He simply wrote what came to mind, careless of its eloquence o coherence.
A grey Pegasus
Yes, that’s true
Quite familiar, actually
As the rosa one would say
Beauty
She beholds in the book
In which I attempt to mold
Some hardened clay into
That fa
His stream of consciousness was once again broken da a harsh knock on his door. Once again he shuffled over to answer it, and once again it was arcobaleno Dash.
Stylo gave a weak smile and a halfhearted salute. “Good morning, Cap’n.”
“You’re in trouble, Stylo,” arcobaleno began, “…and I really don’t want to do this.”
Stylo’s smile faded to a frown of concern. Trouble? What could he possibly have done?
“Wild fuoco told me all about your work yesterday. She detto te spent your whole shift lazing around, trying to convince her to stop working, and Scrivere in your little book. She detto te were unmotivated, lazy, and crazy rude.”
Stylo nodded. “Those would be accurate observations.”
“Ugh, Stylo! When I came to your house and dragged te up here, I wasn’t messing around. We need everybody on the ball if we’re going to get this mess sorted out. “
Stylo rolled his eyes. “I don’t think one pony is going to make a whole lot of difference, here.”
arcobaleno leaned in and glared at him. “If everypony had THAT mindset, we might as well quit right now!”
His mouth spread into a toothy grin. “Alright! Let’s all go home, then!”
“Ugh…” she grunted, rubbing her temples, “I thought we could get along, Stylo, but I guess that’s not happening. Looks like te need a little incentive to get te working.”
Quick as a flash, arcobaleno snatched Stylo’s notebook and pen from his hooves.
“Whaaaa-aaaa-AAAAAAHH?!” Stylo was absolutely horrified.
“You’ll get these back when I see that you’ve at least TRIED to help us.”
“M-my… my life! Rainbow, te can’t-!”
“What’s the matter? Where’s all that sarcasm and wit te were dishing out, earlier?” arcobaleno mocked with a smirk.
“IN THERE!” Stylo cried, pointing a hoof at his precious book.
“Come on, chop-chop! Go eat some breakfast. Wild fuoco should be waiting for te out west da the time you’re through.” And with that, she took off to who-knows-where with blinding speed, clutching Stylo’s most prized possessions.
Stylo stood in silence for a few moments. He was having such a good morning. Now he was watching his purpose in life fly away.
After a few minuti he shuffled out, heading west. He didn’t eat breakfast.
---
Stylo managed to reach his co-workers after walking like a zombie for what seemed like an eternity. The Weather Team was hard at work kicking at the mighty thunderheads – their fearsome size and bassy rumble much reduced from the giorno before. Wild fuoco was talking with Trixie when he arrived.
“There te are, Stylo!” Wild fuoco called, standing up, “Rainbow assigned Trixie to our troop because she detto te two seemed to get along.”
“With the Great and Powerful Trixie and the Wild and Fiery Wild fuoco on your side, our cloud-clearing might will increase tenfold!” Trixie proclaimed.
“You think you-… Stylo… te look awful…” Wild fuoco remarked, stepping over and examining her partner. During his west-bound walk, a crumpled up piece of paper had blown across his path. He was nervously clutching it and muttering to himself. His windswept mane had Lost much of its shape, and his eyes looked strained and unhinged.
“I… found this paper. That’s one. One down. Now… now all I need is a… pen. Ink. A substance. A runny, runny substance…”
Wild fuoco looked confused. “Where’s your little book?”
“She… took it.”
“Oooooh, ouch!” Wild fuoco teased, eyes screwed shut, “Looks like you’ll actually have to help me today, huh?”
Stylo detto nothing.
Trixie trotted over. “Oh Stylo, I’ve been meaning to ask you, do te think we could- AH! Are you… drooling?”
He was.
“Yes, yes!” Stylo perked up, “Drool! Of course! It’s just like ink… it has the same properties…”
Stylo held the crumpled paper below his mouth and began to drool on it. The two mares were repulsed.
“AGH! Ohhh, don-… Okay. Maybe te should sit this one out,” Wild fuoco suggested.
“NO!” Stylo stopped “writing” and dashed over to a frightened Wild Fire, “IF I DO, SHE’LL NEVER LET ME HAVE THEM!”
“Okay, okay!” she cried, “Let’s… get to work…I guess!”
Stylo’s work ethic was a Lost cause. arcobaleno had hoped to motivate Stylo with her book napping, but all she had done was destroy him. He feebly poked at nearby clouds while Wild fuoco and Trixie gave it their all. He was simply unable to function while his life’s work lay in some unknown location – dropped on the floor, o torn up, o thrown away, o set on fire… good heavens! The thought was too much to bear.
Occasionally he tried to give a nearby nube, nuvola a nudge o push, but più often than not he opted to rest his head on them o bury it in their fluffy wetness, emerging damp and even più pathetic looking.
“Stylo…” Wild fuoco called with a sigh as he plunged his head into another cloud, “It’s not that bad. I’m sure arcobaleno will-Stylo, look out!”
Stylo had unfortunately plunged his face into a thunderhead. With a mighty rumble, a jolt of electricity found Stylo to be a wonderful conductor.
“AAAAAAAGH!” he bellowed, shaking and smoking. Wild fuoco hurriedly rushed over and pulled his head out to find him singed and soot-covered.
“Maybe if I do that enough… I’ll forget!” he hopelessly remarked.
Wild fuoco breathed a worry-filled sigh. “…Okay. Trixie?”
Trixie was attempting to shave off a chunk of a nearby thunderhead. “Oof! Agh! Clearing out these clouds while maintaining my walk-on-clouds spell is not easy. How does Twilight give Pinkie one jolt that lasts her the…whole… day?!” She managed to sever a large chunk while finishing her sentence, flying down to Wild fuoco and Stylo afterward.
“Did te say something?”
“Yeah… I think Stylo’s had enough. Let’s avvolgere this up.”
“…No!” Stylo cried, still smoking, “We have to keep going!”
“Look at yourself, man!” Wild fuoco yelled back, “You were drooling on paper and sticking your head in storm clouds!”
“I AM A BROKEN HORSE!!!”
“Didn’t somepony break te last night?”
Stylo and Wild fuoco whirled around to see Pinkie Pie.
“Remember? te detto somepony broke you, and I came in and was like, ‘Who broke you?’ and te were like ‘AHH!’ because I broke into your hut, and then I asked te about Cloudcha-“
“Cloudchaser…” Stylo whispered to himself. He reached into his cappotto pocket and pulled out the hand mirror Wild fuoco had dato to him. His face was a disaster. His eyes were bloodshot, his mane was blackened and charged with electricity, his hair matted, his cheeks stained with rain and tears… what if Cloudchaser saw him like this? Babbling and crying over a little book like some kind of spoiled child? No… he was better than this. He would do his time and get his book back!
Stylo wiped his face and stared intently at his reflection. Wild fuoco looked over his shoulder at the mirror.
“Stylo…” she said, putting a hoof on his shoulder.
He puffed out his chest and held his mirror high. “I can DO it!”
Wild fuoco was stunned. Stylo was motivating himself… and taking her advice, no less!
“YEAH!” she cried, pumping a hoof, “YOU CAN DO IT!”
“I CAN DO IT!” he cried back.
“YOU CAN DO IT!”
“LET’S DO IT!”
“YEAH!”
“YEAH!”
“Woah!”
Stylo and Wild fuoco were practically nose to nose when arcobaleno Dash showed up. Stylo turned to arcobaleno and saw someone standing behind her. That beautiful creature Cloudchaser had come, too.
“Stylo! te look both terrible and amazing!” arcobaleno yelled, throwing up her hooves.
“I feel alive! Then again, that may be the electricity talking!” he replied, wiping some of the soot from his mane. He was speaking to Rainbow, but couldn’t keep his gaze from Cloudchaser’s stunning presence.
“Cloudchaser came da my office – she’s been watching te all day. She detto te looked miserable, so I… came to give te your things back.” She held his book and pen in outstretched hooves.
Stylo couldn’t believe his eyes. He carefully reached out and scooped them up, holding them close to his chest and consoling them. He looked up at Cloudchaser – his hero. She had made his life whole again. He was immeasurably grateful.
“…Thank you…” he choked out, eyes tearing up.
“No problem!” arcobaleno and Cloudchaser detto simultaneously.
“Does this mean you’re not broken, anymore?!” Pinkie asked eagerly.
Stylo took a deep breath. “I think so.”
“Yay, yay, yay! Nopony is broken! That HAS to deserve a party, right?” she asked, beaming up at arcobaleno and batting her eyelashes.
arcobaleno grinned and scratched her head. “Well… cleanup progress was a lot better today than we thought it would be. I think we’ve got a handle on these clouds. I guess we could spare some time for a party.”
Pinkie promptly took off into the air like a rocket, leaving a bright jetstream behind her.
Stylo wasn’t so happy. He hated parties.
