The wind through his hair, the chill of the dusk sky upon his cheeks, and the enjoyment that he was feeling within his heart accompanying new friends as he blitzed, looped and spiralled through the air. Gai'vahros couldn't help but laugh in gaiety whilst dancing upon unseen currents with a few winged equine. Within the hour, Applejack seemed to have gotten over her fear of flying by gaining confidence and control of her newfound wings, while Twilight was still experimenting in how she could perform under certain aerodynamics, altitudes and other scientific variables that no one else seemed to be caring about. Rainbow Dash and Gai'vahros were both showing off their moves and speeds, though Rainbow Dash was, without much doubt, outdoing the bedazzled blood elf. Regardless, it was definitely time to head over to Cloudsdale.
Rainbow Dash lead the brigade as she guided them, slowly, to Cloudsdale. Despite Twilight knowing the direction by heart due to past visits she was still hanging back with Applejack, as was Gai'vahros, to make sure tshe didn't encounter any problems on the way there. Gai'vahros was fairly aware of the duration of potions and, considering that this perhaps wasn't the most stable of benefits, remained under Applejack to be ready to catch her if her wings ever dissipated prematurely.
The cloud city was a sight to behold for the blood elf. He had not seen such architecture before, though he had never seen a city made almost entirely of clouds before either. The design of its surroundings were not familiar to him, with columns fashioned in a 'post and lintel' style where the columns were thick, long, and with grooves along their length, supported by flat surfaces that helped spread the load it was keeping up. The sides of these lintels were carved in curved, ornate patterns. It was a marvel to behold in the eyes of Gai'vahros to which he wished something like this existed on Azeroth. It made him think of kaldorei architecture, but much more refine.
"Well, here we are guys," Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she swooped down, landing upon a bed of clouds as though she was walking on solid ground. "Gai's hole isn't too far from here." she casually walked through the halls of columns that flanked both sides of what looked like a runway, possibly used as a designated entrance into the city.
"Yeah, I would appreciate if you didn't use that term as though it was to label me a vandal." Gai'vahros resented the comment from Rainbow Dash while making sure that Twilight and Applejack had a safe landing. "You feeling better now, my Lady Applejack?" Gai'vahros was concerned for the earth pony, staying by her side as she landed.
"Ah, yeah," Applejack responded although her face was still showing signs of uneasiness, though this was more than likely because she was now walking on clouds, which to her felt like walking across a bouncy castle though with the possibility of falling through. "but walkin' on clouds feels like chasin' a hog through a field of marshmallows."
"Right, though I've no idea where you'd find a field of marshmallows." Gai'vahros responded with a confused look on his face although he acquitted it to just being one of Applejack's rather exotic figures of speech. As Gai'vahros set foot on the cloud he felt his feet sink a few inches into it, almost falling through, but stopping suddenly. No matter how much he tried to lift his legs they were stuck almost firmly in place with only slight room for movement. "Uh, a little help, please?"
"Huh? Well, that's odd," Twilight turned to the elf's distress, looking on with a puzzled yet intrigued face. "I've never heard of something being stuck in a cloud before. Ah, if only I had my things with me I could have made a note of this!"
"Yeah, that's all rainbows and sunshine, my Lady Twilight, but do you think you could commit it to memory for later and, I don't know, get me out of this?" Gai'vahros was just as puzzled as her; he had never been stuck in a cloud before, even when going to the Vortex Pinnacle.
"Don't worry, Gai, we'll give ya a hand," Applejack trotted up to the elf and took a hold of one arm, lifting into the air a few feet off the ground. "Come on, Dash, give us a hoof over here!"
"Ugh, fine," Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes at seeing Gai'vahros stuck in what was essentially airborne fluff. She quickly flew over to the opposite side of Gai'vahros and took a hold of the other arm, also flying a few feet of the ground. "Okay, AJ. On the count of three, pull him upwards." Applejack nodded in understanding, holding tight onto the elf.
"One. Two. Three!"
With a sudden *pop*, Gai'vahros was pulled out of the cloud as Applejack and Rainbow Dash quickly and forcefully pulled upwards with their forelegs while flying several inches higher for more elevation. The blood elf gave a brief sigh of relief as he continued to use his wings to provide mobility as soon as Rainbow Dash and Applejack let go of him.
"Well, that wasn't expected," Gai'vahros muttered while floating a few inches off the ground, or clouds, reluctant to land again in case he was to be stuck again. "I guess I'll have to stay afloat while I'm here. Uh, please, continue, my Lady Rainbow Dash."
"You need to get out of that habit, bro." Rainbow Dash sighed in disapproval of the blood elf still using that title for her. The pegasus continued to lead the troupe through the halls before coming to a large open expanse that was all buildings, likely residential, with a large fountain in the middle of the circular district several meters high and spouting water from several founts around a central tower. "It's just over here." Rainbow Dash lead them through the district, following a linear path that lead to a crossroad with its corners housing a line of commercial shops. However, as the pegasus looked around the corner, she paused and pressed everyone back against the wall of a large cloud structure, with Gai'vahros sinking into it.
"Oh you've got to be kidding me!" Gai'vahros tried not to yell too loud as he struggled to try and get free of the crevice he found himself in, flailing his arms forwards though Twilight and Applejack quickly pulled him free, trying not to snicker at his expense. "What's going on? Why did you stop us?"
"Just look over there," Rainbow Dash whispered to the three of them, waving her hoof behind her as if to point over her shoulder. The group lightly peaked around the corner to which they saw a group of pegasi stallions wearing guard armor, sky blue in colour, to signify their association with Cloudsdale. A few of the guards were looking over at the hole while some of them were using some sort of foreign equipment that were used to analyse it. "we ain't gonna be able to inspect the hole while they're there, and as soon as they see Gai he's gonna get arrested!"
"That's not a problem at all," Gai'vahros said in a cheery voice, starting to float around the corner. "I'll just explain it was an accident and--" though before he could finish what he was saying, or even get too far from the group, Rainbow Dash grasped at his cloak with her teeth and whipped him back around the corner, planting him into the wall again. "Oh for the Light's sake!"
"What are you thinking, Gai," Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she stared at the stuck blood knight. "what're you gonna say to them? "Oh hi there, I'm sorry I caused a huge gaping HOLE in your CITY, can I get a slap on the hoof?" 'Cause that'll totally work, right?"
"… Well, when you put it like that, probably not," Gai'vahros agreed after thinking about the scenario playing through his mind. Even he couldn't deny that it was going to go over well. "so how are we going to get over there?"
"Hmmm." the three ponies began a collective hum as they started thinking of a way to circumvent the guards to get to the hole, or to get rid of them entirely.
"Well, how about luring them away," Applejack responded first, a light bulb flicking inside her mind. "someone could grab their attention and make a distraction, right?"
"Sounds like a great idea, Applejack," Twilight agreed although she didn't condone hassling authority where it could be helped, but, at this point in time, it couldn't. "Rainbow Dash, do you think you could provide a distraction? Seeing as it's your home turf you might be able to find a way better than the rest of us."
"Hah, leave it to me, Twilight," Rainbow Dash grinned as she gave her approval, very enthusiastic about it. "I've got a great idea!" the pegasus took off around the corner as she aimed to set her plan into motion.
"Great, now can you get me off this damn wall?" Gai'vahros said impatiently as Twilight and Applejack turned to him, smiling embarrassingly before helping to pry the elf from the cloud.
As Gai'vahros, Twilight and Applejack watched from behind the corner Rainbow Dash made her way over to the guards, but realised she needed to look more frantic in her approach. With a great burst of speed she zoomed to the guards before stopping, her breath heavy while the look on her face came off as shocked or worried. "Guards! Guards!" Rainbow Dash called out while floating off the ground as her wings flapped frantically.
"What is it, citizen?" three of the guards turned while the middle stallion spoke up with a soft but powerful voice. His eyes were stern as he gazed at Rainbow Dash.
"I… I saw who made this hole! He... he ran over there, through the rainbow factory," Rainbow Dash pointed with her right foreleg towards one of the crossings that lead to a huge structure. "he said he was gonna destroy the factory so no more rainbows could be made! You gotta stop him!"
"What!?" The guards cried out together. The group of them taking off the ground quickly. "Thank you for the assistance, ma'am. We'll catch this criminal post haste!" Without missing a heartbeat the whole group of them took off, though not without one of the guards putting down a bright yellow safety hazard sign first.
As soon as the guards were out of sight Rainbow Dash turned back to where the other three were, waving her hoof to beckon them to approach. "The coast is clear, guys." the pegasus called for them before turning back to the hole. Twilight, Applejack and Gai'vahros quickly made their way to the site, gathering around it, with Twilight leaning forwards to get a good look. "So, Twilight, what can ya make out of this hole?"
"Well, first, you didn't tell me it was in the floor of Cloudsdale," Twilight spoke up, a bit discontent with Rainbow Dash' clarification, who only smiled back awkwardly. "and the angle of the cross section of the hole in the clouds isn't straight, as in a perfect outline of Gai'vahros' body."
"So, uh, in lament's terms, sugar cube?" Applejack questioned Twilight as she gawked at her in confusion.
"Well, think about it," Twilight started, pointing to the cross section of the cloud where Gai'vahros went through. "if Gai'vahros fell through here straight through, the angle of the cut through of the cloud would be straight. Basically, Gai'vahros fell through Cloudsdale at an angle, which would explain how he ended up on the other side of Ponyville and not directly under here."
"Okay, that makes a bit more sense," Applejack nodded as she followed Twilight's trail of thinking. "so what's this 'bout this hole being a perfect cut out of Gai, then?"
"It's quickly simple, actually," Twilight said with a smile on her face but not trying to be too smug nor patronising in her tone. "you see, when something flies through the air vertically the entire body becomes straight, vertically, too,, as the force from the wind pushes the body back until it becomes aerodynamic. So, if Gai'vahros did fly through this hole, he would have flown through head first, thus completely changing the shape of the hole."
"I thought as much," Gai'vahros spoke up as he looked at the hole, sighing softly. "I only remember going through the portal and then waking up on the ground. From what I can piece together the portal must have relocated me in the air somewhere above here. Whilst unconscious, my body plummeted towards the ground, through Cloudsdale at a slanted trajectory, before hitting the ground just outside of Ponyville. But then that raises an even bigger question; how in the world did I survive a fifteen thousand foot free fall with no injuries?"
"Unfortunately we don't have an ace attorney to work out that contradiction," Twilight shook her head, not having an answer to what was a glaring thorn in the side of hers and Gai'vahros' theory. "but I also noticed some sort of static electricity resonating from the hole. Maybe this force slowed your fall to the ground by some sort of force field of static electricity?"
"Well, whatever it was, without it I'd be a nice splat in the meadow," Gai'vahros stated with a huff, crossing his arms. "but, anyway, can't we repair this hole and make it good as new?"
"But that's just it," Rainbow Dash started as she looked through the hole. "clouds reform themselves after just a few hours, the same for Cloudsdale, but something is stopping it from fixing itself." Rainbow Dash pulled her head back through the hole, ending up with a large spiky mane to which she didn't notice. Applejack and Gai'vahros couldn't help but giggle at the pegasus' predicament.
"I would assume it's from the static," Twilight went on to say while using a single hoof to run around the edge of the hole, inducing a tingling sensation into her leg. "simply put, it seems that whatever Gai'vahros did when he flew, or fell, through the hole, has caused the cloud to become charged by the same charge of static, or at least this hole became charged. The charges seem to be of the same polarity, causing the edges of the hole to repel each other, like two magnets, and thus not close properly."
"… did you get any of that, Gai?" Applejack's eyes shifted to the blood elf, who was equally jaw-dropped with Twilight's explanation.
"I had her all the way up to "simply put"," Gai'vahros hadn't a clue about what static, or polarities, or even how magnets worked, and so was simply bombarded with explanations that almost made his brain stop working. "so, basically, I made it so this hole can't close?"
"Well, uh… yeah," Twilight was a bit dubious in putting it bluntly. "but the effects aren't permanent. Once the cloud runs out of this charge it'll close up again, but that could take a day or so." Twilight looked up as she noticed a crackling sound coming from in front of her. "Hey, can you guys hear that sound?"
"Yeah, I noticed it a moment ago," Rainbow Dash turned her head as she tried to track the sound, her head getting close to the hole. "I thought maybe it was the weather factory but it sounds too crisp to be far away."
"I here ya, Dashie." Applejack agreed as her head hung low, first listening at the hole but, almost in unison, all three ponies turned to Gai'vahros' feet before realising that the crackling sound was coming from his metal boots.
"Gai'vahros, it's you making that noise," Twilight looked up at him before looking back down to his boots, noticing that his feet were only a few inches from the cloud. "just as I suspected; the metal armor you're wearing is causing static between it and the cloud, causing the cloud to magnetise! That would explain why you kept getting stuck!"
"That makes sense," Gai'vahros nodded in acknowledgement. "so I assume that the hole has been "magnetised" by my armor when I fell through it?" he was still clueless about all of these fancy words but he was starting to understand, slowly.
"Exactly," Twilight assured him, but paused for a moment. "but that's odd; clouds are only made of water vapour, and any static is discharged as lightning; it's impossible for a cloud to become magnetised. Also, your armor didn't become magnetised. Strange."
"I'm sure we can talk about it until daybreak," Gai'vahros spoke before Twilight could continue voicing her theories, "but can we return to Ponyville? I'm exhausted." he stretched his arms wide, but one of his hands ended up going through a lamp post of cloud, causing his hand to get stuck. "Damn it!"
"Hahaha, you need a "hand", Gai?" Rainbow Dash teased the blood knight, laughing hysterically alongside Applejack and Twilight as they watched Gai'vahros try, with great effort, to get his hand free.
"Yeah yeah, good one." Gai'vahros huffed as he watched, in irritation, as the three ponies found his misfortune humorous. "I can see why so many people disliked the Throne of Four Winds…"