//------------------------------// // 2. Snowy // Story: The Globe Trotter // by Carrier of Heartbreak //------------------------------// "Twilight, look!" The larger purple alicorn looked up from her notes to view what exactly was so important to Snowy that he had flooded the mental link with a very loud and excited cheer. To her surprise, the little buck was curiously missing from the enclosure. It was empty, save for the snow, the little glass house, the pine tree, and...a newly formed snowpony with some suspicious antlers sticking out of the top. "Very nice, Snowy," she chuckled, smirking to herself. Even though she had only spent about an hour with the little being in the snow globe, she could already tell that he was quite the goof. After she had let him know that she had seen his stunt, he burst free from the snowpony. The globe was briefly filled with snow as the buck shook himself off, trying to rid himself from the intrusive white bits. Once he was free, he did a quick spin and looked up to his giant friend, who had returned to writing down notes. "What are you writing? Are you making a book? There are already a lot of those in here," he told her as he moved in circles around his globe, trying to find a comfy spot to lay down. He settled on a spot under his pine tree that had been worn down. It was apparently his favorite spot. "No, I'm just writing down some information about you. I've never heard of a being locked inside of a snow globe before...and an intelligent one, at that! I'm still not sure whether to be amazed, concerned, or...I don't even know," she admitted. Snowy tilted his head at her. What was there to be confused about? He did things with snow to entertain her. She should just be happy with it! The Sweet Mother knew he was... "...Well, if you're writing a book about me, can I be the hero? I want to be the hero," Snowy piped up after a few seconds. Twilight turned her gaze away from her notes again to give him an amused look. After a quick sigh and a mirthful shake of her head, she turned back to her work. Snowy huffed and rested his head on the snow mound he had built in front of himself. "So..." Twilight piped up once her quill had stopped moving. "Have you always been inside your snow globe? Do you remember ever being outside of it?" Her question made Snowy start to remember, something he didn't enjoy. He looked up into nothing, his eyes unfocusing as they usually did. The purple alicorn, having not seen this behavior yet, paid close attention to every movement he made. For the next minute or so, he just sat there, his expression blank. He twitched every few seconds, but was otherwise motionless. Finally, his mouth started moving like he wanted to talk, but Twilight could only hear the muffled water sound again. "The link, Snowy. Use the link," she reminded him. The little buck's eyes slid back into their normal position before he shook his head to clear away the fog. The first thing she felt over the link was a wordless expression of pain. She flinched away from him, the unexpected sensation sending a dark shudder down her spine. Her wings rustled in response and her feathers puffed up. In the corner of her vision, she saw a dark look cross over the buck's face, one of deep-seeded hurt and unimaginable torment. By the time she turned to him, he was already back to his happy and goofy self. "Ugh, sorry about that, Twilight. It happens sometimes. I'm not really sure why. But no, I can't remember a time where I wasn't in the globe. So that means I've always been inside of it, right?" he reasoned as his one hoof rubbed his throbbing head. Twilight gave him a suspicious glare, but he retained his happy smile. She could tell by the feelings tingling across the mental link that he was still just as ecstatic to be talking to her as before. But that still didn't explain or excuse the momentary darkness she had felt from him. "Maybe," she answered. "But I'm not sure. How long have you been up there?" Snowy almost went back into the same state he had gone into for the first question, but his throbbing head deterred him. Instead, he just shrugged and started drawing in the snow to distract himself. "I dunno. Probably a long time. Like...a month? That's a long time, right?" he said, his voice lower than it had been. Twilight realized that the drop in his tone wasn't from his previous painful feeling, but was rather just what he sounded like when he was contemplating something. "Not really," Twilight chuckled as she wiped away a thick layer of grime and dust from the top of the globe. For a moment, she felt a pang of despair cross the link, followed by the phrase 'forever snow.' "I guess I could just ask Princess Celestia about- are you okay?" As soon as she had said the name of the Solar Princess, Snowy had shot up from his position under the tree and had once again shoved himself into the glass hideaway. This time, the force had been enough to push him all the way in. He was now completely hidden from the outside world. This odd turn of events shocked Twilight greatly. "Snowy? Snowy, what's wrong? Did I say something wrong?" It took a few moments, but a little brown muzzle slowly peeked out from the hole. Twilight nearly gasped when she saw how panicked Snowy's eyes looked once she saw his face. "Y-yes...I'm okay...but...that name...it's scary..." he said weakly. Twilight sat down from the table, letting it wash over her; Princess Celestia's name had terrified him. "Hey, hey...it's alright. It's okay. Nothing's going to hurt you. You're safe here," she tried to assure him. He poked his head out a bit more, but still remained in the safety of his glass house. "I'll keep you safe." Those words were like the very bells of Evermore to Snowy. She had proclaimed that she would protect him. The giant alicorn, even though she had no reason to, cared enough about him that she would be willing to do what it would take to make sure everything was okay. She was his guardian. His giant, purple, beautiful guardian. "I love you!" he shouted over the link. Twilight's eyes went wide when she heard this. Being the easily flustered and inexperienced pony she was, she simply had no idea how to respond. "Uhm...w-what...?" she stuttered in response. Snow tilted his head up at her. Had he not been loud enough? She hadn't heard him. Only one way to fix that! "I LOVE YOU!" he shouted even louder. The magical bands that made up the mental bridge trembled from the sheer force of his thought. Twilight was forced to mute him from her mind until she could calm him down; that last shout left her mind tingling as if her head had been struck. "Snowy! That's...I'm sorry, but I'm not sure what to say to that..." she said out loud to the little buck. He looked like he was trying to respond to her, but she was still cut off from hearing him. Seeing that she wasn't getting it, he tried talking out loud like she was. Nothing but the water sound came out. Frustrated, Snowy leaned forward and shot his back legs out, kicking the fake pine tree. The snow that had settled on the branches was flung off and floated calmly down to cover the buck below. Instead of pushing the offending white powder off, he let it cover him. Twilight realized that this was his version of sulking. Snowy stopped trying to talk to her and walked slowly back to his glass house. He squeezed himself back inside, the tight fit brushing most of the snow off. Then he was gone; once again hidden from the outside world. "I'm sorry, Snowy. Please, come back out," Twilight pleaded, keeping her voice as motherly and warm as she could. When she didn't hear anything, she remembered that the link had been silenced. With a quick thought, the line reopened, allowing Snowy to respond to her. But he didn't. "Snowy?" she inquired over the link. His side of the line remained silent, but she could feel a cold shivering being sent across. He wasn't answering her verbally, but couldn't control his emotions enough to completely hide his feelings. Twilight fidgeted a bit, uncertain of whether she was willing to look in on his emotions or not. He wasn't answering her, so it was okay if she was just worried, right? The faint vibrations coming over the bridge were of sadness and hopelessness. It came as a shock to Twilight how completely devastated he was that she hasn't accepted his declaration of love to her. What was going through his mind to cause such a dramatic response? "Snowy, please come out and talk. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings," she said softly to him. The line remained silent, but a faint feeling of hope started to form on the other end. Then she heard a sniffle. "I..." Snowy started. "I don't...I don't want to be alone...you're going to put me back on the shelf...and...and then you'll leave with Chilly Voice and...you'll never come back..." The purple alicorn couldn't stop the torrent of emotions from flowing through her. Her vibrant purple eyes blurred over and a couple of tears trickled down her face. It was the scariest feeling for her, being so distraught and not even knowing why. "Snowy! I'm not going to leave you, I...you're not going to be alone! Please come out!" Twilight sobbed. She forgot to use the link instead of her own voice, so any passerby would have seen a young alicorn mare yelling at and making demands at a snow globe. It wasn't exactly her best moment. But it was far from her worst. A short amount of time passed before Snowy peeked out from the house. The water around his face was a bit blurry, like it had been invaded by a foreign liquid. His eyes...they made her heart hurt. He looked so scared, like a lost puppy- That's pretty much what he was acting like. Twilight started making the connections, and finally realized that all of his behavior so far was along the same lines as a puppy without a home; one that had probably never experienced what it felt like to be loved. When he started shouting about loving her... Twilight started to understand. He didn't say he was in love with her. No, what he had meant was that he loved her as his first friend; the first one he had probably gotten to show his snow to. It was the same kind of love one would received when adopting an animal from a shelter, and she...dear Celestia, she had rejected it and then silenced him. No wonder he was so upset. He thought she was telling him that she didn't like him, or his show, and she was just going to put him back on the shelf and leave. "Please don't go away..." he begged, his gaze moving down to the snow that littered the bottom of his home. He just didn't have it in him to move it back out into the outside, where it was supposed to be. Instead, he just nudged it with his hoof, watching as it stayed afloat for a second or two before floating back down. Its time suspended was as brief as his companionship with Twilight was going to be... ...at least in his mind. Twilight, on the other hoof, was having none of those thoughts. "I'm not going to leave you, Snowy," Twilight said, her mind's voice taking on an air of authority that made the little buck blink. "In fact, I'm going to find out how to get you out of there so that we can be friends, and hang out, and...Snowy, would you like to come out of there?" Snowy swallowed down the rapidly growing lump in his throat. "Get...out...?" he stuttered. "But...that's, uhm...I don't know..." He started to retreat back into his hideaway, his eyes darting from side to side anxiously. Twilight could tell that she was losing him. "Snowy, don't you want to be out here with everypony else? You could make friends, and have a properly sized house, and...you could be happy out here. Please, Snowy..." Twilight pleaded. The buck's eyes drifted up to meet hers. In them, Twilight could see a good amount of fear and anxiety, but those were overshadowed by his uncertainty. "I...b-but what about my snow? How will I make friends if I'm not inside the globe to show them my snow?" he asked. The alicorn's aching heart went out to Snowy. His whole identity was so attached to the globe that he didn't believe he would be able to make friends without first impressing them with tricks. "You don't need your snow to make friends, you know. You could just talk to them and see if you have things in common, and go from there. My friends were the best thing to ever happen to me. I used to be rather negative towards the idea of going out and talking to ponies, but when I finally got off my rump and tried...Snowy, they changed my life. Every accomplishment felt so much better when I had ponies to share them with," Twilight ranted. Snowy just sat there, looking up at her the whole time. His eyes almost went unfocused again, but he noticed it in time to stop himself. The buck shook his head, clearing off what little snow was left on top of it. "I don't...the snow worked for you, Twilight," he replied, though his tone hinted that he knew his argument was growing weaker. "Yes, the snow was lovely, but when was the last time you did a trick?" Twilight asked. Snowy lifted a hoof to his chin in thought, but couldn't come up with anything. "It's been almost two hours. Two hours, and do you know why I've been sitting here this whole time?" "Did you forget how to stand up?" Snowy asked. Twilight had the words she was about to say knocked out of her mind. "Wah-huh...? No, no...I've been sitting here talking to you," she explained. Snowy blinked and tilted his head, trying to understand. "Did...did you want to see more snow tricks? Are you bored?" he asked, starting to look a bit more nervous. Had he been boring her? Was she disappointed in him? She was quick to notice his inner turmoil. "No! Snowy, I'm happy just talking to you. Your snow is nice, and you're very good with it, but I enjoy your company." Twilight looked down at the buck as he pondered over her words. "So...you'd like talking to me...even if I didn't have snow?" he asked for clarification. Twilight gave him a large, warm smile. She was finally getting through to him! "Yes! That's what it's like to have a friend. You can sit there for hours and do nothing but talk, and you'll never be bored. And if you do happen to get bored, you can be bored together," Twilight explained happily. Snowy held his head as it started to throb. He just couldn't understand how he could be of any value if it weren't for his globe. Wasn't his globe his purpose? Without it, wouldn't he be worthless? It just didn't make sense... But Twilight was the one saying it, and she was super smart and pretty. She couldn't be wrong about anything. Right? "Okay..." Snowy muttered across the link. Twilight's ears perked, even though there wasn't any physical sound for them to pick up. Her heart leapt in her chest at his answer. "Really? Snowy, thank you! I promise you, I'll help you settle in with everypony else and make lots of friends!" she cheered out loud. The sun outside of the library windows was getting quickly dimmer, a sign that it was getting later and Princess Celestia was finishing up her work for the day. She still had plans with the Princess. She was going to have to leave her friend, at least for the night. And the way he reacted to Celestia's name before...bringing him along probably wasn't the best idea. "I'm ready..." Snowy mumbled. His eyes were shut tight and he was trembling slightly, the anticipation filling him with worries and hopes. Twilight blinked in confusion, but was quick to realize what was wrong. "Oh, no! I still have to figure out how to get you out. I've never heard of somepony stuck in a snow globe before...I want to find the proper spell to take you out without hurting you..." she explained, "or your snow globe." The second part was added on when she noticed the worried look in his eyes. Her assurance of the globe's safety made him visibly relax. The sun had finally set, leaving the library dark except for some candlelight. Twilight's ears perked as the sound of approaching hooves caught her attention. These weren't the smaller sounds that a normal pony would make; they were the very familiar sounds that Princess Celestia's metal slippers made. She was on her way. "Listen, Snowy, I have to go for the night, but..." A bolt of pain went through her chest at the hurt look he was giving her. "BUT! I have to start looking for a spell to get you out of there, so I'll be back in the morning. My friend Rarity's visiting with me, so I'll see if she wants to come along as well." The idea of another new friend brightened the buck right up. "And I'll leave the link open so that you can have someone to talk to. Just send some words down the line when you want to talk, okay?" Twilight started packing her things away and didn't see the wide grin plastered on Snowy's face. He couldn't help it! Not only did he make a friend, but he was also going to be making more, and he also had a way to talk to someone other than Mabel! She was a very nice pine tree, but she didn't exactly tend to listen to his side of the conversation. "I'm sure you'd like to get some sleep as well, after those awesome tricks you showed me!" Twilight assured him cheerfully. Snowy just tilted his head and tutted quietly. "I can't sleep," he said simply. Twilight looked up from her supplies and raised a brow at him. "Why? Is something bothering you?" she asked. He just shook his head before explaining. "No, I mean I can't sleep. The globe doesn't let me," he said. Twilight's pupils shrank not only at this new information, but how casual he sounded about it. It was like it didn't even bother him...or he had forgotten that it should. She was going to need to find out how to get him out of there before he went completely insane from constant awareness. As the sounds of her mentor's hooves grew dangerously close to the library entrance, Twilight gave the globe a nuzzle with her cheek before darting to meet her friend. She might have been leaving Snowy alone for the night, but she was leaving him in much better condition that he had been in. He was off the shelf now. If he wanted to show off his snow to other ponies, now all he had to do was sit there and do his thing. He had a friend. However long it had been since he had had somepony to talk with, it was over now. The link was still active, and would remain so for as long as he was still in the globe. The most important thing of all was that he had hope. He had something to look forward to. She would be back in the morning, maybe with another friend, and she would help him exit his home for the first time in ever. He wouldn't have to get his social understanding from eavesdropping on passing ponies in the library anymore. As nervous as he was about such a big change, Snowy was unashamedly, unflinching happy. Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough. "I love you," he sent over the link. It hummed back a cautious, but positive response.