Best. Nightmare Night. Ever. But then again; it was only the Twin's second one, but the statement stood. Sure, last year Kamina had ended up selling the story of his and Simon's adventures to a comic company, but this year was special since they got to spend time with family, something that they honestly never got to do before.

When Nyx and Luna had to go home, Nyx was sad to say goodbye to her precious pirate friend Pipsqueak. But, the little colt was an utter gentlecolt, kissing her hoof goodbye, and wishing to maintain contact. Of course, this went a bit further and with Nyx's Pout of Doom; Luna instantly caved into arranging “royal playdates” with Pipsqueak's parents. They were a bit nervous about it, but his parents agreed that every other weekend, or even on-call; Pipsqueak could be brought to the castle to play with Nyx, and the parents would be paid a small stipend as thanks for helping maintain the social needs of a growing princess, which would go into the colt's school funds.

After just the first playdate a few days later, they got a hilarious letter through Spike from Scoddri about the shenanigans that Nyx and the roguish colt got up to. Literally “raiding” the pantry, “assaulting” the staff with rubber swords, and claiming victory over the mighty “General Keen” in combat. The Twins had to laugh at the thought of their dad being defeated by two children with rubber swords and a minor potency in magic. Scoddri even stated he joined in with them after that; leading them on a campaign of madness through the castle.

It also answered why a giant golden flower suddenly bloomed on the west wall of the castle, visible from most of the country.

In fact; this reminded them of the shenanigans their own little trouble-making local fillies were up to. It was a scary thing a few days ago, what with Bloom coming down with a thought-extinct illness known as Cutie Pox.

She had apparently contracted it when, again; she and her friends were in the Everfree, where they ARE NOT PERMITTED to go, ever. And she had foolishly eaten a flower that looked, and smelled delicious, and safe to eat according to her limited survival skills. Which, ironically; was what the fillies were out there doing, trying to earn “survivalist” Cutie Marks, only to call it quits upon finally realizing how dangerous it was.

Bloom at first thought she'd gained her mark legitimately, only to be horrified upon the revelation when more marks appeared, and she was forced to do what they signified. Zecora worked feverishly to come up with a cure, beings she at first did not know what the cause was until, between panting breaths as Bloom was on the verge of giving out, she was able to describe the flower enough for Zecora to realize it as Heart's Desire, an incredibly dangerous and powerful plant.

She then quickly made a potion, and forced a weight-lifting Bloom to drink it; causing the marks to fade, and Bloom to thank her for saving her while her family was even more grateful. Zecora explained that the flower is not intentionally a spiteful thing like Poison Joke, and had earnestly tried to grant Apple Bloom's desire to have her cutie mark. But since the Mark could not be forced out, it ended up cursing her instead. All she had to do was make the potion with another Heart's Desire and it saved her upon realizing the other flower's folly.

Kamina and Animak felt so utterly helpless at the time; having been unable to do anything to save her aside from assisting her when her marks were going to force her to do something that would outright kill her. They decided to focus more on Zecora's teachings so they could be of help if something like this happened again, instead of just relying on her, because she might not be around when it happened.

Then there was the Sisterhooves Social. It wasn't a big thing, since they didn't have sisters, only brothers. They didn't attend, they were busy that day experimenting on trying to combine without the suits, and found it really difficult. Animak theorized they hadn't found a genetic template adaptive enough to make fully organic fusion safe yet. So until then; they were stuck using the suits, which neither minded, but didn't want to metaphorically be caught with their pants down when something too big and dangerous happened and they didn't have access to their suits. They did end up Combining, but not in the way they originally intended~.

Oh, right, also Blitz and Gilda got a pet turtle. Blitz said something about how he was visiting Fluttershy, and the big fella just sorta clicked with him. He said Tank; the turtle, had something he couldn't put his hoof on, and settled on it being determination, because when he tested the fella, he put everything he had into it, even if he was sure to fail. Blitz admired that, and got an enchanted collar for him so he could stand on clouds, and was having Pinkie make a flying harness for him. Also, this meant he and Gilda had another excuse to attend the group's Pony Pet Playdates.

This all happened in the course of just six days, it was a very busy week.

So, to relax; the Twins suggested to everypony that they all head to the Corner for a sugar binge to take the edge off the series of events they'd all been through this week. “Woo!” Animak crowed after having an incredibly crisp soft drink. “That was refreshing!”

“Dude, I feel what you feel. I know how good it was.” Kamina responded irritably. Their bond was growing even stronger, and was starting to worry him. Sure, he was fine with it at first, but when you suddenly get a wingboner because your twin was getting it on across town while you're on business at the mayor's office, things get awkward. At first Mayor Mare blushed and thought he was propositioning her, which was actually a message that a pegasus opening their wings like THAT signified. He embarrassingly had to explain to her what was happening, as Animak was having sex with Zecora. He FELT, EVERYTHING! He effing CAME on the mare's chair as he panted and desperately tried to fight off the connection the whole while.

He apologized profusely of course, but she actually said she appreciated the show, even if it was so sudden and awkward. She was willing to forget the whole thing so long as he cleaned up his mess, which was a simple thing with the wave of his horn. Oh he had WORDS with Animak when he got back later.

It was the biggest rift they'd ever imagine could come between them, and it hurt, both body and soul.

That was just yesterday, and was also why Kamina wanted to hang out with their friends. They didn't really know about it yet, and he wanted to tell them gently about how he could now feel, smell, see, hear, and taste whatever Animak did, and Animak realized the opposite last night when Kamina cut open his chest to test it, and he screamed in pain at being unprepared for the feeling of the wound, even if it didn't actually carry over. Thoughts, feelings, the ability to feel were all subconscious, the other senses could be shared, but only if they focused. They worried this might also become subconscious.

However, this plan was ruined when Blitz burst into the establishment, boasting about his heroics, while Gilda rolled her eyes and grumbled as she came over to the group while Blitz was involved with bragging to his rapidly growing crowd. “I love the idiot, but sometimes; he's just too much of an idiot.”

“What's going on?” Spike asked from next to Rarity, who both frowned in disapproval at Blitz's glory hounding going on in the main area.

“Rainbow Bullshit over there is blowing his heroics totally out of proportion, that's what.” Gilda growled as she grabbed an eclair from the platter the princes had ordered. “I mean, sure; saving a filly who fell down an old well was pretty cool, and saving a foal from careening off the cliff over on Trot Avenue was awesome. But I helped save those old stallions from that collapsing porch and he soaks up all the attention! What gives?!”

“Wait, what?” Kamina asked in surprise. “I thought that well was buried, that cliff was fenced, and the senior home was up to code!” That was part of why he was at the mayor's office yesterday. Apparently she'd figured they were done already as well, because she wouldn't lie to him, he ensured that by getting to know her enough.

“Apparently not. We'll have to get on the mayor's case about it now.” Animak groaned, only for Spike sigh.

“I'll do it, don't waste your time bros.” The reason Spike wasn't there instead was because he'd already planned a date with Rarity, and the mayor had called upon him unexpectedly, and he went to his brothers for help since he didn't want to flake on a date with his love, and Kamina stepped up because he's a bro, even if Spike wasn't his proclaimed adopted brother, he'd have done it.

“Well I'm not going to let this stand. I'm going to have a talk with the local construction crew about fixing these safety hazards myself.” Twilight intoned, getting nods of agreement from everyone. “Still, these disasters were averted by Blitz, so we still have to be thankful.” Blitz crowed about being the best pony alive, and started getting the crowd going by chanting his name, and she huffed as her ears wilted. “Even if I don't want to thank somepony THAT pretentious.”

“Hey guys!” Blitz suddenly flew over them, hovering over the table. “I'm going to be worshiped by my fan club, anyone want to join?”

“Since when did you have a fan club?” Game asked in his seat next to little Citrine and Pinkie, the little yellow quartz foal was suckling on a rock candy binky. It wasn't anything normal either; it was made by Pinkie using her family recipe. The rock candy was actually made with real rocks, and somehow imitates low-quality gemstones. They were lucky about this, since crystal ponies ate crystalline foods like dragons too, and it was so little Citrine had something tasty to keep her calm in public, since the little scamp had the tendency to try and run off.

“Blitz has actually had a fan club since before he became Blitzle, *snigger* and was still Dashie. They're mostly just impressionable local fillies and colts who admire his athletic performances.” Pinkie was more subdued ever since Citrine came into her life. Sure, she was still bubbly, still energetic, just less so. She seemed more like Cup Cake now, but more energized. The little filly drained Pinkie on a regular basis, but she loved her too much to care about that. She still made parties even with Citrine along, and the little darling enjoyed the parties too, bouncing to the music, and cooing at guests.

“Blitz. Sit.” The Twins ordered, making Blitz instantly comply. Blitz may have been a ham, but he was a Knight of Equestria now, and it wasn't just in name. His honor demanded he follow those he was loyal to, and since the Twins were his superiors, that effectively made him one of their soldiers. “This behavior is completely unbecoming of a Knight of Equestria. You should not be hamming up your heroics. They are expected of you anyway as a Knight of the Realm.”

“Sorry sirs....” Blitz blushed and scratched his neck in shame and embarrassment. “I got carried away.”

“Duh!” Gilda stated spitefully. “If anything; I should have been the one hamming it up. I'm not the knight here.”

“Sorry babe. Seapony?” Blitz asked apologetically and hopefully, and Gilda blushed at his offer.

“Really?” Seapony was a position in the pony-sutra, one that involved both participants to be facing each other, with their heads facing the same direction. Gilda absolutely loved it, but Blitz wasn't a fan of it.

“Yeah. I'll even let you be on top.” Blitz didn't like being submissive, neither did Gilda. It made for a more competitive experience though.

“You're forgiven!” Gilda's feathers fluffed up in excitement for the night, before she pecked Blitz on the nose gently, getting him to smile at having gotten out of trouble and pleasing his mate at the same time.

“Still...this does give me an idea....” Rarity injected into the conversation, she looked sideways to Spike, who blinked and then beamed.

“Really?” Spike's wings flared out, and he hugged Rarity to his side with his left wing, getting a delighted squeak from her. “You're the greatest! Everyone, hear Rares out.”

“What if we actually actively practiced being knights? Sure, we help our community, even govern it now, but Blitz's heroics has got me thinking more seriously on us perhaps actually being active protectors of the town and country, and not just being on-call.” Rarity summoned a sketchbook from her hammerspace, and showed a very stylish wide-brimmed hat, mask, cape, and bodysuit wearing pony, all varying shades of purple. “Even become superheroes! I call this identity; Mare-Do-Well!”

This made everyone...blink. They were drawing blanks. “Um...Rarity...we're already Heroes, we don't need to be “super” Heroes.” Blitz pointed out. “Besides; that kind of get-up is only for superheroes who want to hide their identity, and we don't need to do that. It does look pretty cool though.” Blitz stated as he took a closer look at the drawing.

“Aw....” Spike wilted as he groaned, and Rarity sighed while patting him on the chest.

“There, there dear. At least we tried. Oh well, I suppose it will simply have to be set for a comic the Crusaders were brainstorming for. They asked for a character to base it on, and I feel that Mare-Do-Well will be all that and more.” Rarity then flipped a page to a series of concepts for combat armor. “How about this then? We're knights; we should be prepared as knights.”

“Well we have Gurren Lagann, so don't bother with us.” The Twins waved off, only to look over some of the concepts, and see a pattern. “Wait...they all have-.”

“Similar base designs to Gurren, yes. We want to maximize our combat potential should something like Discordant comes along again.” Rarity explained, and then focused on Twilight. “Twilight, dear; I hope you'll help me if we're all in favor of this.”

“Of course! I love metalworking! It's become a bit of a new passion for me. My flames caressing the hard metal, softening it, making it bend....” Twilight seemed to drift off into wonderland, like when she did at thoughts of enormous books, powerful spells, or an especially raunchy fantasy of one of her loves. “Oh~ the curve for Trixie's flanks...the reinforced leggings Applejack would need, the lightweight design I'd have to carefully tease out of my materials for Fluttershy....”

“Eep....” Fluttershy squeaked at the thought of being in such a battle, let alone even wearing something like the armor her friends were describing.

“Armor for us as well? But we are not knights, what plans have you to tell?” Zecora asked Twilight from her place next to Trixie at the end of the table. Both were enjoying tea and crumpets rather than any of the fatty treats on the table. They both said they were watching their figures, even if the Twins said they wouldn't care if they gained a little chub, just gave them more to squeeze. They promptly smacked their respective primary lover, and threatened abstinence. That got them some begging and pleading in return.

“You're both just as good as us at fighting, better in Fluttershy's case. And we know you don't like being on the sidelines.” Twilight then turned to Gilda. “You too Gilda. We all know you don't like waiting at home for Blitz to come back.”

“Damn right....” Gilda sulked as she leaned into Blitz, who nuzzled her comfortingly. “It's so hard waiting...not knowing....”

“All in favor.” The Twins called, and raised a talon each. Everyone save Fluttershy raised their own forelegs in approval, making Fluttershy squeak again at being completely dragged along. “Then it's settled. Rarity, Twilight; we decree that your plans to produce armor for our order of knights is to be carried out. We shall provide anything that you ask for this task.”

“Well hold on here. My darlin' Fluttershy is clearly not fine with these plans. Can't she be excluded?” Mac injected on the part of his marefriend, who looked to him thankfully for his speaking up for her, especially since he's even quieter than her at times.

“Afraid not. She as a key member of our group. Fluttershy.” The Twins focused entirely on her, making her hide behind her mane, and lean into Mac for comfort at being put on the spot. “Do not belittle your skills, or your importance. Your Kindness is an example that others should follow, and as such you have a place among us. You do not have to fight if you do not wish to, but your support is valued. What's more; Big Macintosh is to be your sword and shield should you choose to join us in our ventures. Is this fine with you?”

“U-um...I....” Fluttershy looked to Mac, who looked into her eyes for but a second, before he snorted and turned to the group.

“Eeyup.” Mac got a gentle nuzzle from Fluttershy for him helping her again, and he smiled softly at his mare's appreciation of him just being there for her.

“I'll be focusing on making your armor have catalysts for healing magic Fluttershy, so you can help us by healing us.” Twilight informed. She'd been learning from Zecora how all beings could use magic, just differently. She'd have to get the attunement elements from somewhere however, and she wasn't looking forward to somehow getting her hooves on unicorn horns.

“Is there anything else?” The Twins asked the group as a whole, who all looked to each other, and shook their heads. “Then this court session is adjourned...wait...we just held court....” The princes blinked, and sighed. “We just held court...with our knights....”

“Whoa! Bros! You're like; King Haythur!” Spike beamed as his elder brothers groaned.

“But we asked you all here to tell you something personal, not to address you as knights.” They then glared at Blitz. “Thanks Blitz.”

“What? What'd I do?” Blitz asked indignantly, already having forgot about his obnoxious showboating, and got flicked on the nose by Gilda. “Ow.”

“We'll talk later. What's up dudes?” Gilda asked after promising the reprimand to her lover later.

“Zecora, remember that romp we had yesterday?” Animak suddenly asked, getting the zebra to blush at it being spoken of in public.

“Y-yes...what of it?” The exotic mare asked curiously.

“I felt it...ALL of it. Sitting in front of the mayor....” Kamina added in embarrassment. “I...even...y'know...came.” This got everyone to gawk in shock, and the brothers were both suitably ashamed.

“We...our connection is getting stronger. We don't know what this means, but we feel what the other feels, and if we focus, we can even taste, see, smell, and hear what the other hears.” To demonstrate, they focused on seeing what the other saw, and everyone watched as the other's respective left eye turned the other's eye color. “Right now we're sharing each other's vision.” They looked opposite direction, and they looked a little dazed. “Ugh...you can guess that it's disorienting.”

“This...this isn't good.” Twilight spoke up, getting everyone's attention. “You're fusing together spiritually and mentally. You're only a step away from being a single hippogriff again.”

“We were afraid of that. But, we have a solution if that's the case. We'll be heading to Canterlot for a while to see to it.” They then started grabbing food and setting plates. “Well, enough business. Let's eat everyone.”

They began to casually eat their treats and meals, gathered together as friends rather than Elements or Knights for the first time in a while.

Author's Notes:

Yes, mostly all exposition, and just a progression chapter over all. This is one of those "yawn" chapters for us action lovers, but things need to be set up properly.

Sorry though, for any of you who wanted the Twins to end up jumping the gender fence to be Mare-Do-Well to teach Blitz a lesson. Only issue is, by law; as a Knight, he is supposed to heed the commands of the royalty, and his Loyalty won't let him betray this. So it was simple for the Twins to get him to settle down, but as you saw with Gilda; he can still forget his own faults shortly after without them being drilled into him.