"Eol, Have you read up on the Grand Galloping Gala at all?" I looked at him.

"Well, from what I've read from romance novels, It's a very formal occasion, anyone whose anyone will be there, the Princesses for sure, Prince Blueblood, Which I think is a pompous applesmacker, and most of the nobles in all of Equestria." Really? I start bursting into laughter to the confusion of Eol and Ubi. I wrap both my arms around their shoulders and pull them close to a whisper.

"There are at least 3 humans attending this party, I can guarantee you, this party will not be formal at all." They still had confused faces, "Two of which I know for a fact will not stand for the lush formality of high society." I can't help but laugh, "Simply put, there is no way in hell that you will see any ounce of order, much less formality, in this party." I stand straight again with a grin as wide as possible. Eol spoke up.

"Aoi, I'm going to head to the little pup's room, I'll be right back..." He was obviously lying, but might as well let him attend whatever his business was. I smile at the thought that he might be setting up a prank for the nobles. Looks like I might be staying longer than I had anticipated.

"Do you want me to follow him, make sure he doesn't get arrested?" Ubi looked at me with concern in his eyes.

"If it makes you feel better, go ahead," I waved in the direction Eol went in. It gave me some time to think. Looks like more humans have made it into this world: Celt, Griffin, Keith, and Knightmare. Now what to do...

I should probably talk to Griffin on how he's going to form his approach, I might get some Idea on how to deal with this. I brush my thoughts away as I head to the ballroom. The party already started, with Knightmare and a pink pony singing onstage, I walked over to the banquet table and started to pour myself a glass of punch, I leaned back on the table and took a long sip, actually downing the entire drink with it. 'Right, larger mouth.' I looked around and find a small bowl, then started filling that with the punch, still gazing at the stage. I slowly drank the punch, not noticing the slightly bitter taste accompanying it. After a few drinks I start approaching the stage, the lights starting to seem brighter and the music a little louder. The music was different from what Keith usually plays, but never this loud.

Eol and Ubi were nowhere to be seen, probably enjoying the party. As the Electric Guitar blares in the foreground, I start to feel a bit lighter. I felt tenacious, I felt the night was mine, I felt like doing something new. I then started to stumble towards the stage. I start to lift myself up onto the stage, and grab the microphone off the ground. I look around the stage and spot a pink pony who smelled slightly like cotton candy. I noticed that there were absolutely no instruments onstage. The pink pony starts to walk up to me.

"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie, What's your name?" I wave a hand in her direction.

"That's nice, I'm Aoi. Have you seen a guy named Knightmare?" I look around, no drums, no speakers, nothing. How did Knightmare manage to make that music? Maybe magic? I look out across the crowd and see Griffin chasing Luna over the entire ballroom. The next thing I knew, the cake fell right on top of Griffin, splattering the cake all over the ballroom floor, with a deranged captain under layers of frosting. I saw him break out in a wide sinister grin. He started to say in a playful whimpering voice.

"Aunty WOOOOONA!!! Griffy needs a hug." He spread out his arms and wings wide in what I perceived was a sincere hug. Then the boisterous captain wiped the cake off of his face and smeared it all over the princess, covering her with cake. I started laughing as I saw the lunar princess with black and red frosting covering her face and mane. Then I remembered that Griffin also held concerts over Equestria. I started to slowly stumble towards the pastry covered captain and the princess. As I approach the pirate captain, I feel Knightmare sliding underneath my legs strumming a quick chord before asking.

"So, Princess Luna, care to make a request?" I kept walking past the changeling, tapping Griffin on the shoulder. My words come out slurred and halting.

"Griffin... Griffin... How did Knightmare play the music back there without any instrumenties?" I held a finger in front of his face to get his attention. He shrugged and continued spreading cake all over the helpless princess.

"No idea, whenever I do it I always use magic, Why?" He stopped and looked at my inquisitively.

"I-I wanna sing something." I haven't tried singing in a while, less so ever since Keith disappeared. The last time I visited a karaoke bar was 2 years ago, at the request of a rather 'merry' detective.

"Ah, so you're finally getting in on the 'Fun'." He glances back at the princess, holding her hooves in front of her face to avoid more cake being strewn all over her. I stagger backwards, 'How was painting the princess with black and red frosting your idea of fun? Princesses aren't canvases.'

"Trixie!" a blue unicorn with a greyish mane trots over to the Captain, and salutes with a 'Yes Cap'n?'

"Aoi would like to sing a song, you feel like helping him?" She looks up at me, my stance rather crooked and my posture limbered and slack.

"You got it." She replied with a wink. Griffin starts to stand up, shaking a sizable amount of red frosting from his hands. He pulls out a gem and hands it to me, then flared out his massive wings.

"I'm gonna fly through the waterfall to wash up." I immediately stop him, almost grabbing his tail before he flew off.

"Wait, wait, how does this work?" I hold up a stop signal for him to relay instructions, still looking at the gem.

"Just say 'musica a memoria' and then think of the tune you want it to play, as long as Trixie keeps the gem charged, you can keep going. I'll be back in a bit." He exited the building in a grandiose rocket upward then out through the columns leading outside.

I waved at him and walked back to the stage, remembering that Anime Opening theme that Keith often played on his subwoofers, saying that I'd like it. I did find the theme catchy at times and soon could remember the entire tune and lyrics by memory. I climbed back up onstage, holding the microphone. Pinkie Pie grabbing one as well. The song started to come back to me, note by note. I took a deep breath.

'This one's for you Keith, for playing music loud enough for the neighbors to hear!'

"Musica a memoria!" Music started flowing from out of nowhere, seemingly coming from the walls themselves. It almost took me by surprise, but I kept focusing on the music. Pinkie winked at me, as if signaling she knew her part. As the guitar riffs played out, Pinkie took the leading verse with surprising accuracy

..................

.............

..............

The song slows down to a few measures of jazz, Knightmare occasionally strumming a quick rift. The crowd sways to the rhythm of the ending, some even lighting the room with illusion magic. I back away from the edge of the stage, swaying my head to the soft music that closes the song.

The crowd breaks into applause. The cheers almost deafening to my ears.

'Keith, you are missing one hell of a rave.' I chuckle to myself as I start to walk offstage, 'Don't ever say I never partied.' I lose my balance a bit, stumbling on the staircase as I go down. Eol slowly walks up to me with a smug look on his face, Ubi following close behind.

"Aoi! Aoi! Woof, man, you've got a set of lungs on you... I mean, I could never sing that fast if I tried."

"I felt... great..." I say at last.

"Well of course you did, you were drunk through that whole thing!" Ubi started to come up next to me. What did Eol just say? I raise my paw in front of my face and breathed, sniffing what came off of my breath, it smelt pungently of alcohol...

"Well what do you know..." I started falling, "Someone spiked the punch..." Ubi and Eol manage to catch me as I fall, my vision starts to get blurry. As I start to slip into unconsciousness, I remember something Keith always used to say.

'It ain't a party if there's no alcohol.'

=Eol=

"Well he's out of it." I say to Ubi, he just stared back at me with a suspicious look. I wasn't fooling anyone, I swear, that guy could see through a person faster than it takes to say sapphire.

"You spiked the punch, didn't you..." Tarn it, that obvious huh... I really got to work on keeping a straight face. I waved off the matter.

"Who's gonna know?" I look back at him, he raises an eyebrow, "Don't tell him..." I wave a finger at Ubi. Who would have thought Aoi would be the first one to fall for the spiked punch. Speaking of which, I feel Aoi getting heavier under my arms.

"Now c'mon, help me get him someplace where he won't get trampled..." Ubi lifts up Aoi's legs and we start carrying him out of the ballroom. I look back at Ubi.

"And Ubi... never let me forget this..." Ubi suddenly had a wide smile.

"Never...." I don't know whether to take that as a good or bad sign.

=Aoi=

Consciousness flickers in and out, I start feeling myself being carried through what seemed like the hallway back to the throne room...

"He's waking back up, let's set him down somewhere..." Eol says in a panicked rush.

"How about in the bedroom?" Ubi replies.

"Perfect..." As I hear that my mind starts to put together the loose pieces of info. I open my mouth to object, but I feel my lips slacken. As I feel the ache in my temples, I drop out of consciousness again.

I wake up later to see Eol staring at me, leaning over the bed...

"Finally you're up. How do you feel?" I slowly sit up, feeling disoriented, the room starts spinning, then clicking back to normal level in a irregular loop.

"Where am I?" I rub my temples, still hearing the cheer of the crowd from the ovation of my last song.

"Princess Celestia's room..." I roll out of the bed slowly, catching myself with my paws, then slowly staggering to upright position.

"I need to get back to the ballroom..." I didn't want to be caught intruding on the Princess's bed, much less drunk in it. Besides, I needed to kick the person who spiked the punch in the ass. I started running down the hallway in a stumbling sprint to the ballroom, falling a couple of times due to my disoriented sense of balance. Just what was in that punch?

I re-enter the throne room to see the entire crowd finishing up a dance I saw teenagers sometimes do in Japan. I walk in and lean against the wall, chuckling a bit at the harmonious bouncing of the crowd to the song, I look up on stage to see Griffin, Celt and Knightmare doing the same thing.

Out of all the people dancing, only 4 ponies simply just stood around, pacing nervously at the dancing around them. As the song ends, one of them caught my eye. She had a blue coat, dressed in a red kimono with an autumn leaf pattern around the sides, mane neatly bundled in a small bun, a light brushing of makeup on, augmenting her natural features. Needless to say, she looked just like a geisha. I start walking slowly towards her, trying to regain my composure. She spots me walking at a somewhat skewed gait, a soft melody of piano and drums set a calm, smooth atmosphere. She looks at me, giving a soft and hesitant smile.

"May I have this dance?" I hold out my paw... she looks at it with wide eyes. A white mare beside her nudges her. Taking the cue, she takes my paw in her hoof, others taking the example and forming couples. The soft scent of dew drifts in through the open doors to the gardens, adding to the subtle mood.

I remember the time I danced to a tune like this in a small jazz club in France, with a young woman who was my partner for a hit. Now, there was no hit to call, no house to burn, no mission, no objective. Just me, and a young mare, dancing slowly to the beat of the drumset and the masterful, light touch of the piano. I look over and see Knightmare dancing with Princess Celestia, Griffin with another griffin, and Celt with Pinkie Pie. I smile and keep dancing, turning slightly. The blue pegasus follows suit, leaning in close for support. The pianist warmly plays out the tune with a light, almost feathery touch, each note filling the room, dancing along past each embracing couple. The moonlight glistens through the windows, shedding a soft crisp glow on the dance floor. The spare glasses reflecting the tiniest amount of light, making the edge of the ballroom shimmer like stars. I start to feel the young mare relax, letting the music guide her foot movements along with my own. I feel my heartbeat slow in time to the music, each one of my steps slow and delicate on the floor, my foot gently gliding along the marble. It was a moment in time no one wanted to end. And yet it did, slowly, with almost no one noticing until the music stopped.

The couples slowly part from their embrace, some sharing a delicate kiss. The blue mare looks up to me, and I down to her, she had an expression of curiosity.

"Who are you?" I smile at her.

"Does it really matter? I had fun..." I really did... so far, this was the best night of my life... She stared at me a little longer, still waiting for a reply.

"If you really want to know, I'm Aoi..." I think for a second, "But you can call me Blue..."

"Why would I call you that?" her tone was slightly rough, but vying to be soft.

"That's what my name means... at least my first..." She tilted her head to the side in interest.

"What's your last name?"

"Myoujin..." I paused to remember what the last part meant. "... it means 'stranger'." She broke out in a small snicker.

"Blue stranger huh... I think I'll just stick to Aoi..." I look at her with a soft, but sincere air, waiting for her to give a response, "Oh... mine's Rainbow Dash." I glance at her flank to see a rainbow in the shape of a lightning bolt, probably a tattoo based on her name.

"Well, did you have fun?" She looked down at her kimono for a second, then back to me, then curled the edge of her mouth in a grin.

"Yeah... I-I guess I did..." She started to turn around and leave, blending back in to the reforming crowd. I step back a few paces, swaying at the imbalance going through my body right now. I spot Eol holding hands with a cat who was almost a foot taller than him, and Ubi with another griffin. They probably didn't want to feel left out. Eol walks with the Cat out to the balcony outside, while Ubi starts to walk away from the griffin, turning his attention towards the moon. He starts to walk outside into the slick blades of grass leading towards the gardens.

My stomach starts to growl as I remember that I hadn't eaten dinner, so I walk over to what looks like a food stand manned by a single orange pony with a cowboy hat, spotting Griffin already ordering some food. I wave to the tender of the stand. Walking up to the stand, I gaze over the expanse of delicacies that lay before me, mainly composed of apples. I felt like indulging my sweet tooth.

"2 apple pies please." I look over to see Griffin with his mouth full of pie. He turns over to me.

"Oh, hmh Aoir, yerr gumma trah derse struff!" The griffin he was dancing with smacks him upside the head, causing him to close his mouth and gulp down the food in his mouth.

"Oro? The gummies in the stuffing?" I couldn't hear what he was trying to say.

"I said you gotta try this stuff, Aoi. it's really good. best apples in Equestria."

"The Best apples?" I looked in disbelief. The tender at the stand starts to blush.

"The BEST!" I smiled with a sigh.

"I'll take your word for it." I order a two apple pies, dropping a generous 20 bits on the counter. I slowly inhale the warm, rich aroma of cinnamon and apple. I grab a plastic fork from a nearby dispenser the stand had, gently lifting a small bite of the steaming, golden crusted pie into my mouth.

Author's Notes:

In light of recent events, I've removed the lyrics to the song on terms of copyright grounds, but you're free to look them up at your leisure.