'I hope I'm not too late..' Gai'vahros thought to himself as he burst through the skies on light-forged wings, bursting through clouds and breeze alike. Thankfully for him there were no other pegasi for him to worry about crashing into-- it was a straight and clear run to Cloudsdale. Regardless of the little time it would take for him to get there, time felt as though it was coming to a crawl as his mind began to cycle thoughts over and over, exchanging one for another. For as long as he remained in flight he kept thinking of so many scenarios where Rainbow Dash would deny him forgiveness, leading to so many possible outcomes where he could turn to darkness, harbour his own anger, or even lash out at those close to him. Not one of these outcomes ended in forgiveness, for he knew that he had to brace himself and expect the worse so that it would not come as a shock to him.
The elf eventually made his way to the ramp way at the west of Cloudsdale, the same entrance which he and the others had come to the first time they had arrived to the cloud city. The area did not change much from the last time Gai'vahros had laid eyes upon it, except that there were now some pegasi scattered around the scenery as though they were preparing for some big event, with some of them positioning banners, tables and chairs around the place. Swiftly, the blood knight took to a much lower elevation but not enough to touch the clouds-- he remembered all too well the problems he had the last time he came to this place.
"Hey, you!" A loud, strong voice of immense authority yelled out towards Gai'vahros. Her voice was powerful enough to cause the elf to jump a little as he sharply turned in the direction of such command. Before him was a yellow pegasus with a fiery orange mohawk-like mane, dressed in a blue military jacket with numerous commendations and badges upon the lapel, her darting eyes hidden behind a pair of shades. "This area is off limits to unauthorised personnel! Speaking of which, I've not seen you around here before-- and neither do I care as to where you came from! Speak your piece, trespasser, before I call the guards."
"Forgive me, my lady," spoke Gai'vahros quickly, feeling the pressure of this pegasi's authority swallowing his nerves-- he hadn't felt such a way since he had first met Warchief Hellscream, "I did not mean to trespass, but this is the only way I know of as to gain entrance into Cloudsdale."
"Hmph. So you're not new here then? Then, hedgehog man, why on Equestria have you not heard of this event today? Everyone who comes here knows of the bimonthly Wonderbolt demonstrations."
"Wonderbolts, eh? I had heard of this troupe of performers from a friend of mine."
""Troupe"? "Performers"?" The pegasus raised an eyebrow above the rim of her tinted glasses, intrigued by Gai'vahros' choice of words. "So do you have an opinion of the Wonderbolts?"
"Hah. Do I. A bunch of aerobatic circus performers, from what I can gather. They put on a few shows here and there to "demonstrate" their flying prowess. I would think that even the youngest of ponies would have no trouble flying; it is in your nature to do so as much as walking and talking is."
"Go on…"
"But I also know how important they are in your society. They help manage the weather with teams of other pegasi. They help bring coordination and teamwork where none other can. They inspire the younger generation to become all that they can be, and then more. I can relate to that, being a captain of the Silvermoon army myself."
"Hm? "Silvermoon"? Is that a place far from here? I don't recall hearing about it."
Gai'vahros gave a small smirk on his face. "I thought you didn’t care as to where I came from?"
The pegasus returned the gesture in stride. "Heh. Fair point."
"Ah, I must apologize, my lady," spoke Gai'vahros as he gestured his usual bow of respect, "for I have yet to introduce myself. My name is Gai'vahros Dawnbreaker-- blood knight and captain of the Silvermoon army. Would you be so kind as to return in kind?"
"Such good manners for someone of such ignorance. My name is Spitfire, and I am the coordinator of this event. Oh, yes, and I am also the captain of the famous circus troupe-- the Wonderbolts."
A bolt of lightning pierced through one side of Gai'vahros mind and exited out of the other, or it felt like one did, at least. His pupils dilated, his eyes glazed over, and his mouth hung open a little as he began to understand just how much of an idiot he had made himself in front of the Wonderbolt's own captain. "I-I-I'm terribly sorry, my Lady Spitfire," he spoke up, stuttering as his mind wasn't fully able to get back to speaking, still trying to get over this revelation. "I did not mean to come across as rude or aggressive!"
"Well, you did acknowledge our importance, so your ignorance isn't too astounding as to warrant a good, old fashioned punch to the noggin. I'll let you off this once, and once only." Spitfire removed her shades with a single hoof before pulling out a small piece of cloth, wiping the lens of her shades clean of the spittle from Gai'vahros' dribbled words. "You mentioned that a friend of yours told you about us," she spoke as she placed her shades back on. "Are you here to see her? Is that why you are here today?"
Gai'vahros felt a bit uneasy for a moment, not knowing exactly how to answer her. "Yes. Well, sort of. It's a bit more complicated than that."
"Oh? Is that the status of your relationship?"
"N-no! It's nothing like that! We just had a bit of a… falling out…"
"Your rather sharp tongue being the cause of it?"
"… You could say that…"
"I see." Spitfire turned to one of the pegasi at the newly placed kiosk, and called out, "You there! Bring me two tickets!" Without so much as missing a heartbeat the pegasi did as he was told, bringing two small strips of laminated paper decorated with images of the Wonderbolts, handing them to the captain. "Here. I think this should help you smooth things over with your friend."
"Oh? What are these?"
"What, are you dense as well as unknowledgeable? These are two tickets to the Wonderbolts demonstration this afternoon! I think this gift could be your own ticket to rekindling your relationship with her."
"Look, this is not--" Gai'vahros halted, letting out a drawn-out sigh. "I mean, thank you so much for your generosity, my Lady Spitfire. How can I repay you for this act of kindness?"
"First off, you can get rid of that 'Wonderbolts are glorified circus clowns' attitude. Second…" Spitfire hesitated for a moment, thinking of a way to make the elf understand the Wonderbolts a bit more. "Hm. "Gai'vahros", right?"
"Yes, my lady."
The pegasus spread a grin across her lips. "Good. I'll be sure to commit your name to memory. At least until I jot it down on your invitation."
"Invitation to what?"
"Oh, you'll find out soon enough. Now, if you will excuse me, I have a demonstration to organise."
"Oh, yes, of course. Thank you so much for everything, my Lady Spitfire." With a smile of utmost gratitude, Gai'vahros dashed past his new acquaintance upon his golden wings towards the city center.
"Hey! Hey, Rain Cloud," the voice of a young female pegasus called out, "what's with all of the guards around the place? Did something happen?"
"Huh? You mean you didn't know, Thunderclap?" a voice returned back. "There was this huge hole in the middle of the street a few days ago, but it's gone now. But, the guards are still keeping an eye out for any suspicious ponies, still trying to find whoever done it."
"Ohhhh. I hope they find him quick!"
It wasn't the only conversation of its type to be spoken amongst the dense population of Cloudsdale's center. The ponies where bustling with small talk, rumours , speculation and conjecture about what had happened and why the guards have been ever so vigilant in the last few days-- every street corner had one or two guards posted.
It wasn't exactly the greatest of views for the concerned blood knight. As soon as he reached Stratus Lane he immediately took notice of a patrol of two guards walking along the adjoined street. Quickly, Gai'vahros pressed himself up against one of the walls to avoid being caught in their sights. His gaze kept fixated upon them until they had passed by. Breathing a sigh of relief he tried to push himself off the wall, though, remembering a bit too late, he realised that he had gotten himself stuck to the cloud.
"Oh… damn," he muttered under his breath, agitated with being stuck again. What annoyed him even more was the fact that he had no one to help him on hand, realizing that, with reluctance, he'd have to ask for help. Fortunately for him, two ponies passed around the corner and immediately took notice of the elf. "Ah… hello," he called out to the bewildered duo. "Can, uh… can you help me for a moment?"
"Uh, Rain Cloud," one pony spoke up to her companion in whispered tones, "I don't like the look of that person…"
"I know what you mean," she replied in kind. "I think we should go get the guards."
"No! Wait!" Despite their quiet demeanour during their conversation, Gai'vahros' ears were acute enough to pick up on their talking. "Please don't get the guards! I'm here to find a friend of mine but I've gotten myself a bit… uh, stuck."
Rain Cloud raised an eyebrow as she saw the struggling elf trying to get free of his predicament. "How the hay did you manage to get stuck in a wall made of clouds?" she asked. For a pegasus-- or even a knowledgeable pony in general-- getting stuck in a cloud was nigh on impossible. Even Gai'vahros thought it was, too.
"I think it has something to do with the armor I'm wearing," he replied to the confused and sceptical pegasus. "Something to do with charges and magnets and-- ugh, I don't even understand it myself. So, could you please help me down?"
"Come on, Rain Cloud, let's help the hedgehog down," Thunderclap insisted as she nudged her friend. "He said 'please'."
"Oh alright, but let's be quick. I wanna be first in line for the Wonderbolts Demonstration."
Much do Gai'vahros delight both of the pegasi agreed to help him. Quickly, they headed to the unfortunate elf's position and grasped a hold of his arms, with Rain Cloud taking the right while Thunderclap took the left. at the count of three, both ponies pulled as hard as they could, pushing backwards from their legs and arcing their backs backward, and with a sudden *pop* Gai'vahros hurled forwards slightly as the two ponies fell backwards.
"Ah! Thank you both so much!" Gai'vahros exclaimed in joy, grasping the two of them by their hooves and pulling them to their feet. "Sorry for taking up your time."
"Glad we can be of service," Thunderclap spoke cheerfully, happy that she could help a stranger. "After all, a Wonderbolt always helps out whenever they can, wherever they can, no matter how small the problem."
"Oh? You two are Wonderbolts?"
"We wish," Rain Cloud huffed, "but we will be soon! We've already sent our applications to the academy, so we just have to wait for an invitation."
"An invitation, huh?" Gai'vahros paused for a moment, thinking. "I wonder if that's what--"
"You there!" A loud masculine voice boomed down the quiet street. As Gai'vahros, Rain Cloud and Thunderclap turned to see where the call came from, two broad pegasi clad in pearlescent silver and blue armor began making their way towards them, the pair fixated upon Gai'vahros. "Stop! You have violated the law! Pay the court fees or serve your sentence!"
"Violated the law?" questioned Gai'vahros, unbeknown as to what he was being charged for. "You jest, surely, but what laws have I broken? I've been here not five minutes and you've already a charge sheet written up?"
"Witnesses have informed us that you were the culprit of the incident involving the hole in Cloudsdale not two days ago," the second guard spoke up, stepping forwards. "Not only that, but you've also vandalised several structures here both then and now!" His hoof shot forwards, pointing past the elf towards the massive imprint his body had left in the building."
"Oh… sorry about that."
"Your apologies doesn't fix the troubles you've caused-- though fortunately for you, time does. Regardless, we are officially placing you under arrest! Nobody breaks the law on our watch! Now pay your fine or it's off to jail."
"But… I don't have anything to pay with!"
"Well, I guess it's a few weeks behind bars for you, then."
Gai'vahros knew that he was up against a wall here-- not literally, thankfully. With each step the guards took towards him he began to lose his cool more and more. Finally shaking it off, he gave a smirk before turning to his helpers. "Well, I'd better get going. Good luck with your applications, you two." With a large spread of his wings, Gai'vahros emitted a bright radiance of light, blinding the two guards in front of him.
"Gah! What was that!?" one of the guards exclaimed, his head swung to one side in reaction, shutting his eyes tightly and holding his foreleg in front of his face. The powerful flash caused his and his colleagues eyes to sting for a moment before dissipating. Slowly their eyes opened, trying to regain their vision, but saw only a trail of light past them created by the speeding blood knight. "Stop right there, criminal scum!"
Gai'vahros made his way to the central square of the city, but found that it was being patrolled and its corners stationed by pairs of guards, and each one of them knew that he was a felon and needed to be reprimanded. His sudden blitz into the area caused many of the idle ponies to cry out in surprise, alerting the guards to his presence. Each one turned their attention to him, quickly taking off the ground and heading straight towards him. Gai'vahros looked around quickly, seeing no opening but straight up. With a heavy beat of his wings he shot skyward on a streak of golden light, but the guards only did the same and pursued him with the utmost of tenacity. Evasion was of no use, either; no matter if he circled around them or tried to lose them in the clouds, they all kept up and tailed him. Without any better ideas, Gai'vahros quickly spun around the face them, still propelling forwards, and attempted to barge through them. However, the guards spread out to the sides to about the same width as a normal pony and held their forelegs out, a few of them catching the elf by the arms while the others caught him by the body and legs. Their grip was like being held in a vice, to which even the physically powerful Gai'vahros could not break out of. Quickly, the guards brought him back down to Cloudsdale at floor level before being reapproached by the two guards from earlier.
"To think that you thought you could out-fly a pegasus," one of them mocked with a smirk on their face. "So not only did you vandalise out city, you also evaded arrest and intended to assault officers of the law. I can see a long jail time for you."
"Please listen to me," Gai'vahros cried out, not even bothering to break free from his restraints. "I didn't come here to cause trouble! I just came here to find a friend of mine!"
"You still caused it, regardless! And it's the only thing you've found today, and the only thing you'll be finding during the next month is a cold cell and a dusty bed. Now come with--"
"Stop!" a shrill voice called out from beside the guards, garnering their attention. "You've got the wrong guy. He's not what caused all the vandalism."
"R…Rainbow Dash…?" the elf muttered under his breath in exhaustion.
"What do you mean, "he's not what caused it"?" a guard spoke up with a raised voice. "Not only did we have a witness account to him doing it, but we even saw him commit it ourselves! Not only that, he also evaded arrest!"
"Then the witness was wrong," Rainbow Dash snapped back, "because he was with me all week while I was having my time off. We've been staying in Ponyville. You can even ask the people there-- they will tell you the same thing. Also, it's his armor that's making the clouds go funny; it's not his fault. And, he's a bit of a klutz and an idiot. He's not used to being chased by guards."
The guards looked back at Gai'vahros, who only looked back at them with a face of indifference though it was enough for the guards to relent on their hounding of the elf. "Fine then. Seeing as this is your first offense, and that you're new here, we'll let you off the hook this time. But stay out of trouble! Oh, and take off your armor if you're going to be frequenting here-- we don't need you wrecking the place because of your clumsiness."
The guards let go of Gai'vahros, letting him hover in the air just a few inches from the clouds. "Right. Thank you, Sir," he spoke up, trying to be grateful for the guard's generosity. "I'll, uh, try not to ruin anything else while I'm here." The guard merely huffed before returning back to his post several streets down from where they were, as did the rest of the guards. With a sigh of relief, Gai'vahros turned to Rainbow Dash. "Thank you for--"
"Save it." Rainbow Dash scowled back at the elf. Her head swung round as her body turned away from Gai'vahros, walking away. "Why don't you just go back to Ponyville? I don't want to see you here!"
"Please, Lady Rainbow Dash," Gai'vahros pleaded, following her with haste, "I came all this way just to see you!"
The pegasus violently whipped back round, her expression that of anger. "Why!? So you can crush my head like a tomato again!?"
It was a hard blow to the elf. Even though he had to live with the thought, it was her harsh and blunt description of the event that hurt him more than him remembering it did. The severity and sincerity of his apologetic face did nothing to ease the look that Rainbow Dash fired at him, and neither did his silence. "I… I know what I did was wrong, but I had to show you that the threat we face is not something to be taking lightly. I'm so sorry…"
Rainbow Dash' expression calmed as Gai'vahros spoke, to the point that even she felt guilty. "I-I'm sorry too, Gai. I know why you did what you did but… I couldn't get over it. You… you hurt me so much… even when I asked you to stop. Why didn't--"
"Because you're a close-- no. You're one of my only friends. One of my best friends. And I couldn't bear the thought of losing you or anyone else." Even the baring of his emotions didn't do much to cement their renewed friendship, but Rainbow Dash gave a smile.
"Gai… we're all friends here, and we'll all face this together."
"Lady Rainbow Dash, didn't you hear--"
"I did hear you. And I thought about it. But what if you're not here, Gai? What if you go back home and someone else comes and attacks Ponyville? We have to learn to defend ourselves from things like this-- we can't keep relying on you!"
"I… no. You're right. Funny-- if you were just another foot soldier under my command, I would have told you exactly what you just told me. But because you're a friend of mine… I got too overprotective. I go too caught up in wanting to keep you safe that I did not even consider thinking about how you felt. I'm sorry, Lady Rainbow Dash."
"Tch. Water under the bridge, right?" Rainbow Dash gave a smirk, finding it within herself to understand her friend's feelings and reasons, and within herself to forgive his harsh yet protective acts.
"Oh. That reminds me…" Placing his hand in his pocket, Gai'vahros pulled out two small strips of laminated sheet. "I got given these as a present-- two tickets to the Wonderbolts Demonstration later today. I thought maybe you should have them."
"Huh?" Rainbow Dash was perplexed, astounded as Gai'vahros showed her the tickets. Taking a hold of them, the colourful imagery and amazing photos of the Wonderbolts in action captivated her for a moment before looking back to the elf. "But… how? How did you get these? They've not even announced ticket sales yet!"
"I, uh, bumped into the captain of the Wonderbolts on the way here and--"
"W-w-w-what!? You met Spitfire!?" At this point, Rainbow Dash was completely dumbfounded that he had met her long time idol. "I can't believe that you of all people just happened to randomly bump into the captain of the Wonderbolts!"
"Well… one thing led to another and she gave me a couple of tickets."
"You gonna come with me to see them right?"
"No, I've got a better idea. Why don't you give the second ticket to little Scootaloo?"
"Huh? Why?"
"Because she looks up to you. I think she idolizes you in the same way you do Spitfire. What better gift for a fan that to give them what they've always dreamed about-- sitting beside their idol as they both watch the greatest aerobatics team in the whole of Equestria?"
"Gai…" Rainbow Dash held back her emotions verbally. Instead, she leapt forwards and gave the elf a hug. "You're so… screwed!" With much strength, Rainbow Dash dragged the elf downwards, planting his feet into the clouds, sticking him to the floor. "Hah! Didn't see that comin', did ya?"
"Ugh… no I didn't," he responded in disdain, though he did give a smirk after a brief pause. "So this makes us even?"
"Hay no! Maybe an hour or so, then we can call it even."
"What!? An hour!? I can't-- you can't do this! Get me out of this, Rainbow Dash!"