I suddenly hear a voice behind me, carrying with it a worried and anxious message.

"Umm, I hate to interrupt but..." I turned to see the six mares with the Elements of Harmony, all with a look of fear, "We have a problem..." It looks like the night's not over yet. Knightmare's eyes widen at the mention of the phrase and immediately turns to Pinkie Pie. Griffin shrugs like nothing is wrong.

"What's the issue? You got the Elements, and the problem is gone. Everything is good, right? Well, except the floor and wall, and Luna's out cold, possibly kidnapped by a rampaging dragon, Celestia is passed out drunk, and all the ponies are outside, freaking out because the Gala just got attacked." If there's a problem, it must be on their end.

"That phrase never portends an easily solved problem..." His mood changes to one of panic, "Agent Pie, Sit rep, now!" Pinkie Pie salutes and immediately answers in kind.

"The Black Vault is shredded and over half of the Articles are GONE!" She says, flailing her legs about for emphasis. Griffin cocks his head to the side.

"Wait, AGENT, Pie? You mean........ *Gasp* I knew it! Pinkie Pie IS a spy!" Griffin points at Pinkie Pie, the pink pony reacts merely with a tilted head.

"She's not a spy," Knightmare sighs, rubbing his forehead in order to find words to explain, "She's an agent for Celestia, just like me."

"So your both spies, eh?" I let loose a small snicker under my breath, "So was I..." I say nonchalantly. Griffin glances towards each of us.

"Wait... That means you two are spies, too?" Griffin started to laugh uneasily, "Heh.. Haha.... Ha... I'm surrounded by spies." Then starts to laugh with a rather creepy air. Knightmare drops his head down towards the floor with a groan.

"Ex- to be exact," I corrected him.

"If anyone makes a 'That changeling is a spy!' joke I'm gonna go Pyro on yo ass!" Knightmare then morphs into a humanoid form with a gas mask and a flamethrower. Griffin gets a wide grin and replies.

"That Pyro's a SPAH!" Knightmare turns back to normal and pouts, Griffin looks at him and raises an eyebrow, "What? I didn't say changeling."

Twilight rolls her eyes and then starts to explain what happened.

"Luna and the dragon were fighting, and they slammed into the door to the vault, and broke the door off." I shook my head in disappointment.

"For a vault, it's not that secure." Knightmare's Look reverts to one of panic, his eye twitching. He then bolts out of the ballroom towards the location of the vault. Not too long afterward I hear Knightmare's voice again.

"Oh you HAVE GOT TO BE FUCKING WITH ME!" It was muffled, but still audible.

"Did you hear that?" I look towards Griffin. He pulls a standing feather out of the side of his head, flicking it away.

"I see nothing, I hear nothing, I KNOW NOTHING." Griffin says in a rather staunch, German accent. Knightmare Immediately returns, out of breath.

"NIGHTMARE MOON'S ARMOR IS MISSING!!!" Shock immediately shows on the captain's face.

"Okay..." He tries to calm down, then spots his crew coming towards him, away from the sudden screams and shouts coming from the opposite direction. "GILDA, What in the name of Morgan Freeman is going on out there?" Gilda, the other griffin, answered swiftly with a salute.

"Some stupid oaf got into the Canterlot Zoo and let all the animals out. We've got timber wolves, manticores, hierophants, some rocs, and a fucking basilisk out there!" Griffin rolls his eyes, raising his arms in frustration.

"OH FOR FUCK'S SAKE!" I look back at the captain.

"Well Griffin, looks like the night's not over yet..." Griffin looks around, grabbing the hilt of Hades. He lets go and starts rubbing his temples, while I try and track down Ubi and Eol amongst the crowd. Griffin sighs and looks at me.

"Okay, okay, I got it. Aoi, you go deal with the animals. I'll have my crew help the moron track down the dark goddess's armor." Knightmare immediately interrupts Griffin with a question.

“Then what the hell are you gonna do?” Knightmare almost shouts the question at him.

"I'm going to sit here on my ass, take some deep breaths, have one drink to calm my nerves, then try to figure out how to stop the fucking apocalypse. Also, Discord is laughing at us right now. Fuck you Discord. Apocalypses aren't funny." he shouts at the ceiling to some imaginary figure, hoping it would help. Knightmare leans towards me and whispers something.

"Is it just me or does it feel like the apocalypse tonight?" He shrugs then starts heading through the castle.

I grab Kokuryu's hilt, making a beeline for the balcony, passing Ubi and Eol along the way, signaling them to follow. I look towards Knightmare as we diverge and see him twirling a finger around his temple, flicking his thumb backwards at the captain. I give a small snicker as I look back at the cowering crowd of nobles. I wave at the crowd to get out of our way. as we head towards the crowd we jump over them, clearing half of them while lightly hopping on the backs of others, making it to the stairs. We keep moving until we make it to the balcony. I use the hilt of Kokuryu to bash the glass of the window in the way and we land, broken glass. I look over the balcony and see the animals on the lower level, trying to Bash through the double doors leading into the main ballroom. I look towards Ubi and Eol to make sure their ready. Looking down I review the situation.

'Rules of engagement: Potentially dangerous animals, most likely turned feral. If left active, could cause civilian losses. Animals are expendable.'

"Eol, on my signal, ready two sets of knockout vials, throw them as I fall, Ubi, take the longbow and give me some covering fire from the balcony." They nod, Eol pulling out two vials, and Ubi notching his bow. I perch myself on top of the balcony, drawing Kokuryu and aiming for my first target. Scanning amongst the hoard of animals I find a large elephant like creature trying to break through the barricade. I waved to fingers for Eol to release the vials. He tosses them down to land amongst the target creature and a few others. The timberwolves gnawing at the barricade go limp as the knockout gas hits them. I take a deep breath and hold it, then jump off the balcony in a front flip, positioning myself onto the hilt of Kokuryu, bearing my weight onto the hilt, the blade pointed downward towards the target.

'Dìjiǎn fēng zhē (Descending Bee Sting)'

I hear the blade piecing flesh and bone through the green vapor, the odor tingling my nose, tempting me to breathe in. Blood spurts out of the wound, the beast swaying to the left. I jump off, pulling my blade out of the elephant like creature's skull, and landing onto the ground, I hear two thwacks, the mist clearing to see two arrows impaling a nearby manticore that was trying to rush towards me. I sidestepped to avoid the falling behemoth as its body crashed into the ground, cracking the tiles underneath it, serving as an extra barricade. As the last of the knockout gas disperses, I stand in shock to see a massive stampede head my way. Knightmare slips past the barricade to ask me something.

"Aoi, any guesses to who might wanna steal the shattered armor of a demon-goddess" I push him out of the way and duck to avoid a manticore's tail gliding past my ear. I look up back at the balcony.

"Eol, Ubi, get back inside to help with the civilians, fall back!" I back flip and avoid a manticore's tail in the ground that I was standing on moments before, bits of tile grazing across my face. I call back through the barricade.

"Griffin, can you and your crew handle this?" I pull my sword upward to slice its tail off, the beast recoiling at the pain. I look at Knightmare as a cue to get back inside. He scurries back through the barricade, readying his guitar. I hear Griffin respond.

"Sorry, they're still with Knightmare, looking for the demoness' armor, and I'm still trying to pour my brain back into my skull. Come on, they're just a bunch of animals. I know you can take care of it." I dodge a downward swipe of the manticore's paw, grabbing it and dislocating it with a twist, then thrusting my blade into its face, "I know you can take care of it." I felt off balance, my vision desynchronizing due to the effects of the alcohol. "Besides, someone needs to protect the element bearers. Since I'm totally freaking out right now, it should probably be me," That statement made no logical sense at all, "If you really want to, we can switch in a bit." I pulled my blade out and jumped over the manticore, slicing the timberwolf behind it in half. I rolled over to the side to avoid a roc trying to dive bomb me. I couldn't keep this up for long. I needed to stall them.

Another elephant slams its tusk into me, flinging me through the air into the wall.

"GAHHH!" I felt two ribs fracture as I hit the wall. I fell onto my knees, clutching my side. I start pumping adrenaline to subside the pain. I had to fall back soon. The Elephant kept charging. I took a flat thrust stance with Kokuryu, and slid under the beast, carving a large gash into its abdomen, the stench of blood and musk hitting my nose like fire. I coughed and stood upright again, hacking into the side of a manticore as it lunged for me with a jagged slash. I gripped the hilt with both hands and swung in a wide arc, the air smashing the leg off of a timber wolf, sap splattering over my dobuku. I sheath Kokuryu and take out the two needles from my sleeve and tried my hardest to concentrate on the pouncing manticore.

'Quadrupedal felines, engage shoulder distress with collar bone point, then fully disable with shock above the eyelid.'

I held the needles one in each hand, crouching low. I engaged an adrenaline rush to slow time down. I took a deep breath and let my digits do the work. I took a step forward,
stabbing the first meridian point with an outstretched stab, then reeling my body back to stab the point above the eyelid as it jerked and tumbled past me, landing and skidding to an abrupt halt. I cease the excess adrenaline and grasped the hilt of Kokuryu in an Iaijutsu stance, as three timber wolves lunged at the same time.

'Shinigami no Toiki (A Reaper's Sigh)' My injury skewed the slash, causing the blade to stop short, allowing one to slash at my neck. I turned to the side at the last second, the claw grazing against my shoulder, leaving 3 long marks cuts in my dobuku, staining it with blood. I twisted the blade in my hand and pulled it upwards, severing the timberwolf in half midair. Immediately, i took some of the sap and used it as a temporary styptic for the wound. I sprinted back to the barricade, then turned to have my back to the wall.

I hear a loud explosion, sending the Captain through the barricade right onto me. We get up, me nursing my injury with one paw. Griffin looks at me, a scratch above the eye, bleeding.

"Hey, Aoi, I could use some help over here." Griffin points back inside. I hear Knightmare inside, belting out guitar riffs.

"YOU COULD USE SOME HELP!? What about MEEE!?" Knightmare yells at the top of his lungs. I look back at him.

"And I could use a little help out here." I see Griffin's crew regrouping, "Switch?" He had a wide smile.

"You got it," He says as he waves backwards, not looking back, "Try not to die!" I look at him, giving a strained smile.

"Same to you..." I start running towards the stage. Knightmare continuing to play. Knightmare has a pleading look on his face as he spots me.

"Halp?" He gets stabbed by a tendril of magic during the pause, a sickly reddish green splatter of blood coats the stage.

"Easy there. Here let me help." I tear out a piece of my dobuku and wrap it around Knightmare's wound, and batting away a tendril trying to slam down on us with Kokuryu. I pick up his guitar and hand it to him.

"Just keep playing, I'll try to get in close." He nods as he slowly stands up again. My vision starts to distort again, splitting the image of the enemy into gray-scale and colored layers. I shake my head to remove the distortion and redirect a tendril into the ceiling, causing the chandelier above me to fall. I barely dodge out of the way as another tendril heads right for me. I raise Kokuryu in front of me, the blade cleaving through the tendril. I weave out of the way as a flash of purple lightning crashes past me, disintegrating the tendril. I look back to see Knightmare with a debonair smile, winking at me. he strums a riff that sends a fusion of blue and green lightning across the ballroom floor, clashing with another tendril.

"Rock on Knightmare." I hold up the peace sign to him, then make a beeline for the enemy, her instrument clashing with Knighmare's in a musical battle. I rolled to the side to avoid a tendril smashing into the ground. I ducked under one and sliced it off, stopping it as it tried to go for Knightmare. Suddenly the tendrils retract back into the instrument the enemy was holding. She starts to cackle in a familiar voice.

"Enough with the small measures, let's move on to the first movement!" Her voice booms, the tone of the music changes, and she draws her bow across the contorted strings of the bass. The music seemed to summon black torrents of sound along the ground. I jump and land on a table to avoid it, then realize that it wasn't aimed at me. All at once the black torrent rose from the ground as if to intercept Knightmare's music. Slowly I realized that there was a faint electric guitar riff amongst the orchestral measures. Immediate concern turned to shock as I saw the black wall break into a massive tsunami of sound, headed straight to the stunned changeling. She was using his music against him.

"Knightmare!" I call out to him before he was swallowed up in the black wave. No response was given, Knightmare's music completely ceased. I looked at the enemy, who was cackling in triumph. I seized my chance and leaped from table to table, then finally jumping skyward in a surprise attack towards the enemy's instrument. a magical barrier separated from the instrument. I bore down all my weight onto it, and was rewarded when the clash between music and blade resulted in one of the strings breaking on the bass. The music paused for an eight note, enough time to strum a blaring rift from the bowels of darkness. The effect was immediate. Knightmare shown proudly onstage, an entire rainbow storm cloaked the stage in thunder and multicolored lightning, his music pushing back the black torrents. I rebound off of the magical barrier, landing in a low crouch. I look back and see him smile with one of absolute victory.

"You aren't getting any sleep tonight, 'cause I'm your FUCKING NIGHTMARE!!!." His wings beat out a slow glockenspiel introduction before his guitar lashes out riff after window rending riff. The measures are unrelenting, with the enemy having to constantly play just to catch up. The song echoes through the halls, shaking the broken tiles, Knightmare's lyrics screaming out across the ballroom. I take the time to catch my breath, I start to feel my ribs fracture even more inside my chest. I'm brought down to my knees again, now breathing heavily as I feel as if my chest is caving in on my lungs. I brace myself back up to a standing position. I hear a shatter in front of me, watching as the slow distortion of the air slowly melt into clarity, signaling the barrier protecting her now broken. I try to straighten up in order to charge. But then the enemy starts to shout in a booming voice.

"Hehehehhehe... AHHAAHHAAHAHA!!! You've heard nothing yet! BEHOLD MY SOLO, MY SONATA, MY ENVOY, and YOUR DOOM!" She draws the bow across the remaining strings of the bass into a revolting chord, coupling it with high pitched singing. The entire ballroom shakes at the mere chord, refusing to cease its onslaught upon my hearing. Adrenaline starts to pump through my veins, I start to stagger towards her, slowly, but unceasing in my approach. I grit my teeth at every step, my right hand dragging Kokuryu along the ground, cutting deep marks in the marble behind me. I try to turn my ears away from the source of the sound, but the music simply reverberates off the walls back to my ears. The chords torture my balance and equilibrium, only succeeding in making me clench the hilt of my blade tighter. I glare unceasingly, scanning the enemy for a weak spot. My mind, it its twisted, tortured state scrambles to focus on a source of power. I spot the faint aura of magic emanating the enemy's horn like a tainted veil.

'So that's her weak spot.' A loud spike in the chord drives me to my knees again. I stab the blade into the ground and slowly get back up, finally feeling my eardrums pop and ring, blocking out all other sounds. I take Kokuryu in my hands and start a clumsy, scattered sprint towards the her distorted form, finally lunging at her.

"Sairen no yōna anata ga himei! (You screech like a siren!)" I grab her muzzle, clenching it shut between my paws with a vice grip, "DAMARE! (SHUT UP!)" I immediately stab the instrument through the center, viciously tearing it to splinters. I then look into her eyes now filled with one of complete shock. She struggles to break free from my grip. I slowly position Kokuryu under her horn. Like shaving a log of its branches, I sever the horn from her head.

The magical backlash that results launches me backwards through the stage and the barricade on top of Griffin.

"KUSO! (SHIT!)" I struggled to reorient myself, barely knowing which way was even up or down. My ears kept ringing, blocking out all sound. Griffin pushed me off of him. I stab Kokuryu into the ground, using it to prop myself back up. I start to feel blood coming out of my ears, but what hurts more is my head. The ringing slowly subsides to the blurred, rushing return of sound in a fast, loud, screech of shell-shock. I see Griffin trying to say something to me, but only reaching my ears in a muffled groan.

"What?" An explosion causes me to push Griffin out of the way by instinct. I slowly hear the captain remark.

"We are so screwed...." He says as he slowly crab walks away from the hole in the wall, the now hornless mare seething with anger.

"Enough of this! You both have proven to be more trouble than you're worth! I'll dispose of both of you, then the whole world will hear my music, even without my horn!" The instrument reforms in her hooves. Griffin turns to me.

"I thought you said you could handle it! I sure as hell can't!" He started yelling at me, making my ears hurt even more.

"YOU TRY LISTENING TO A FAHKING BANSHEE!" I glanced back at her, then looking back to Griffin, I shove him out of the way of an incoming black bolt that shatters the ground next to us. The enemy then plays the high pitched chord again, once again shattering all sense of hearing. I clutch my ears in pain, curling up on the ground, hoping the infernal music would stop. I hear a familiar voice screaming loudly.

"SHUUUUUUUUUUT UUUUUUUUUUUP!" The voice of Knightmare overpowers the chords, along with a loud thwack. I close my eyes, grabbing my ears tightly shut, hoping that this would end quickly.

"BEGONE FOUL DEMONESS!" I hear the sound of a painful solo, drilling into my brain. To make it worse, he screams out loudly afterward.

"WWWRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" We both yell at him to stop. Then silence... sweet silence. I release the grip from my ears, and roll over onto my back. I breathe a small sigh of relief.

"Owatta... (It's over...)" My muscles ease up to relax, and a dull pain remnant in my chest. I turn towards Griffin.

"Hey Griffin..." I say in almost a whisper.
I feel the murmur of sound blotted out by the clotting in my ears. I look for an expectant answer, he simply nods.

"Do you know any healing spells?" He nods again, pulling gout vials with various liquids inside them and drinking them. He slowly stands up, struggling against fatigue. He points his sword at me and says something, drowned out by the blood in my ears. I feel my wounds healing, the dull pain in my chest vanishing, a sharp pain in my inner ear, a loud pop, and the slow return of sound fading in from the murmur just moments before. I wince at the sudden pain, then relax again. My body felt heavy from fatigue, so I simply lay there. Griffin collapses, laying right next to me. I slowly open my eyes, seeing the azure night sky again.

"I've never had a night like that in 20 years... nor a battle like that in my life... those are the battles, I feel, are the ones that make you want to keep living..." Blackfire, the unknown possessed musician, I wondered what was next.

"I haven't been hurt this bad since before I became a griffin. Yet, I still somehow came out of it okay. Heh. Fuck you death, not today." I start to break out in a strained laugh, but a laugh nonetheless. I wanted to ask him a question.

"Hey, Griffin..." He turns his head slightly.

"Yeah?"

"... Where are you headed next?" He turns his head back to the sky.

"Gem Fido. I gotta get back to rescuing slaves. This vacation was nice, but now, I need a vacation from my vacation." I snicker, then slowly raise my arm, pointing out my thumb in the direction of Gem Fido.

"Mind if I hitch a ride? I'm headed there too..." He matches my thumb in kind, as if giving the a-okay, then lets it fall limp back onto the ground, bursting into laughter again. I tilt my head towards Knightmare, fallen and exhausted.

“Hey, Knightmare... do me a favor..." Octavia shows up and leans over him, then looking at me.

"I don't think he can hear you..." She gives a small smile, leaning over Knightmare, then pulling back up after he snores loudly, “Definitely can't hear you.” I chuckle.

"I'll say it anyway... Never play that loudly in earshot of me again... and thanks, you really shown through. Give him that message for me when he wakes up... Octavia was it?" Suddenly, Knightmare's hand shoots up in a thumbs up.

"Someone call a medic, please..." He says painfully. Griffin groans, then Knightmare lets out a whimper.

"Ugh..... fine." He stands up again, pointing his sword at Knightmare. "Medico. There, now quit your bitching." Octavia turns to me again.

"I think he got it," She holds her hoof out towards me, “Octavia Philharmonica-Scratch, at your service, Sir Myoujin.” I slowly take her hoof in my paw and shake it once.

"Pleasure." I let my arm go limp. She slowly stands and walks back inside.

“I'll go find Princess Celestia and let her know what's happened...” She says while walking away. I give a heavy sigh, catching up with some much needed breaths. I slowly blot out the commotion around me, leaving me alone with the night sky.

Moonlit Sonata
blue glass moon
a frozen night sky

-Aoi Myoujin

'... heh... I was never really good at poetry...' I closed my eyes, waiting for sleep to overtake me, a soft, familiar voice calling out to me before I lose consciousness.

"Good night... Blue Stranger..."