He simply wrote what came to mind, careless of its eloquence au coherence.
A grey Pegasus
Yes, that’s true
Quite familiar, actually
As the pink 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 kwa a harsh knock on his door. Once again he shuffled over to answer it, and once again it was upinde wa mvua Dash.
Stylo gave a weak smile and a halfhearted salute. “Good morning, Cap’n.”
“You’re in trouble, Stylo,” upinde wa mvua 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 moto told me all about your work yesterday. She alisema wewe spent your whole shift lazing around, trying to convince her to stop working, and uandishi in your little book. She alisema wewe were unmotivated, lazy, and crazy rude.”
Stylo nodded. “Those would be accurate observations.”
“Ugh, Stylo! When I came to your house and dragged wewe 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 gppony, pony is going to make a whole lot of difference, here.”
upinde wa mvua 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 wewe need a little incentive to get wewe working.”
Quick as a flash, upinde wa mvua 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, wewe can’t-!”
“What’s the matter? Where’s all that sarcasm and wit wewe were dishing out, earlier?” upinde wa mvua mocked with a smirk.
“IN THERE!” Stylo cried, pointing a hoof at his precious book.
“Come on, chop-chop! Go eat some breakfast. Wild moto should be waiting for wewe out west kwa 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 dakika 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 siku before. Wild moto was talking with Trixie when he arrived.
“There wewe are, Stylo!” Wild moto called, standing up, “Rainbow assigned Trixie to our troop because she alisema wewe two seemed to get along.”
“With the Great and Powerful Trixie and the Wild and Fiery Wild moto on your side, our cloud-clearing might will increase tenfold!” Trixie proclaimed.
“You think you-… Stylo… wewe look awful…” Wild moto 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 moto looked confused. “Where’s your little book?”
“She… took it.”
“Oooooh, ouch!” Wild moto teased, eyes screwed shut, “Looks like you’ll actually have to help me today, huh?”
Stylo alisema nothing.
Trixie trotted over. “Oh Stylo, I’ve been meaning to ask you, do wewe 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 wewe should sit this one out,” Wild moto 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. upinde wa mvua 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 moto 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, au torn up, au thrown away, au set on fire… good heavens! The thought was too much to bear.
Occasionally he tried to give a nearby wingu a nudge au push, but zaidi often than not he opted to rest his head on them au bury it in their fluffy wetness, emerging damp and even zaidi pathetic looking.
“Stylo…” Wild moto called with a sigh as he plunged his head into another cloud, “It’s not that bad. I’m sure upinde wa mvua 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 moto 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 moto 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 moto and Stylo afterward.
“Did wewe say something?”
“Yeah… I think Stylo’s had enough. Let’s wrap, upangaji pamoja this up.”
“…No!” Stylo cried, still smoking, “We have to keep going!”
“Look at yourself, man!” Wild moto yelled back, “You were drooling on paper and sticking your head in storm clouds!”
“I AM A BROKEN HORSE!!!”
“Didn’t somepony break wewe last night?”
Stylo and Wild moto whirled around to see Pinkie Pie.
“Remember? wewe alisema somepony broke you, and I came in and was like, ‘Who broke you?’ and wewe were like ‘AHH!’ because I broke into your hut, and then I asked wewe about Cloudcha-“
“Cloudchaser…” Stylo whispered to himself. He reached into his kanzu, koti pocket and pulled out the hand mirror Wild moto had aliyopewa 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 moto 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 moto 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 moto were practically nose to nose when upinde wa mvua Dash showed up. Stylo turned to upinde wa mvua and saw someone standing behind her. That beautiful creature Cloudchaser had come, too.
“Stylo! wewe look both terrible and amazing!” upinde wa mvua 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 kwa my office – she’s been watching wewe all day. She alisema wewe looked miserable, so I… came to give wewe 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!” upinde wa mvua and Cloudchaser alisema 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 upinde wa mvua and batting her eyelashes.
upinde wa mvua 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.
