HSNCTP Chapter 8 - Of Muses And Meanderings
Snow grinned as she looked over the sheaf of paper. Done. The story was complete. Granted, it wasn't Snow's best work, but hopefully it would be good enough to impress Twilight's publisher friend.
As Snow made her way to the Ponyville library, she saw a pegasus overhead. She smiled and stopped to watch. Granted, the flying wouldn't win whoever it was any prizes, but there was a simple practicality about it that (Snow felt) showponies like Rainbow Dash or the Wonderbolts could never hope to replicate.
To Snow's surprise, it was the same messenger pegasus as before. "Delivery for... Snowy Night?"
"Yes, that's me," said Snow, watching for any sign that he recognized her. None was forthcoming, however, but as Snow watched him fly away, she realized it didn't matter. She had other friends now, ponies she loved and trusted.
The package was from Frosty Lake, the town where Snow had gone at least once a year to trade what little grew at her little farm. It'd be overgrown by now, unless someone else had taken it over. The package was full of a type of brittle cookie that kept for long periods pf time. Snow closed the package back up and smiled as she anticipated sharing these with her friends, particularly Pinkie Pie.
Snow knocked on Twilight's door and entered inside - Twilight was chatting animatedly with a unicorn whose cutie mark appeared to be a pile of books. Snow trotted inside and sat down, drawing the unicorn's attention.
"Ah, yes," she said. "You are the pony of whom Twilight spoke?"
"Yes," said Snow, grabbing her story and giving it to the pony. "Here's my story."
"Excellent," said the pony, using her magic to levitate the pages. She flipped through them rather quickly, causing Snow to wonder whether she was actually reading or not. When she was done, she said "do you intend for these two to be published together?"
"These two?" Snow opened the makeshift book up. The first two-thirds were taken up by the story she'd given her - the one of how she'd arrived and settled in Ponyville - but the last third was a rather private "bedroom story" Snow had written more to keep writing than anything else when the muse wouldn't come.
When Snow didn't respond immediately, the unicorn - Livre Beau was her name, Snow recalled - said "I must say the second story almost surpasses the first, in narrative if not in scope."
"R... really? Do you think people would read it?
"I know they would," said Livre Beau, almost dismissively. "I mean, we might not sell any in Ponyville, but places like Canterlot and Manehatten would be perfect."
Just the names of these places sounded like fairy tales to Snow's ears, let alone that people there might read her stories. "I didn't mean for th... for them to be published together," said Snow.
Livre Bon nodded, shutting Snow's pages, duplicating it almost effortlessly onto two ready-made blank book and speaking all the while in professional clipped tones about commissions and book signings. Snow barely heard anything. She was too happy that someone actually liked her story, that it would be read by ponies in ridiculously far-off places. That led Snow to ask...
"Hey - could you see to it that the first, longer story is published in Frosty Lake, up north?"
Snow returned home jubilant. The one-time abandoned shack was looking great, and soon enough Snow might be able to furbish it and make it a true home. Along the way, Snow stopped in Sugarcube Corner.
"Well, if it isn't our resident author!" said Ms. Cake. "Written anything good?" Snow shared the news about Twilight's friend wanting to publish the book, along with one of the cookies. "That's wonderful, dear," she said between mouthfuls. "Mm... not a bad cookie. May I see the recipe?"
"Maybe later," said Snow, trying to remember the recipe. "There's other ponies I want to tell -"
"Oh! Of course," said Ms. Cake. Snow bought a blueberry muffin and left.
It didn't take Snow very long to tell the few ponies she knew about the good news - mostly because Pinkie was third and she insisted on an immediate party - and as Snow laughed with the other ponies, she chanced a glance out at the night sky and thought of her mother, wondering if she'd be happy with what Snow was doing. Then Pinkie started a conga line and Snow found herself caught up in the festivities.
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A/N: Sorry if the ending seems a bit abrupt. I hope you enjoyed the story; I know it wasn't the best, and certainly it wandered into Mary Sue territory more than once, but I feel I got my feet wet with this - it got me writing again for the first time in a good while, and actually made me complete a story. Please comment below - any comments will help me make the next story better.