat,” Ryan said calmly.

The waiter bowed. “Yes sir, right away!” he said, then ran off.

Ryan turned around and noticed that everyone in the area was staring at him. “What?” he asked.

“How did you do that?” Pappy asked. Ryan shrugged.

“Ryan is a personal friend to Princess Luna and Princess Celestia,” Cinny explained, getting gloriously shocked expressions from all present. “He’s a good friend of the Elements of Harmony, he’s saved several lives, and, obviously, he’s the only human in the world.”

Pappy whistled. “Wow,” he said. “I would never have guessed.”

Ryan shrugged, saying, “Well, you never know what you might learn about someone until you either ask or it comes up.”

Pappy pointed at him with his hoof. “And I’ll be asking more about you later,” he said, half excited, half suspicious.

“Dad, please be nice,” Cinny said. “He’s my best friend.”

Pappy grumbled. “Sounds like more than that from the way you two joke around.”

“Oh, Pap, don't get on their case,” Jelly chided. “They can make their own decisions. They’re both adults.”

“Mom!” Cinny said. Ryan laughed at it all and remembered his own family.

The waiter returned and guided them to their table, a very nice, ornate table with fancy-schmancy silverware. Cinny’s parents looked astonished at the quality of what they saw, as did Cinny. Ryan had lived in a very nice, generally well-off neighborhood, so it wasn’t really new to him. They never noticed this, though, as they were too distracted looking at their concave reflections, like children looking in a mirror for the first time.

The menu was nice, and they served meat, but Ryan had to be cautious. He leaned over to Cinny and pointed at a meat item, asking with a few motions if he could. Cinny looked to her parents, who were distracted by the special menu, but couldn’t figure out what they would say. Eventually, she just asked.

“Mom, dad,” she began, barely getting their attention. “What would you do if you sat at the same table as someone who ate meat?”

“Probably feel extremely uncomfortable,” Jelly replied. “The smell would be odd, I think. But some things just have to eat meat.”

“I would make sure he knows that my daughter ain’t for eating,” Pappy replied, looking directly at Ryan. “She doesn’t taste good.”

“Well, I don’t know that I’d say that,” Ryan said with a toothy smile.

It took a tense moment for Pappy to get it, but when he did, he howled, drawing the attention of most of the restaurant. Ryan turned around and flashed his canines at the other patrons, convincing them to turn around. Jelly didn’t understand, and neither did Cinny, at first. Ryan and Pappy enjoyed the laugh together at the expense of those who couldn’t understand.

“You know, you’re a lot more okay with this stuff than most dads I’ve ever met,” Ryan commented.

“I know,” Pappy said with a sigh. “But I know how the world is. I-”

“Wait, what?” Jelly cut in. “What are you goons talking about?”

“Really? You didn’t catch what he just said?” Pappy asked. When Jelly and Cinny said no, he briefly explained it to them, to which they both wretched and made the males laugh even more.

“Why do you do this to me, Ryan?” Cinny asked.

“Because I’m not actually doing any of this to you,” Ryan replied. “It’s funnier that way.”

Pappy laughed. “But anyway, I know how the world is. Young ponies do these things.” He seemed to lose himself in thought for a moment. “I remember when Jelly and I were younger...”

“Stahhp!” Ryan and Cinny yelled simultaneously.

Pappy laughed, though his wife was red and punching him in the shoulder. “What? It’s the truth!”

“A truth that never should have been known,” Ryan replied. “Even I feel traumatized by that one.”

“Yes, as good as you are, you’ll never be able to make things as gross and awkward as a father or mother,” Pappy replied, still being hit. It’s a sad truth that dads will always be able to troll harder than anyone else.

“But a mother doesn’t do that to her kids and their coltfriends!” Jelly said, ceasing her attack.

“Mom!” Cinny shouted at her parent seemingly for the umpteenth time. “He’s not my coltfriend!”

“I’m a human boy,” Ryan corrected. “It’s called a boyfriend where I come from.” Cinny gave Ryan another unhappy glare.

The waiter returned and took their menus and orders, then ran off to fulfill their wishes. The group chatted while they waited, Ryan explaining the appeal of eating meat. It wasn’t going too well for him, but the family persisted on knowing what was so great. Ryan tried to find words to use that wouldn’t scare them, but nothing came to mind, so he just gave up and said, “It’s a human thing.”

Faster than any restaurant service Ryan had ever had, they had their food before them and chowed down. The chefs must have used magic, because the savory smell of a New York Strip was missing from Ryan’s plate. The family didn’t look at the meat on his plate, instead focusing on their conversation. It switched from food to other things Ryan liked, like SCUBA and Karate.

Pappy was impressed by the end of lunch, as was Jelly. Ryan felt glad that he attained his goal there, and felt so good that he offered to pay for lunch. Cinny’s parents refused to allow that, though, stating that Ryan was basically a bum and probably couldn’t afford it. Cinny tried to reason with them otherwise, but Ryan stopped her. He wasn’t one to turn down hospitality any more, which earned him a grin from Pappy.

They left the restaurant and stood out on the sidewalk for a moment. “Well, what’re you kids doing next?” Jelly asked. “You said you came to see a show?”

“That’s right,” Ryan replied. “I came in a tux since it’s a requirement to dress with class. Cinny thought we could rent something for her while we’re here.”

Jelly gasped loudly and jumped into the air. “Oh, yes, yes, yes yes!” she said, grabbing her daughter. “I’ve been waiting for the day I could take you out to buy you a dress! We have to visit the Boutique Le’Chique, and Yves, and Lauren’s, and all the others! Nothing but the best for my little filly!” Jelly started to pull Cinny away in the direction of the stores.

Cinny looked back. “Ryan, we’ll meet at the playhouse at six!” she shouted.

“Got it!” Ryan shouted back. And then, Cinny was off with her mother into the crowd.

That left Ryan alone with Pappy, who stood waiting for Ryan to make a suggestion. Ryan looked around for something to come to mind, but while the city was like New York, it wasn’t really the same. He had no idea what the map looked like, or if there was even a subway line. He had no idea what sorts of activities there were to do, nor where they would be. He turned to Pappy.

“You know this city better than me,” Ryan said. “You got any ideas to kill-” Ryan glanced at his watch- “Four hours?”

Pappy shrugged. “Well, we can head to the park,” Pappy suggested, walking up close to Ryan and putting his foreleg around his arm. “We can chat there for a while.” Ryan swallowed hard a that, unsure of how menacing exactly the tone was meant to sound.

*****************************************************************

Cinny had to stand completely still as the seamstress worked her magic. Literally, her magic. She was a unicorn.

Jelly had insisted that she try on as many dresses as possible to find what she liked. They had tried on all kinds of colors, from red all the way to blue and green. The colors were generally nice, often complementing her eyes or her coat, but most of the styles were too much for Cinny. She really wanted something simple, like Ryan would probably like.

Jelly had managed to sneak in a couple of wedding dresses, to which Cinny would always respond with a look of really? Her mother just smiled sheepishly each time she was caught. Which was every time.

“Mom, why are you giving me these wedding dresses?” Cinny asked as she shooed one away. “And please be straight.”

Jelly walked up to her daughter and patted her side. “Look, honey, I know it’s hard to understand now, but you’re a young mare. Stallions line up for your attention, even though it’s already taken.”

“What do you mean, already taken?” Cinny asked defensively.

Jelly snorted. “Come now, you don’t think I can’t see it,” Jelly chided lightly. “Your father sees it, your aunt and uncle saw it. You like him!”

Cinny scrunched her nose. “Yeah, but not like that!” she insisted. “We’re best friends! We like to spend time together and have fun, we make jokes, we do silly things! We aren’t in love.”

Jelly looked sadly at her daughter. “You aren’t, or you don’t think he is?” she asked.

“Neither of us,” Cinny said, now feeling aggressive. “We’re just. Best. Friends.”

“Your father and I were best friends,” Jelly said. “We loved spending time together, making jokes, being silly. We had lots of fun. And he asked me to marry him. It was the best decision I ever made.”

Cinny let her guard down for a moment. “That’s great, mom, but I don’t think that Ryan and I are going further. We aren’t looking at that right now.”

“So you might eventually?” Jelly asked hopefully, earning yet another glare. “Alright, alright. But you know you’ll want somepony eventually. And from what I remember, Ryan is exactly what you were always looking for.”

Cinny shook her head defiantly. “No. That may be true, but we aren’t looking at that. We have a great dynamic right now as it is. Besides, don’t you want grandfoals?” Cinny asked, trying to deflect it onto her mother.

Jelly chuckled. “We want you to be happy,” she said. “If we get grandfoals, that’s just a bonus, a side-product of your happiness.” She chuckled. “You know, a lot of mares talk about how there are so few stallions worth loving in the world. If they took a look at the stallions who are their friends, they might just find a stallion worth loving. They’re already stallions worth spending time with, after all.”

Cinny shook her head. “Thanks mom, but we really aren’t considering that. We know what our relationship is, and we don’t want to push it.” Jelly gave up on her endeavor and went to get another dress.

Cinny looked in a mirror while she waited for her mother to return. She knew her relationship with Ryan. He was playful, strong, maybe not that charismatic, certainly a pain at times, and a bit crazy. He had made some bad decisions, but he was working on that. He was nice, funny, giving and loving, loyal, honest... and there was something else about him.

She knew what she had. He was her best friend, the best she had ever had. They spent time together, having fun. She served him and his buddies drinks at the bar every weekend, and more often than not, she joined them in their merriment. The guys seemed to always be watching her and Ryan, like they expected something to happen. What did they expect?

They weren’t like her parents, were they? There was no way that they thought that. Unless Ryan had told them that... no, that was impossible. They were just good friends. Cinny knew what their relationship was.
.
.
.

Right?

*******************************************************************

Ryan survived his “little chat” with Pappy, mostly due to his denial of he and Cinny having a romantic relationship. Neither of them were interested, so it was an easy stance to maintain. Once they were finished, they left the park and made their way to the theatre where the play was showing.

Ryan and Pappy arrived first, and so waited together. Pappy was telling Ryan all about what it was like to be married, how you couldn’t do anything wrong or you ended up sleeping on the couch. If Pappy were to leave without his wife with him, she would have made him sleep on whatever couch or chair was available. As much as Ryan thought that was scary, if he were to get married, he would always be trying to keep his woman happy anyway.

They stood patiently, waiting. “Man, the play is gonna start soon,” Ryan complained. “Where are they?”

“When they said they were going dress shopping, you should have seen this coming,” Pappy said. “Mares will do whatever they can to look perfect, regardless of the situation. If that means being thirty minutes late, go figure.”

Ryan grunted. “Well, I hold everyone to the same standard,” he said, crossing his arms.

Pappy laughed. “Well, then, that’ll get you few places in life,” he replied.

Ryan shook his head. “Even so, I don’t like it when people are late. If we decide to be somewhere at a time, then we should both be there-”

“Hey!” a voice sang out. Ryan turned around to see Jelly and Cinny.

Cinny was walking delicately, trying to keep her new dress from touching the ground. The end of it, going over her hind and draping to the ground, was a bit long, but it flowed easily in the wind, keeping it aloft. The dress was a nice, simple light blue, not terribly thick. Ryan could see that Cinny was cold in the February air, but not so much that it showed significantly. The dress was light, and didn’t hide her like most fancy dresses in Equestria seemed to do. It looked nice, overall.

“Hey,” Ryan said, approaching Cinny. “I like the dress.”

Cinny blushed a little. “Well, I’ve never been that into dresses, but I gave in to my mom,” she replied. “She knows her stuff.”

“Certainly,” Ryan said, looking to Jelly. He turned his attention back to Cinny, sticking out his arm for her to take. “Shall we head inside?”

Cinny took his arm. “Certainly,” Cinny replied. They walked into the theatre, but not without Cinny throwing one last glance at her parents. They looked proudly upon her, but not without that bit of parental worry that was always there. Cinny ignored it; there was no reason for it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The show ended, and applause rang throughout the theatre with the decibels of a bomb going off in the room. Neither Ryan nor Cinny minded, as they clapped and cheered as well. It was an excellent show, worthy of the reputation it had gotten.

They left the theatre among the last, as they wanted to avoid being separated in the crowd as it made its way out. With all the noise, it was hard to talk to each other, so mostly, they just searched for other ways out. They got it in the form of a back exit.

They left through the back exit, with Ryan going first to check for any less-than-good ponies who might want to take their things. The alley was clear, and Ryan had Cinny come out. The ground was nasty, though, and Cinny didn’t want to ruin the dress her mother bought, so Ryan carried her again. His arms would be killing him the next day. When they got back to the streets, Ryan set Cinny down gracefully, so as to keep the dress nice.

“So, you gonna wear that all the way home?” Ryan asked.

Cinny moved her wings under the dress. “Yeah, I think so,” she said. “No reason not to. And it’ll be easier to carry this way.” Ryan couldn’t argue with that.

They walked back to the ferry, chatting about the play. It had been a great play, not unsimilar to Les Miserables back on Earth. It wasn’t quite as sad, mind, but it certainly tugged at the heart. Cinny had cried during the show, requiring Ryan’s strong arm for something to weep silently into.

They arrived at the ferry after a long walk and boarded. Cinny said that she wanted to sit inside because the air was chilly, but Ryan reminded her of what had happened before, and that it would only be worse if they were inside. Reluctantly, Cinny agreed to take a seat outside, where there was no one there, because of how chilly it was. They took a seat next to the wall of the cabin.

“That was a fun day,” Ryan said, moving around in his tux to create friction. “You ponies do have some stuff that I would never have guessed.”

“Yeah, we do have some great things,” Cinny said, though she was shaking. “I’d say we aren’t that different from you humans.”

Ryan got up from his seat across from Cinny and placed himself next to her. He wrapped his arms around her, protecting her from the wind chill and sharing body heat with her to keep warm in the windy air. She definitely appreciated it, letting out a contented sigh to be relieved of the wind.

“I have to agree with that,” Ryan said. “We really aren’t so different. We have a lot of the same or similar innovations, similar communities, and even lifestyles. The only real difference is in our different anatomies.”

“Ha ha, yeah,” Cinny replied. She was silent for a moment. “Where do you think your life is going?” she asked out of the blue.

Ryan thought hard about that for a moment. He had been planning on going to his cave for a while, and stocking up for that. But there were certain things he planned on doing first, important things that couldn’t be left behind. And there were other matters he needed to tend to before he left, simple things that would prove vital later on.

“Well, I can’t rightly say,” he said. “I have a general direction, but I’m not sure where exactly it’s going.”

“No one knows exactly where their road leads, Ryan,” Cinny said with a nudge. “You of all beings should know that. People may come and go, life may continue on with or without us, but we are the ones who decide our fates. Time may give us a limit, but who says that time can tell us what can or can’t happen in its vast span?”

Ryan looked down at Cinny in shock. “You know, I would never expect something so insightful from you,” he said, impressed.

Cinny hit him in the side. “Well, thanks for the vote of confidence,” she said jokingly. “But thanks.”

“I might just have to quote you on that,” Ryan said, mentally jotting it down.

They spent the rest of the ferry and then the train ride huddled together, quietly enjoying the cold, still night and the warm embrace of someone you care about being so close to you.