//------------------------------// // 3. Fulfillment // Story: The Globe Trotter // by Carrier of Heartbreak //------------------------------// The first thing Twilight saw when she walked into the library the next morning was a crowd of bookish ponies gathered around the table she had been sitting at the previous night. They were oddly silent and all facing the same direction, as if they were all...watching... "Snowy..." Twilight sighed to herself, though she couldn't stop the grin that was teasing her lips. Just as she had assumed, the little buck was in his globe, performing a trick that he hadn't gotten to show her. This time, he was running in circles around the globe with a large cloud of snow trailing behind him. It looked to Twilight like the cloud was chasing him as he ran for his life. The obvious giggling he was doing across the mental link dispelled that illusion fairly quickly. Quietly, and silencing her end of the link as to not clue him in to her presence, she sat down at the back of the crowd and watched the show. Snowy surprised everypony who was watching, including Twilight, by planting his tiny hooves on the glass of the globe and running around on the inside barrier. None of the ponies made any sounds, but some of them could be seen tensing up as they expected him to fall back down to the base and get consumed by the evil white cloud. To their amazement, he didn't fall. His hooves carried him around the inside of the glass, making him appear to defy gravity. With how quickly he was moving around inside of water, he was pretty much defying it already. Snowy started running as fast as he could, making the cloud resemble a swarm of angry white bees chasing him around. Twilight didn't even notice how wide her smile had grown. When he reached the very top of the dome, so that he was standing upside down, he fell. A gasp or two rang out from the previously-silent crowd, coming from both a mare and a stallion. The snow cloud met him as he fell, and exploded. The entire snow globe burst into activity as a bomb went off, releasing a furious blizzard that completely blinded the audience to whatever was happening inside. A few of the ponies stood up to get a closer look. Even from her position at the back of the crowd, Twilight could see the looks of worry covering their faces. What had happened to their tiny little performer? The purple alicorn knew better than they did, however; Snowy was an absolute master of all things fluffy, white, and inside his globe. Just as she expected, the blizzard died down, revealing a completely unharmed reindeer whose face was almost splitting apart from its grin. Every single pony watching stood up and started softly stomping their hooves in applause. Perhaps they might have cheered, if not for the show having taken place inside of the most protected library in the world. Snowy's performance was over for the time being, so the observing ponies began to gather their things and disperse. Twilight chuckled when she saw a bunch of ponies lining up to the table, holding bit coins in their mouths as a way of paying for the show. Not seeing anywhere to leave the money, they stacked it up next to globe. Snowy was pressed up against the glass, watching in fascination as the pile of gold grew around him. Each time a pony dropped off a bit, they would bow their head in thanks to him before quietly walking off to continue their day. The lack of ponies freaking out warmed Twilight's heart. She had expected at least some anxiety towards the little buck. Ponies didn't tend to do well with unnatural or strange situations, so their willingness to sit calmly and watch Snowy perform was quite the honest miracle. Seeing as most of the ponies had already left, Twilight felt it was okay to approach the table. She stood up, the supplies in her saddlebags weighing her down slightly. When she got closer to the table, she once again broke out into a large smile. A little gray unicorn filly, barely older than the Cake twins, was standing up on her high legs, her front half reaching just high enough for her to see into Snowy's globe. The buck in question was mirroring her actions, his front hooves and face pressed up against the glass. The two just stared at each other, both smiling giddily. Had Snowy ever seen a foal before? The way he was staring in wonder at her convinced Twilight that he had not. "A baby one!" he said over the link, probably by accident. Yep, he had never seen a foal before. "How did you get in there?" the filly asked in a squeaky, high-pitched voice. The crack in her voice brought Twilight back to the way Sweetie Belle used to sound when she was much younger. Snowy tried to respond, and Twilight could hear him over the link. "I don't know! How did you get outside of here?" he tried to ask her. He must have forgotten that the link was only set up between Twilight and himself. Not hearing any response, the filly pouted and tilted her head. Snowy realized at that point that she couldn't hear him. Instead of getting frustrated as he had done with Twilight, Snowy moved directly onto body language and shrugged as an answer. The filly saw this and regained her bright smile. A feeling of pride hit Twilight. Snowy was already learning how to deal with his disadvantages, and it had only been a single day since he was taken off of the shelf! Still, she felt sad for the poor reindeer. He had sounded so excited to be able to talk with the filly, but his place inside the globe had prevented him from doing so. "Do you like it in there?" the filly asked again. Snowy took a literal second to answer, his head bobbing up and down rapidly. As nice as it was that he was happy the way he was, his answer still disturbed Twilight slightly. Was he actually happy to be in there, or was he just in there for so long that he didn't know anything else? She wanted to show him what else the world had to offer. What places would he like around Canterlot? Which stores or attractions would be his favorite? What food would he like the eat? When was the last time he even tasted anything? Twilight had been so caught up in her thoughts that she had missed the rest of the interaction between Snowy and the filly. She only noticed that they were done talking when the filly bumped into her on accident as she left the library. A couple quick apologies, a squeaky hiccup, and Twilight was once again alone with the buck. She snuck behind him, which was easy, considering that he had returned his attention to the stacks of bits piled up next to his globe. Each stack was taller than his globe, so the sheer amount of bits dwarfed his home. He looked so happy that they were there, but...what could he even do with them? "Hey, Snowy. Have fun?" she asked through the link. Snowy yelped, the sound audible through the water, and tried darting back into his glass house. He misjudged his aim, though, and smacked face-first into the side of it. "Ugh...ouchie..." his voice said in Twilight's head. She rushed to rest of the way over to his spot on the table and pushed her face close to the glass so that she could get a good look at him. Besides for the visible disorientation he was experiencing, he didn't appear to be hurt in any way. The purple alicorn sighed in relief and sat back, taking off her saddlebags in the process. "You should probably not run into that too many more times. I'm not sure how strong the glass is," Twilight said calmly as Snowy shook his head to get his bearings. He then looked up to her in surprise and confusion. "Twilight? What are you doing here?" he asked. Twilight tilted her head at him, not understanding why he was asking such a question. "Because I said I would come back?" she answered, trying to hold back her sarcasm. "Yeah, but you just left! Didn't you have something to do with Chilly Voice?" Snowy asked again. A little cold pit started to grow in Twilight's stomach at his words. As much as she wanted to believe he was doing okay in his globe...he kept giving her reasons to be concerned. "...Snowy, it's morning. I left last night. I already did everything I needed to do," she told him soothingly over the mental bridge. He blinked a few times at her before turning to look around at the library window. Just as Twilight said, the morning sun was peaking in through the glass, lighting up the room much differently than the candle light had done the night before. Snowy's ears drooped a bit and the rest of his body froze. He started to look like he was about to sink into the same trance he had before; the same one that had cause both him and Twilight some pain. In order to avoid this, Twilight reached out to his side of the link before he could fully fall into his mind. "Snowy, it's okay. So...uhm...I saw the show you were putting on. You and your snow are amazing!" she cheered. It was the only thing she could think to do to pull him back from the brink. Luckily, it worked. Snowy trembled a bit before coming back to the present. He turned to her with a smile and nodded a bunch of times. "You saw it? Did you see the audience? They loved my snow!" he cheered, overwhelming Twilight a bit. Having somepony shout into your head isn't exactly pleasant, regardless of their physical size. Twilight smiled through the throbbing in her head. "It wasn't just your snow they loved, you know. They loved you, Snowy. They were stomping because you put on a good show with your snow. And they seemed to like it enough to donate, given the amount of bits you've accumulated," Twilight pondered. Snowy nodded and did a little prance around his globe until he was facing the mountains of gold coins next to him. "Yeah! They gave me a bunch of yellow disks! So...what do I do with them?" the buck asked as he stared up at the towering coins. Wasn't that the world's greatest question? What was a reindeer trapped inside of a glass ball supposed to do with a bunch of bits? He didn't eat, didn't sleep, couldn't bring anything into the globe with him so he couldn't wear clothes... "Hmm..." Twilight thought. "Well, there's not really much you can spend them on. Maybe you could get something for the ponies who come to see your show? Perhaps some snacks or pillows...or a stand for your globe so that you're not just on some random library table. You could put some lights on it, and-...oh, sorry, that would be pretty expensive. You only have around thirty bits or so...well, maybe you could save up!" Snowy was cross-eyed by the time Twilight finished her verbal brainstorm. "Uhm...snack and pillows sound okay. Can I give one disk for those?" he asked. Twilight shook her head and pointed to the stacked bits. "No, they aren't worth that much. A pillow would probably be five or so bits on its own, and snacks would vary. You'd probably have to spend all of those just to get a few pillows and maybe some cheap snacks," she explained. Snowy bit his lip, looking from Twilight to his disks. "But...but I don't want to give them away. My audience gave them to me..." he bemoaned. Well, it seemed that he wasn't going to give up his 'disks' so easily, especially after receiving them from his very first larger audience. Twilight just gave him a small smile. "You know, I could provide some pillows for the time being. Snacks, too. They're not that expensive, and I've been receiving many more bits than I know what to do with," she told him. Snowy just gaped up at her like she was his personal goddess. Unbeknownst to her, she was starting to fit that bill. "But...Twilight, that's really nice..." he whined. The purple mare in question chuckled at his tone and patted the top of his globe with a hoof, momentarily blotting out most of his light. As soon as her hoof made contact with the glass, however, she yelped and pulled it away. It was as cold as ice! Snowy just gave her a worried look as she dug her hoof into her side to warm it up. She looked between the buck and the glass, her confusion plucking the strings of their mental bond. "Wh-whuh...why is...that's really cold!" Twilight said, still shaking a bit from the sudden chilling contact. It hadn't been like that when she had nuzzled it the night before! In fact, she didn't remember that crack in the glass...or the frost that was developing around it. "I like the cold," Snowy said simply, giving a shrug to show just how little it bothered him. Twilight could do nothing else but stare at him. She had just barely touched the outside of the glass...how cold was it on the inside? She got the feeling that it was much too cold for a pony to live in. And the crack...she hadn't even seen it the day before. How recent was it? Was it going to get bigger? What would happen if the globe sha- "Twilight..." Snowy whined as he held his head. "You're really loud..." Twilight blushed when she realized she had been accidentally sending all of those questions out over the link, right into poor Snowy's head. "Sorry, sorry! I'm sorry...sorry..." Twilight quickly apologized in a much quieter, more soothing tone. Snowy removed the hoof from his aching head and gave her a smile, already having forgotten about the questions she had forcefully shouted at him. It was just another reason for Twilight to be worried. She needed to start working on getting him out of the globe. "Moving on...I need to start looking for some information on your condition," Twilight explained as she moved to her saddlebags to unpack them. From its depths she pulled a bunch of blank parchment, a few quills, a large bottle of ink, and a baggie full of apple slices. Snowy watched her the entire time, but something she had said was bothering him. "My condition?" he piped up. He started digging his front hoof into the snow nervously. "You being trapped in the globe, I mean. I want to look around in the library and see if there's any other recorded cases of something similar happening so that I can get an idea of how to get you out without hurting you," Twilight answered without looking at him. She was busy getting her papers sorted on the table in a way that didn't violate Snowy's space. The little buck looked down at his hooves, his eyes narrowing in concentration. Twilight wasn't watching, so she didn't see him start to shake slightly. She only looked up when she felt the worrying tingle of apprehension tug at her mind. "Snowy? Is something wrong?" she asked. Snowy just twitched, unwilling to look up and meet her gaze. "I...Twilight...I'm not sure..." he said weakly. Twilight dropped the supplies she had been holding in her magic and moved closer to the globe. The reindeer backed away from her worried eyes. "Sure about what?" she pried. Snowy went silent for a few moments before sighing and glancing up. In his eyes, she saw a bit of fear, a lot of shame, and some disappointment. "I'm not sure I want to come out of the globe," he finally admitted. Twilight's breath caught in her throat as the very thing she was fearing came to be. He was happy being trapped. "B-...but Snowy...don't you want to come out and make friends? I want to show you the world outside your globe! There's so much you haven't been able to see..." she pleaded, her eyes tearing up a bit. She knew that it was ultimately his choice, but just the thought of being locked inside of a glass ball until the end of time disturbed her greatly. "I'm making friends, though! Look!" he piped up, turning and pointing at the stacks of bits with his hoof. Twilight had to concede that with his new location on the table, he was in a much better position to do what he wanted. "But what about talking to others? All you can do right now is show them tricks! There's no bonding or communication going on, it's just ponies admiring you for a few minutes and then walking away, Snowy...oh..." Twilight stopped when she saw how far the buck's face had fallen. His ears dropped right along with his expression. She could tell that her words had just shattered his entire world. Having an audience was pretty much the only thing he wanted, and she had basically just said that his goal was pointless. The link tingled with pain, but not like the pain she had felt the day before. This kind of pain was more broken...empty. Snowy turned and walked calmly back to his house. He was quick to squeeze himself inside and hide. A feeling of shame and guilt washed over the purple alicorn. She didn't want to hurt Snowy, yet she kept saying or doing things to hurt his feelings...but she wanted to help him so badly! He was obviously not supposed to be in the globe, and his contentment with it was probably just a product of his time spent in captivity. It was either that, or he had already lost his mind and Twilight's help had come far too late. She didn't know what to do. She could apologize, but then what? Would she just end up saying something hurtful again a little while later? Twilight needed a way to help him, even if he didn't know he needed help. She needed to find a way for him to come out. Just as she was about to turn to start looking for some books to check through, the mental link tingled gently. "I still love you," Snowy murmured quietly. "Please don't go away..." Twilight's heart sank a bit lower. He was such a sweetheart, and to have him locked up and only able to communicate with her...she nearly wanted to cry for him. "I'm not going away, Snowy. I promise. I'll just look for now so I know what's going on. And if you decided later that you do want to come out, the option will be available. You don't have to if you don't want to, though. Does that sound okay?" she offered warmly. Though she couldn't see him, she could feel the tingle of acceptance over the link. "Yeah...yeah, that sounds okay. And...if I come out, would I be able to go back in? Maybe it could be like my home! I go out during the day, and them come back when I feel like it. Could we do that?" he pondered, more to himself than to Twilight. Regardless, he deserved an answer for such an optimistic line of thinking. "Maybe," Twilight responded, shrugging as she started to walk towards the bookshelves. "That's why I need to look. We'll never know unless we find out, right?" Snowy responded positively before going quiet. "Oh, and Snowy...?" Twilight said, her voice low and sad. "I'm sorry about what I said..." Snowy went silent again, but answered as soon as he could gather his thoughts. "It's okay, Twilight...I know you didn't mean it. You just don't know the power of snow! Don't worry, I'll show you how amazing it is," he answered somewhat ominously. The studious alicorn might have taken more issue with that, if she hadn't already started her search for a solution. Snowy was once again alone, even though he knew he could reach Twilight over the link if he needed to. But he couldn't show her his snow over the link! He wanted more ponies to show his snow to! The feeling he had gotten earlier that morning when a bunch of the ponies in the library had gathered to watch him...it was bliss. "He's over here! On the table!" a familiar squeaky voice said from just outside the library door. The voice was accompanied by many sets of hooves that filled Snowy's core with hopeful butterflies. Just as he had expected, a large pack of fillies walked into the library, following the one that had already seen Snowy's performance. "There's no way there's somepony inside of a snow globe, Jitter! That's almost as silly as the time you said that you saw a-...bahwah-huh...?" the second voice stopped once the pack of fillies had gotten close enough for them to all clearly see the tiny reindeer staring at them with glee. "See? Told ya," the familiar filly said, a smug grin pulling at her lips. The offending friend of hers just gaped like a beached fish. "Hey, Mr. Globey, would you mind doing some more tricks? My friends didn't believe me when I told them what you were doing." Snowy nodded vigorously, his heart soaring in his chest. More ponies to show his snow to! Another audience! As he stomped his hoof down onto the base of his globe, the snow shot up into the water and created a cloud of white. The fillies all gasped before scrambling to find a place to sit down for the show. "This is the life!" Snowy cheered in his head. "What was that?" he heard Twilight respond over the link. His face grew warm as he realized he had accidentally said that directly to her, instead of to himself. The link's functionality was confusing to a being that had been locked away with his thoughts for so long! "N-nothing, Twilight...just...uhm...love you!" he stuttered. He could feel her eyes rolling from the other side of the room. But it was at least a very warm, receptive eye roll. The best kind of eye roll.