//------------------------------//
// Chapter 7 - On Parties And Dwellings 
// Story: How Snowy Night Came To Ponyville 
// by SnowyNight 
//------------------------------//

How Snowy Night Came To Ponyville Chapter 7 - Of Parties and Dwellings (Release by: Nov. 21, 2012)

Full Circle's hooves seemed to fall into the same steps taken a thousand times before by a thousand different ponies. It felt good to come home even if only to
"No, no, no," muttered Snow to herself, crossing out a word before writing it out again. Having fallen off of writing prose, Snow was having a hard time writing without the structure that rhyme and meter provided. "Come on, girl. It's just like free verse, only... longer." Snow's corner of Pinkie's room seemed to be shrinking by the day due to the sheer volume of paper, both written on and blank. Snow shook her head as she surveyed the mess. No way around it - she was going to have to get her own place.
Snow silently thanked Celestia that she had not quit her day job - for the short time that her mother had indulged her writing talents, Snow had written exactly one page. It was far easier to write, Snow realized, without the burden of expectation that came with writing full-time.
Which was probably why Snow was having such a hard time right now. Ms. Cake, upon hearing of Snow's newfound Talent, had insisted that two hours be set aside every evening - with significantly lowered volume from downstairs - for writing. Snow doodled idly, thinking irritably - though not ungraciously - that more writing would get done on a sunny day outside in Ponyville than in this room, at this time.
Snow thought, not for the first time, that she should buy her own place.
A knock on the door brought a relieved sigh to Snow's lips. She glanced down at her page, seeing a couple of bits worth keeping after all, and opened the door.
"Finally!" said Pinkie. "You were in there FOR EVER. You must have at least twenty stories! Or sixty. Or a hundred!"
"It's good to see you too, Pinkie," said Snow. Looking out the window, Snow saw it hadn't been long at all since she'd started writing.
"Come on! I'm... uh... I mean... Twilight..."
"What about Twilight, Pinkie?"
"She... needs you at the library! To help her! With books!"
"Books, huh?"
Pinkie nodded vigourously, mane bouncing up and down as she did so. "Yuh-huh! Now come on!" Snow laughed as Pinkie half-led, half-dragged her out of the room.
"Goodbye, Mr. Cake," said Snow helplessly as she went through the door. Mr. Cake just smiled knowingly and waved them out, along with the two other ponies currently in the store.
Snow barely kept up as Pinkie set a breakneck pace, all while walking. "Why... are we..." Pinkie just smiled and sped up a little before Snow could gasp out her question. Shaking her head, Snow slowed down - she knew her way around Ponyville well enough to get to the library, after all. There would be plenty of time to get there.
Snow wasn't exactly surprised when all of the ponies burst out in the library, but she was pleased, nonetheless. The party was just getting into full swing when somepony asked Snow, "So, what are you working on right now?"
"Oh! Uh... you know, a little project, just to... get my skills back up to speed."
"What's it about?"
"It's really silly," said Snow, inventing furiously. "There's a daffodil that decides to go on an adventure..."
"Sounds pretty silly," said the other pony. "Well, be sure and let me know if you release it!"
"I - I will," said Snow, releasing her breath as the pony walked away. At that moment, however, Pinkie's head stuck out of the applesauce and said, "ooh! I bet he asked you out! Did he? Did he? Huh? Huh? Did he?"
"Pinkie!" said Snow, laughing. "He didn't ask me out. He asked me - how did you get in there?"
"Get in where?" asked Pinkie, coming out from between two layers of cake.
Snow looked at the applesauce, then the cake, then back to the applesauce. Snow looked about to say something, but then she paused, shook her head and trotted away.
"Silly Snowy," said Pinkie, diving back inside the cake... or so it seemed.
The party was fun, but Snow was keen to get away from the questions about when the book would be completed. Snow made her way alone to the center of town, sitting down in the middle of the park; she pulled out a candle, lit it, and began to write. She wrote three and a half pages, blew out the candle, and trotted back toward Sugarcube Corner, thinking about her present situation.
Ponyville wasn't a very large place, but it had been around for a very long time. Enough ponies had wanted to move there at one point that Celestia had made a Royal Edict that Ponyville stay a certain size - if it grew over time, it grew, but Celestia seemed to think it important that small places like Ponyville existed right alongside places like Canterlot and Cloudsdale.
So it was that few new houses were built - current ones were redone, renovated, and added-on-to by new residents. At the moment, there were only two places available - one small apartment and a cottage. The apartment was too small for Snow, and the cottage was really too large, and cost quite a lot to boot. Snow knew that the answer was in sight, but it eluded her all the same.
Snow entered Sugarcube Corner and went straight to her room, keeping as quiet as possible - it really was quite late. Pinkie was still at the party - and likely would be all night, showing up tomorrow morning for work - so Snow tried to get some writing done. Despite feeling somewhat claustrophobic in her small corner of the room, Snow managed to get a page done on her latest story before giving up, As she drifted off to sleep, Snow wondered if one's talent was supposed to be this... difficult to use.
"I'm making up for lost time," said Snow to herself, softly. "It's going to take a while to really, truly get writing." Allowing herself to be convinced, Snow drifted off to sleep, mind going through various possibilities for the storyline.
"Good morning, sleepyhead!" said Pinkie. Snow instinctively jumped out of bed and backed away, startled, but recovered quickly, laughing as she got out of bed and headed downstairs.
During the day, Snow was surprised by Zecora's arrival, in the middle of four different orders as she was. "Zecora!" said Snow, dropping a plate off at Bon Bon's table. "I didn't expect to see you here."
"I had to stop in town and buy some herbs, to help a bird to fly," said Zecora. Snow smiled as she heard Zecora's seemingly effortless rhymes again.
Snow set down another dish, picking up one to replace it and said, "I thought Fluttershy usually took care of injured animals."
"True, but the bird needs attention and rest enough to recover and be its best. Have you discovered that which is your greatest test?"
"Wha...? Oh, my talent. Apparently - I'm supposed to be good at writing." Snow blinked and swiftly delivered two meals, picking up three meals and glancing around to find where they were to go.
"Storytelling is an honoured craft. But why do you work instead of draft?"
"Well, I can't write very well when I sit down and try to do it. The only way I seem to really be able to write is when an idea strikes - then I sit down and begin to write. Besides, I need some way to pay for my place here."
"You could always come into Everfree, and do your writing safe with me."
"Thanks," said Snow, panting as she tried to get all the orders out - Zecora had come at a particularly busy time of day. "But I don't think I want to live that far away from other ponies again. It gets pretty lonely."
"Well I know of loneliness," said Zecora, moving in and helping with a couple of dishes. "It pulls at anypony's heart. So why not live at forest's edge, away from Ponyville - yet not apart?"
Snow blinked. "Do you know of a place like that?"
"Long has stood a lonely shack along the forest's end. I use it sometimes when I come to town, as today for that bird to mend."
"Oh, right - the bird! You need to go," said Snow, as she and Zecora moved around one another to deliver the plates. Just then Pinkie walked in, and Snow breathed a sigh of relief. "Go take care of that bird. We can meet later - when are you heading back into the forest?"
"Since I am in town, I thought I could buy some things not found in the wood." Zecora stepped back as Pinkie stepped in and delivered all of the backlogged orders to general applause. "I'll meet you in the park when work is done and it is dark?"
"Sure," said Snow. "I've got to go in back, now - they'll want me to do some baking." Zecora smiled and quietly stepped out as Snow moved in back, mopping sweat from her brow as she did.