//------------------------------// // ACT III - Part IV: The End // Story: Life of Stylo // by jimmythedragon64 //------------------------------// “…Trixie?!” Stylo choked. She brushed her mane out of eyes and grinned devilishly back at him. “But… you could… you could hardly clear the clouds away…” Trixie leaned forward, filling his field of vision. “Hah! I was faking, you fool! Walk-on-clouds spells are for AMATEURS! I simply put on a helpless act so nobody would suspect me of foul play!” Stylo closed his eyes. Was this really happening? “Well… I can’t say I’m not impressed, Stylo. You caught me in the act! But now you know too much about our plan.” Stylo cracked his eyes open. “…Our… plan?” Trixie’s expression faltered. “Shoot. Now you know WAY too much about our plan! No matter! I just have to knock you out with something good and strong. Don’t worry, I won’t kill you. You’ll just wake up in your little home with no memory of what happened. You and all the other pegasi on this silly cloud will bear witness to the Ponyville Revolution!” Trixie threw Stylo’s mangled body away and crouched down, charging an immense magic in her horn. Stylo tilted his head up and squinted through his swollen eyelids. A bright light was growing in front of her, blinding him with a red glow. “Prepare for Trixie’s Ultimate Laser Beam Attack of Destruction!” Stylo’s pupils shrank to the size of pinheads. “YAAAHHH!!!” Trixie let her laser beam loose with tremendous force. Bright red ripples of energy shot in all directions as the blinding light careened toward Stylo. As a desperate last-ditch effort, Stylo yanked his mirror out of his pocket and hid his face behind it. The magic laser reflected off the mirror and shot back toward Trixie. “Wha-?!” was all she had time to say. The Laser Beam Attack of Destruction hit her square in the face, exploding in a bright flash of light and sending her flying to the edge of the cloud pit. Her body came to rest at the far end, slowly sliding to a stop. She was smoking like a chimney. Stylo simply lied there for a few moments, trying to process what just happened. He could barely see or think. He soon heard a commotion taking place above him. He heard… hooves and voices. “Do you see anything?” “He can’t have gone too far…” “I don’t-… LOOK! Down there!!!” “Oh, dear Celestia!” Stylo heard them slide down into the pit and felt hooves on his chest. He squeezed his eyes open to see Wild Fire above him. “Oh, Stylo…! Can you hear me? I-… I’m so sorry…” Wild Fire bent down and hugged him tightly. Stylo was still reeling, but knew just what to say. “It was Trixie…” he croaked, “Trixie caused all this… weather…” Stylo closed his eyes again. He heard Wild Fire call out. “RAINBOW! STYLO SAYS THAT TRIXIE WAS THE ONE MESSING WITH THE WEATHER!” “What?! Really?!” Rainbow zipped over to Trixie and smacked her in the face. “WAKE UP!” Trixie moaned. She sat up, pointing a hoof in Stylo’s general direction. “…Hah! Nice try... St-... Stylo! It’s gonna… take more than that… to put… Trixie down…!” “Shut up. Is it true, Trixie? Did you cause all this?” “I had… good intentions…!” “DAGH!!!” Rainbow smacked her in the face again, livid. Pinkie, who had been standing nervously over by Wild Fire, rushed over to her. Rainbow was shaking Trixie furiously. “Why, Trixie?! Why did you do it?! What were you thinking?!” “You’re gonna scramble her brains!” Pinkie shouted, desperately trying to restrain her furious friend. Rainbow finally ceased her shaking. Trixie sat up and rubbed her temples as she regained her bearings. “Ohhhh…” Trixie took a deep breath before explaining herself. “I… I did it to sabotage the pegasi. Once the ponies rose up in anger at the Weather Team, I was going to expose the poor work ethic of the pegasi and lead the revolution to overthrow them. All the townsfolk would hail me as a hero and remember me for my good deeds!” Rainbow pressed her hooves against her forehead. “Trixie, I TOLD you… pretending to be good and being good aren’t the same thing!” Trixie put on a weak grin. “Small steps?” Rainbow felt sick. This stupid betrayal had come from nowhere and made no sense. “I still don’t understand…” Rainbow replied, eyeing Trixie curiously, “…why now? What made you do this?” “An excellent question,” Trixie began, standing up and cradling her aching face, “…why don’t you ask her?” She pointed an accusing hoof in Pinkie’s direction. Pinkie gasped in horror. “Hey! That wasn’t part of our plan! I didn’t say anything about a revolution, I swear!” Rainbow slowly turned to her friend with wide eyes, shocked at her confession. Stylo sat up, wondering if the conversation he was hearing was a dream. Pinkie looked over at Rainbow and sighed. “Okay, you caught me. I told Trixie to mess with the clouds. It’s just… you’re always so tired from flying back and forth between Cloudsdale and Ponyville all day that I don’t get to hang out with you very much. I tried to come up with a plan to keep you in Ponyville, but I couldn’t find enough piano wire. So I asked Trixie to go stir up some storm clouds and keep you in Cloudsdale. If you and the Weather Team had to stay in Cloudsdale, you’d have no choice but to come to my parties and have a good time with me!” “She promised me notoriety!” Trixie interjected, “She said that if I used my magic on the clouds for her, she would spread nice stories about me back in Ponyville.” Pinkie nodded. “Trixie really wants to be nice! But I DIDN’T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT A REVOLUTION!!!” She lunged over and eyed Trixie accusingly, who smiled back weakly. “Okay…” Trixie explained, “I guess I got a little carried away. Old habits, blah blah blah.” “A LITTLE?!” Wild Fire called to her, “LOOK WHAT YOU DID TO STYLO!!!” Stylo, with Wild Fire’s help, struggled to a standing position. The two of them shuffled over to Rainbow. “I’m okay…” Stylo groaned. “Just a little…” He waved his hooves around in an extravagant gesture, motioning to various parts of his body. “…yeah.” Trixie waved a hoof at him. “Sorry!” Rainbow closed her eyes and breathed a heavy sigh. “You just… wanted to hang out with me?” Pinkie nodded and smiled anxiously. “Pinkie… you’re my friend. If you really wanted to spend more time with me, you could’ve just told me. I would’ve made the time.” Pinkie sniffled. “Really?” “Of course! I mean, yeah, I take a lot of naps, but it’s not easy maintaining this level of awesome. It wouldn’t kill me to thin out my schedule, though.” “YAY!” Pinkie lunged forward and hugged Rainbow tightly. Wild Fire, Trixie, and Stylo couldn’t help but smile. Stylo suddenly felt enlightened as he watched the friendly embrace unfold before him. These two had an incredible friendship – so incredible that Pinkie formed evil plots focused solely on spending more time with her friend. Ever since graduating from Elementary school, Stylo had assumed superiority over his brutish colleagues and neighbors. Here in a pit of clouds, however, as he watched Pinkie and Rainbow hug in the darkness, he found himself taken aback by the compassion and understanding on display. There was so much more to these ponies than he had ever anticipated. He turned to Wild Fire, who gave him a look of concern. He nodded to her and held out a hoof. She grinned and bumped it with her own. “Let’s get out of here,” he requested. “My face hurts.” She motioned Stylo on to her back. He hopped up and collapsed onto her as she gently flew him back to civilization. “Well, I’m glad everything worked out!” Trixie quipped, clapping her hooves together. Rainbow and Pinkie broke their hug. “Yeah, about that…” Rainbow replied, stepping away from Pinkie, “You two caused my team an awful lot of trouble.” The two troublemakers began sweating nervously. Rainbow whirled around and jabbed a hoof into Trixie’s chest. “And YOU assaulted one of my workers!” “Yeah! What’s up with that?!” Pinkie bellowed. “I didn’t want to… he was compromising our… he was…!” Trixie was nervously hopping up and down. “Come on,” Rainbow commanded, cutting her off and grabbing her hoof, “Let’s get this mess straightened out.” “Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh…” Trixie groaned as they headed back. --- Stylo slept very soundly at the Cloudsdale Hospital. Fortunately, he didn’t sustain any serious injuries from Trixie’s assault, but according to the doctor he looked “chewed up and spit out” – especially his wings. He prescribed him various painkillers, and suggested he “rest up for a while”. Those words were music to Stylo’s ears. The next morning, Captain Rainbow Dash gathered all of her workers in front of the WTPI housing for a debriefing. “My fellow pegasi! These past few days have been confusing and chaotic for us, but our weather problem has been solved. After resolving a little… miscommunication… Pinkie Pie and the Great and Powerful Trixie have come forward and confessed to tampering with the clouds. As such, they will be assigned to SUPERVISED cloud-clearing duty for the next week to help sort out the mess they made. Now that we’ve got this straightened out, however… I am releasing all impromptu Progress Initiative recruits from duty.” Whoops and cheers went up from the crowd. Stylo grinned, squinting through his black eyes. “So get out of here, you freeloaders!” Rainbow teased, flying back down to cloud level. The crowd dispersed as the pegasi went to fetch their things. Stylo had already gathered all of his possessions – his book, his pen, his coat, his mirror, and his lightbulb. He wasn’t passing up any souvenirs he could take from this debacle. As he waded through the crowd he stumbled into Pinkie. “Stylo!” she cried out, resisting the urge to hug him tightly, “How… how are you feeling? Are you broken again?” Stylo let out a healthy yawn. “I’m alright.” “Oh, thank goodness!” she replied. “I’m so sorry I got you hurt. I never told Trixie to-!” “It’s fine, it’s fine, no harm done,” Stylo interrupted, waving his hoof, “You’ve taught me more than you could ever imagine.” Pinkie grinned brightly. Wild Fire suddenly darted over from behind her, waving to them. “Stylo! I was going to come pick you up!” “It looked nice outside…” he explained, rubbing his head, “I… thought I might go for a walk.” She chuckled. “You must be feeling better.” She stepped over to him and put a hoof on his shoulder. “You’re a brave guy, Stylo. It was an honor serving with you.” She gave him a salute, which Stylo triumphantly returned. “…I can’t wait to get back to Ponyville,” he groaned, lowering his aching foreleg. “Whelp, now that you Initiative recruits aren’t working anymore, I’ve got to work overtime cleaning up the mess this one caused!” Wild Fire announced, smirking at Pinkie. Pinkie raised a hoof. “M-my bad!” Wild Fire looked Stylo in the eye. “Will we ever get to hang out again?” He thought for a moment. “…I hope so.” She smiled and readied for takeoff. “Well if you ever need a good pep talk, you know who to call!” She gave one final salute and flew away. Stylo somehow felt sure that they would meet again, soon. “Hey, Stylo!” A heavenly sound was caressing his ears. He turned around to see Cloudchaser standing next to him. “Cloudchaser!” he replied, shamelessly excited. “Ooh, ooh! Stylo and Cloudchaser, my karaoke singers! You guys need to stick around for my party, tonight! We’re celebrating me and Trixie’s conviction!” Pinkie squealed. Stylo and Cloudchaser giggled. “Sorry, Pinkie, but I think I’ve done enough partying for a while,” Stylo replied, “My head is… ouch.” Last night’s beating seemed to have stripped him of his poetic prose. “I really wanted to visit you at the hospital last night,” Cloudchaser explained, “but Rainbow Dash insisted that we leave you alone. She said you needed some quiet time.” Stylo smiled. Thanks, cap’n. “I think it was incredibly brave of you to confront Trixie like that. If it weren’t for you, we might’ve been clearing these clouds for years to come!” Pinkie raised a hoof. “My bad!… again!” Stylo smiled even wider, blushing at Cloudchaser’s kind words. “I’ve been meaning to ask you something,” Cloudchaser began, looking up to meet Stylo’s dreamy gaze, “Would you be willing to move in with me?” Stylo froze, his smile disappearing. He must have misheard. “Wh-wh-but…” he stammered as he desperately tried to form a coherent thought, “…what about Flitter?” “Oh, she wouldn’t want to live with me,” she replied, scratching the back of her head, “I’d be dragging her down. She’s the type who likes to have people over, and throw house parties, and be sociable… you seem like you appreciate the quiet side of life. I hate living alone, but I just need some quiet company. You’d be cool with that, right?” Stylo couldn’t feel his legs. He was going to melt into a puddle right in front of her. Cloudchaser noticed his frozen stare. “I-if it’s too much of a commitment, I understand. It-it… it was a dumb idea. You don’t have to-“ “No! No! Yes! Yes! I’ll do it! I’ll move in with you!!!” Stylo cried out. His eyes were wide as dinner plates. “Yessssss!” Cloudchaser cried, pumping a hoof, “Thank you so much! The emptiness of that house was driving me crazy.” “I can go right now! Let’s go home!” Stylo requested. “Oh, wouldn’t you like to get the things from your old house?” Cloudchaser asked. “Mmm? Oh, there’s… there’s nothing-…” “I can move your things for you!” Wild Fire called into his ear, cutting him off. He whipped around in surprise. “Go see your new house! You’re stuff’s all in boxes, right? That’ll be no problem!” Wild Fire looked surprisingly eager. “How did-… you know?” Stylo was stunned. “Rainbow told me everything! I was going to come visit you after you left, so I asked her for your address. If you’re living with Cloudchaser, though, then you’ll be living right next to me!” She scooped him up and hugged him in the air. Stylo was sore, but seeing her so happy made him happy, too. “We’ll be starting a wing workout routine first thing next month! We’re gonna get you in shape!” she cried, squeezing him even harder. “Ohhhhhhhhh-… hoo-RAY…!” he choked out. “Go on, you two!” She set him down and took off for Ponyville, leaving him and Cloudchaser to start heading home. Stylo turned to Pinkie. She wore that familiar look on her face – that impossibly large grin of jubilee. Panic suddenly washed over him. Pinkie knew that he was in love with Cloudchaser. She could spill the beans right now and ruin everything. What if Cloudchaser was repulsed and never wanted to see him again? Oh, Pinkie! Keep that trap shut! Pinkie looked ready to burst. Stylo covered his ears. “What are you waiting for?! Go see your new house!” she cried. Cloudchaser laughed. “Come on, Stylo! Everybody wants us to go home! Let’s fulfill our destiny!” A pleasant warmth grew in Stylo’s chest as he began trotting away with the love of his life. Making friends, motivating himself, battling the villain, leaving with an angel… he had at least three poems to write about all this. As they left the dingy little rows of cloud huts behind and walked off into the sunrise, Stylo couldn’t help but admire Pinkie’s self-restraint. He thought for sure she wouldn’t have been able to contain herself. Maybe there was more to that bouncy mare than met the eye. She had been the mastermind behind the entire evil operation, after all. Maybe underneath the layers of sugar and perpetual motion a massive intelligence was growing, just waiting to be- “Please don’t break him!!!” Pinkie called after them. Cloudchaser turned to Stylo, amused. “Don’t what?” Stylo nervously smiled. “It-… it’s nothing.” --THE END-- Born from dust in a quiet chamber Lit by words and phrases Light and color swept him up Sans pleasantry or praises Scrape his heart against the wall As fire tests his mettle A burning Sun will light the way Before he tries to settle The glowing Moon will soon emerge With gravity most pleasant Burn the book – smash the pen And pull him to the present Cast him in, blind him with Science Deafen him with love Don’t look down – the life of Stylo Fell from up above "Eh, that'll do for now," Stylo remarked, putting down his little black book and stretching out on the couch. Sleep began to take hold of him. "That'll do... for now..."