Winter’s Howl
Chapter 2: First Snow of the season
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Snowstorm stood silently for a moment, taking in all of the information that had been promptly dumped on his head. He had gotten a job, a place to stay, and met the mare of his dreams within 5 minutes of moving to a new, unfamiliar town. This was…great!
No problems at all.
Except he couldn’t talk to mares he knew he fancied, and dropped half of his IQ in their presence. Now he had one as a boss.
“Buck…” he said through a groan.
“Something the matter, dear?” Warmhearh asked Snowstorm, a genuine look of concern on her face.
“Well, no…but…yes.” Snowstorm answered sheepishly, finding a sudden fascination with the floorboards of the hotel lobby. A blush of crimson spread across his face, giving stark contrast to his normal blue and grey color scheme.
“Oh….I see what’s going on here,” Warmhearth gave a coy smile, raising an eyebrow “You like her don’t you? Oh this IS interesting.” She put an elbow on her counter and rested her head on her hoof, watching her real-life drama unfold.
“That obvious, huh?” He tried to remain polite, but was somewhat put-off by her immaturity. “Yeah I guess, I mean, she’s as gorgeous as they come, but I’d have to get to know her better.”
“Well,” she smiled more sweetly now, “It sounds like you’ll have plenty of time to do just that, considering she’s your boss now. Or partner. Whatever.”
“Yeah, and that’d be just fine and dandy if I could bring myself to speak coherently to her.” Snowstorm sighed, knowing that now that he liked her, communication would be a stone’s throw from impossible.
“Well you seemed to have handled yourself just fine about 15 seconds ago. Besides, you’re a handsome young colt, I’m sure you have plenty of fillyfriends! How’d you start talking with them?”
“Um…I haven’t had…any…fillyfriends” He quieted to a whisper, returning his gaze to the same fascinating floorboards. The mare behind the counter remained quiet a moment, clearly deep in thought.
“Hm, well you’re certainly not the only one!" She tried to give Snowstorm some advice to break the awkward situation she found herself in, "If I've learned anything in my life, it’s that if you don’t ask, the answers always no!” Warmhearth beamed.
Snowstorm stood silent. The most sage advice he’d ever heard slammed into him like a train, and filled him with a newfound confidence. It was true, he thought, at least logically. If anything, he could use logic to calm his nerves. He looked up, meeting the mare’s kind eyes.
“Thank you. For everything.” Snowstorm let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding in, and headed out into the town.
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It was fairly warm for the time of year, and a friendly sun greeted him as he stepped outside the hotel. Looking to his left, he could see the trail from whence he came, to his right, the small town of Ponyville. He began walking toward the town, his wings still somewhat sore from his flight into town. He quickly arrived at what he could only assume to be assumed to be the town center, as many shops and carts were set up, with ponies wearing friendly smiles mingled and shopped. Snowstorm’s stomach gave a sudden gurgle. He put a foreleg to his stomach, realizing he hadn’t eaten yet that day, and had just flown ten miles. He spotted at the nearest food vendor and approached the cart. An aroma of apples and apple delicacies wafted into his nose, becoming him to purchase and, in turn, devour almost everything the cart had to offer.
“Well, howdy!” a sudden voice greeted Snowstorm, as he lifted his head to find an orange earth pony with a blond mane standing behind the counter, “Care to buy some of Equestria’s finest apples? Grown right here in town at Sweet Apple Acres!”
Snowstorm looked at the young mare before him. She was about his age, and had a thick southern accent. Her emerald eyes greeted his, showing a very trusting aura about her. “Yes, thank you!” He spoke with a small smile, “What do you recommend?”
The orange earth pony smiled and ducked behind her cart briefly. Snowstorm caught glance of her flank, not for perverted reasons, but to investigate her cutie mark. Three red apples adorned her flank, signaling that she did indeed know what she was doing when it came to her trade. She rose from behind the cart, a warm apple pie gently gripped in her mouth. “Well, ya can’t go wrong with a Granny Smith dutch apple pie!” She spoke, laying it down on the counter. “You’re new ‘round these parts, aintcha?”
“Yup, brand new in town. Hopefully be moving in soon, depends if I can hold a job with the weather.” Snowstorm spoke, oddly comfortable with the apple salesmare behind the counter.
“Well then welcome ta Ponyville! Ah’m Applejack, and me and ma family run the apple farm ‘round these parts. If you’re lookin’ for a job in weather, ah’d suggest you speak to-“
“Rainbow Dash? Yes, we’ve met. It sound like I’ll be starting work tomorrow.” Snowstorm said confidently.
“Well aren’t you just quick to meet everypony,” Applejack said with a grin, “what’s your name partner?”
“Snowstorm.” he replied.
“Well it was a might pleasure ta meet you, Snowstorm. Ah’m sure ah’ll be seeing you around!”
Snowstorm chuckled, “I’m sure you will too. Now, how much for the pie?” He asked.
“For you, sugarcube? 5 bits.”
He chuckled again, “sounds fair,” he said through quiet laughs and put the money on the counter. He picked up the pie and brought it to a nearby park bench. Sitting down he began to eat it rather messily, slamming his snout into the delicious pastry. Suddenly, a voice interrupted his feast.
“Hey! Whatcha got there?”
Snowstorm looked up and found himself uncomfortably close to a pink earth pony, starring him in the eye. “Apple pie..?” He responded, almost cautiously.
“Is it an Applejack apple pie?”
“Yeah…”
“Is it super-duper yumalicious?”
“It’s…pretty good, yeah.”
“Can I have some?”
“I’m sorry, who are you?” Snowstorm asked. He was a little nervous, he didn’t know this pony, and she seemed a little…unstable.
“Oh! I’m Pinkie Pie! I help run the bakery in town with Mr. and Mrs. Cake! We make lots a super-de sweet goodies! Who are you? Are you new in town? You should come to Sugar Cube Corner and I can make you some tasty treats, or better yet, I could throw you a PARTY!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, clearly getting excited at the development of having a new friend to invite to parties.
“Um…Ok…”Snowstorms brain was still processing everything he’d just heard. Hopefully Mr. and Mrs. Cake are real ponies, he thought, and not some psycho imaginary pastry friends made up by the bubbly pony in front of him. She seemed friendly enough, but she was like a good sweet treat in a sense. At first her sweetness was very pleasant and rich, but having nothing but that made you feel rather ill rather quickly.
“Great! Come to Sugar Cube Corner at 8 o’clock tonight Snowstorm!” Pinkie Pie chirped as she began hoping away.
“How…how did you know my name? I never told you my name.” He raised a suspicious eyebrow
“Silly! I know all my friends names! We’re friends aren’t we Snowstorm?”
“Um…yes? I guess?”
“Exactly! What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t even know your name?”
“I…I don’t even…” He began
“See you tonight Snowstorm!” Pinkie hopped away.
“So…that happened.” Snowstorm finished his pie and continued through the town. Other than homes, there were very few actual establishments in the town. All the shops were mostly stands, only three building stood out from the crowd. A clothing store, a public building of some sorts within a massive tree, and a bakery. He recognized the bakery instantly as sugar cube corner, but the tree building intrigued him, so he decided to wander inside. Instantly he realized that the room was quiet, and fairly empty. Only two other ponies were inside, idling chatting. One was a lavender coated young mare with a dark purple mane, light purple and pink streaks running through it, the other, another young mare with a snow white coat and carefully groomed purple mane. Both were unicorns, with horns matching the hue of their coat jutting from their heads. Snowstorm had seen unicorns before, but they were rare in his hometown.
“Hi there! Welcome to the Ponyville library!” The lavender unicorn spoke from her table and got out of her seat. “Anything I can help you find?”
“No, just exploring the town, thanks.” He gave a smile and looked around. It was a library all right, there were more books in this building then he could imagine! There must have been thousands, all with a place and story, a separate world bound between their covers.
“Are you new in town, darling?” The white unicorn spoke now, also having risen from her seat. She spoke in a sophisticated manner, as though she was within the presence of high society. She was beautiful, yes, but something about her simply didn’t catch his eye, like a beautiful watch that simply did not match his wrist.
“Yes, actually. Hopefully I’ll be moving in soon, but for now I’m living in the hotel at the edge of town.” Replied Snowstorm.
“Oh do come down to Carousel Boutique sometime! I’m sure I have something smashing for a handsome colt such as yourself!”
That explained the clothes store.
“I’ll be sure to do that sometime,” He held out a hoof, “Snowstorm.” He greeted.
“Oh, where ARE my manners? My name is Rarity,” she gave a gentle shake to his hoof.
Snowstorm turned to the lavender unicorn, extending a hoof, “Twilight Sparkle! But you can just call me Twilight.”
Snowstorm shook her hoof and smirked “Like the books and movies?”
“NO.” Twilight’s face turned dead serious, and rather annoyed. Clearly he wasn't the first to come up with this joke.
Snowstorm laughed, “Good, the town librarian has some taste in literature.”
The three ponies shared a laugh before Snowstorm turned to head out the door. He glanced at the library behind him.
“Huh, looks a lot bigger on the inside”
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Snowstorm continued through town, and began to get familiar with its rather simple layout. Soon enough, he found he had reached the opposite end of the town. A small trail led to a large forest, with a small cottage laying just on the outskirts of town. He was about to turn back when he heard a beautiful melody drifting from the woods. Somepony was singing near by, accompanied by the voices of various songbirds, blending together to form wondrous music. Snowstorm walked down the trail to investigate and soon saw a cream colored pegasus hovering in front of a tree filled with birds. He listened for the duration of the song, and once it ended, he made his presence known.
“That was beautiful,” He said softly. The cream colored pegasus spun around quickly, her long pink mane twirling with her head.
“Oh…um…thank you” She spoke softly.
“No problem at all, I love listening to music.” Snowstorm gave a reassuring smile, the pegasus across from him shying away.
“I’m, uh, new here in Ponyville and I’m trying to get to know everypony. My name is Snowstorm. What’s yours?”
“I’m…uh…Fluttershy” She spoke just above a whisper, but Snowstorm attempted to ignore it.
“It’s nice to meet you Fluttershy. Do you take care of the animals around town?”
“Oh, yes! I love animals very much.” She spoke more confidently now.
“I thought you might, you certainly have a way with birds.”
“Well, they like to sing a lot, so it makes them happy.” She was smiling now. Apparently she had decided Snowstorm was nopony to be afraid of, and Snowstorm was glad for that. He was by no means a small pony, and could come across as intimidating.
“Will you be coming to the party tonight?” Snowstorm asked, looking for something to discuss. Fluttershy didn’t look like the kind of pony that would be attending parties, but at least it was something to say.
“Oh, yes. I got the invitation from Pinkie earlier. I’ll be heading there soon.”
“Soon?” he asked. He hadn’t even thought about the time. He had no watch and there were few clocks around the town.
“Yes, it’s quarter ‘till eight.”
Snowstorm looked at the sun. Sure enough, it was setting in the horizon, setting the still sky ablaze with colors of orange, red, and pink.
“Oh Horseapples!” Snowstorm took off toward the town. He really did have trouble with keeping track of time. He sighed. “Not good...”