After dinner, the Twins excused themselves, and were going to head home when they realized they forgot to visit Charity. She wasn't expecting them, so they weren't going to pop up in the middle of the night. They used their dragonfire to contact Twilight, and she wrote back that the whole group was staying in Canterlot a few days, so it was no problem for the Twins to visit Charity tomorrow.

When they did, they discovered the several month-old twins Iron Bell and Bronze Bell to be in astounding health for their age, and displayed incredible strength too, similar to earth ponies rather than unicorns. Charity was all too happy to introduce them to her husband Stage Hoof, who was one of the veteran stage hooves in the city. Like the ultimate roadie, but without the travel, usually. He was a pinto unicorn pony with Iron and Bronze's colors even blended between his coat and hair.

After that, it was a simple couple of visits with everypony else important in the two's lives outside their usual tight-knit group. Blue was glad to have some nice talks over tea, but shied away from contact, but that wasn't unusual. Tia was rather cranky, having eaten so much cake she was bloated and nauseous, but she was otherwise happy to talk to her children. Luna was all too glad to play with her kin, and Nyx was obliged to join in with Pip who was visiting, again, for the third day in a row.

However, the most eventful outings, at least to Animak, were with Scoddri, who felt it was time to take on a bit of a mentor role, and speak with them about Spiral Power, or more specifically, the intricacies of how to use the raw force to specific designs. So now Animak and Kamina both decided to correspond with Scoddri too in order to learn more of the power that drives them ever forward.

Lastly, the time spent with Cadence and Shining was...strained. Kamina just seemed all over Cadence, too happy to speak with her, laugh with her, whisper likely raunchy things about their respective love lives to each other. While Animak and Shining sat to the side, feeling like third and fourth wheels. Animak just pulled inward, feeling even more lonely than ever, and was starting to hate Cadence for stealing his sister's love from him...Love? Where did that thought come from?

Animak left early, and flew to Ponyville alone to continue his cathartic hobby of tunneling under the town. He was building a network grid of stable tunnels a couple stories below ground level in order to give a sort of “shortcut” system to get around the growing town. It was just tunnels right now, but he hoped someday an architect saw promise in them and took advantage for a proper transit system of sorts.

When Kamina finally found him, she asked why he ditched her, only for him to snub her, and tell her to leave him be. After the most heated argument, and violent fight the two had ever had, Kamina left weeping, while Animak just stewed in self-loathing, wondering what was happening to them. Because he wanted to talk to her, but when he saw her...he couldn't.

Since they refused to speak to each other, or even be in contact, everyone noticed. They all tried to ask, only for Kamina to say she didn't know, and that Animak was being an ass, while Animak told them to ask Kamina, because she was the one who hurt him first.

It was a rough month, a centerpiece of the group was broken, and they refused to be glued back together.

===//////>

Animak woke wearily with a groan as he curled around the rock he was using for a bed. Believe it or not, rocks can be soft, you just have to find the right kind. He dragged himself away from his soft and warm rock to look at his current home. He made a hole for himself, since he didn't want Kamina to find him again so easily. The irony, he broke free from Jeeha Village, a literal hole in the ground for freedom, and now he sought out his own hole to hide from his own sister...his other half, of himself.

It was just a simple thing, only as large as a standard living room with the furniture carved from stone and the exit being a hole leading straight up, the entrance hidden in thick bushes, making this in no way a place for a pony, or a human for that matter, since with his claws he could just climb right out.

He'd moved out of the library since he couldn't bear being near Kamina. Simply looking at her made his eyes hurt, hearing her voice made his ears ring, and a touch felt like being burned. He was scared. It was like she was the sun, and he couldn't dare touch her without paying the price. His instincts screamed at him that she was dangerous, and he had to listen.

“Ugh...good morning hole.” He lazily dragged his filthy form over to the stone table, and promptly breathed fire on the dead cockatrice he'd hunted yesterday. It'd already started rotting, but epic digestion resilience and dragonfire cooking really made that pointless, plus his carnivore templates made even raw meat a perfectly fine and very tasty thing to eat. 'I wonder what statues standing about are suddenly moving again.' Animak pondered as he chewed his meal.

“Hi Ani!” Animak didn't even flinch at the sudden appearance and voice of Pinkie. It annoyed him, but she was always able to find him, no matter how many holes he hid in. “Pee-yew! You stink!”

“When you're living in holes, it tends to happen. What do ya want Pinkie? And no, I'm not speaking to that careless sister of mine.” Animak kept chewing his bloody meal, Pinkie didn't even flinch.

“Don't you know what today is?” She asked eagerly, only for Animak to blink in confusion. “It's the first Friday of September!”

“...Oh...right...the wedding....” Animak grumbled, he had no excuse to avoid it and not be near his sister. “I'll clean up and fly on ahead then.”

“Okie-dokie-lokie! I'll just tell everyone you're taking the long way while we all teleport.” Pinkie shrugged off, and Animak sighed.

“Fine! I'll get cleaned up, and meet up with you at the library. I'm still not talking to my sister.” Animak finished eating, not bothering to wonder how Pinkie got out of the hole home. “Time for a quick shower.”

Animak leaped up to the top of the ceiling at the entrance, and climbed up the last several feet to fresh air. There was a nice little waterfall near Shy's place that wasn't too far from this location, so Animak flew to it and enjoyed a nice brisk wash, the dirt and dust running out of his fur in a tantalizing display as he rubbed it out of his plumage. His observers, if any, all were enamored with his sinuous muscles being displayed by the wet fur.

“Oh my....” The quiet, almost imperceptible voice could barely be heard over the falling water to Animak's ears, but he grinned and kept washing as the audience he knew he had was likely hiding to enjoy the show. He heard a squeak as he got to his flanks, and kneaded his talons into his thighs to get the stubborn dirt out, and almost barked out in laughter at seeing a flash of yellow spring from one of the bushes, yet ignored it long enough for the failed spy to force her wing back in and think she got off Scot-free.

“Hey Shy, enjoying the show?” Animak called out calmly, getting a shocked squeak to come from the hiding mare, and for her to bashfully emerge with a flushed face and erect wings.

“Y-yes...I'm sorry. You know how attractive you and your sister are, and when I saw you using the nearby waterfall....” Shy looked to the ground and kicked a forehoof as Animak finished cleaning up, and got out of the waterfall to shake himself off. He'd air dry in flight to the library.

“No apologies needed Shy, I understand. Unlike Kamina, I won't tease the hell out of you for it. Just don't tell Mac you were ogling me and I won't tell either. So...ready for the wedding?” Animak asked as he took to the air, and Shy suddenly perked up to fly along with him to town.

“Oh my, yes. I'm so honored to be playing my songbird choir for the ceremony. I don't know why Celestia told Twilight to bring our armor though.” Shy commented in confusion, and Animak faltered in the air for only a moment before righting himself.

“What? You mean the combat armor Twilight and Rarity have made for everyone? What could...uh oh....” Animak's question answered itself when he looked to Canterlot in the distance, and saw a familiar massive pink barrier literally covering the entire city, top to bottom in a sphere that even extended under the jutting cliff the city was built on. "Invasion...."

Animak's breathy word of terror made Shy gasp and put her hooves to her mouth. “Oh no, this is awful. And on the wedding?”

“They're likely using the wedding as an advantageous bonus for attacking. Pretty much ALL of the ruling noble houses, as well as the entirety of the royal family will be in attendance. Perfect time to kill the nation in one fell swoop.” 'My frustration and loathing for my sister is pointless in this situation, we must stand together.' “I need to speak to Kamina.”

===//////>

Animak paused at the door to the library, his claw on the handle. He couldn't move forward. 'Damn it...DAMN IT! Will of Self! Are you so fickle?!' The very thought of Will of Self sent a spike of pain through Animak's skull, making him hiss.

“Animak, are you alright?” Shy asked worriedly. She had her whole songbird choir with her, all flitting about and resting on her, who all also looked at him in concern.

“No Shy...I'm...WE, are not.” Animak sniffed as he tried to rein in the emotional and phantom pains stabbing through him. “But we have to try and muscle through.” He forced the door open, ignoring the crack it made on the frame as everyone, and that meant everyone in their group of friends and spouses, all looked to see him enter with Fluttershy. “Kam, bedroom, talk, now.” Animak ignored anything they said, including Kamina's protests as he quickly stormed up the stairs to their formerly shared room, and he paced around for a few minutes until Kamina finally decided to burst into the room in a huff, and slam the door.

“Okay asshole, what?” She demanded with scorn, only to lose her edge at seeing her brother wince and reel as if struck and hold his ear. “What's wrong?”

“I don't know okay! Just please be quiet, don't speak, don't make me look at you, and especially do not touch me.” Animak panted as he tried to ignore the pain her presence literally caused. “Look. Something's happened to you. I can't hear you without it hurting my ears, can't look at you without hurting my eyes, and can't touch you without feeling like I'm being burned alive. I can't do much around you, yet you're seemingly just fine. Please, get checked by physicians later, but that isn't important at the moment. What IS, is that obviously, a threat has been made on our family....”

Kamina frowned, she knew something was making her brother hate her, but that she was actually harming him from proximity? That was...bad. Very bad. 'What could have-?' Suddenly Kamina couldn't think, and she blinked in confusion, having forgot what she was thinking. “Right...right yes. We have to protect them.” She winced when she saw Animak clutch his ears and hiss. 'Okay, no talking.'

Kamina knocked on the floor twice, and then left calmly down the stairs as Animak sighed in relief at her leaving. 'Okay, that's settled. Let's get going then.'

===//////>

The huge group appeared in a blinding flash of multicolored light due to the number of sources of magic used by the caster, and absolutely everyone appeared in the castle courtroom, where they were told to focus the arrival. Each was fully decked out in their own personal suit of special armor based on the Gurren and Lagann.

Kamina was in Gurren and Animak in Lagann. They were easily distinguished by their massive sizes, and could be told apart despite the same colors due to the more angular nature of Kamina's armor, which even with more curves due to her female body seemed even more wily, while Animak's beefy smooth shape cut an intimidating figure. They stood out since their armor was angular in design, while the others were all smooth and form-fitting with the armor colored to match their coats because they fully covered them entirely.

While Spike was of similar size, his purple armor matched his scales, and since he could use the same power as his older siblings, was one with the armor. So his wings were made of moving wings with metallic membranes, the spade of his tail was a sharpened axe-like spear, and his helm had a working mouth that exposed his raw Spiral Power when he spoke and his eyes like his siblings glowed through the empty helm in the same eerie green. His horns, needless to say, were unchanged in the armor save they also had working drills that amplified Spiral Power output.

Gilda's armor was a sandy tan with a pronounced sharp beak at the front of her helm to be used as an extra weapon, flexible metal braced her wings and tail, while her talons had claw-like knives.

Twilight's armor was purple, and had a draconic design, having a roaring dragon head design for the helm, and thin seams running from the helm down to her plot, where her billowing fiery orange hair flowed out and waved about like fire in a gentle breeze in slow motion, beings she was in her Shift. She was also one with her armor, having practiced using Spiral Power, so her eyes and mouth had the green glow.

Trixie's was pale blue, and simple in design with no real distinction aside from the holes along the top running from her brow to her flanks, where icicle spines sprouted, and frost coated her whole body, which cracked, flaked, and fell in diamond dust whenever she moved. She too had Spiral Power, fused to the armor, yet her helm only had eyes, no mouth, making her seem faceless.

Rarity had yet to properly use Spiral Power, so she wasn't fused like her other unicorn friends or her beloved, yet she was still fully armored in a gloriously eye-catching glossy white armor that while simple and unadorned, really caught the eye with just how well it covered her shapely form, yet was obviously very flexible in the sectioned plating.

Pinkie Pie's pink armor was also simple, only it had a manic grin engraved into the mouth section of the helm that was unnerving to see, and she seemed to jitter and shake even more than usual. On her back however, was a soft brown saddle with carrying bags, one bag held an obscene number of candy-shaped weaponry, the other seemed empty. Something about Pinkie needing it with her mane and tail covered in Undetectable Extension Charmed armor.

Applejack's golden orange armor was the simplest and slightly bulky, with bracing reinforcing all her legs to make her kicks even more lethal.

Big Mac's red armor was the bulkiest, as he seemed more like a moving bulwark than an armored soldier. He had the thickest armor plating, his peytral seeming a shield on his broad chest, yet it was designed to be mobile enough that he could move normally in spite of the tremendous weight. The purpose of his armor's heavy design was to be a counter for his lover's lack of protection.

Fluttershy's yellow armor was the lightest, and while still covering all of her, practically seemed to be a metallic skinsuit with thin plating. Her wings and hooves had glowing pink gems inlaid into them that channeled a general healing spell when magic was cast into them.

Blitz had similar cyan armor so he'd have the best protection possible whilst not sacrificing any of his agility and speed. However he had wingblades, which were only used by assault squadrons of pegasi due to how lethal the weapons were, and due to the shape of his thestral wings, the curve of the blades meant they'd cut even deeper and smoother. Unlike Fluttershy's helm though, his had a moving mouth with it's own teeth to add his own carnivorous teeth to battle.

Zecora's armor was like Pinkie's, only instead of a manic smile engraved on the faceplate, hers was striped black and white like her, and her saddle was loaded with all kinds of potions, poisons, and other chemicals.

They were all posed regally with left foreleg raised, as Pinkie demanded they be, with Kamina and Animak on either end of the knights numbering 13 strong with Twilight and her friends at the middle of the group, with the others between them and the Twins, and together stated. “The Knights of Equestria answer the call! May our nation's enemies fall!”

Celestia, Luna, Nyx, Scoddri, Shining and Cadence, who were all waiting at the thrones, gaped in awe at the assembled warriors before them.

“Sorry! Pinkie wouldn't let it go and we decided to humor her.” Twilight answered as she stepped forwards, the others aside from the Twins stayed back, yet the siblings remained stoic and facing forwards, refusing to turn to each other.

“Well Twilight, I must say that you lot together like this all cut quite the...intimidating appearance.” Cadence commented with a nervous chuckle.

“Oh Cadence, don't be nervous. We're here to make sure your wedding to my BBBFF goes down without a hitch! Where do you all need us?” Twilight asked as the letter was brisk, and only asked for them to come as soon as possible with their armor.

“Oh, yes, sorry for being so abrupt in my letter, but things are moving rather fast.” Celestia apologized and looked to her little ponies, Gilda, and her sons with seriousness. “I'm afraid I might have been a bit rushed in sending the letter, but I'll dictate what we need isn't all about increasing our security.”

“Yes, I shall be tending to the battlements myself, so there is little need to worry there.” Luna informed them as she rubbed Nyx's spines with a hoof. “My little night here wishes to see how to properly garrison a city's defenses, so she'll be joining me where I can keep an eye on her.”

“I can take care of myself....” Nyx pouted, only to wilt under her mother's imperious gaze that brooked no argument. “Yes mom, I'll behave.”

“I'm mostly helping with the décor and taking some of the pressure off of Game Junkie. He's running himself ragged with how much he's trying to do on his own for a royal wedding. Pinkie will be joining us to help it go smoother.” Scoddri informed as he suddenly teleported next to the pink armored mare, and hugged her neck with a foreleg whilst gesturing into the air with the other. “Imagine! Cherry milk fountains! Strategic chocolate rain showers! Dishes that CLEAN THEMSELVES!”

“IT BEGINS~!” Pinkie squealed in joy as she and Scoddri galloped out of the courtroom in eager joy, making the others all either nervous, or excited, or in some cases; nervouscited.

“As I was saying....” Celestia stated patiently. “Rarity, you'll be in charge of making sure all the dresses are to Cadence's specifications.”

“Oh! Lovely! Um...do I have to take off the armor? It is simply fabulous.” Rarity asked Cadence with her slightly muffled voice.

“Not really, but won't it get uncomfortable?” Cadence asked curiously, only for Rarity to titter.

“Not at all! I designed the fit myself. Twilight may have hammered out the pieces, but I was the one to measure and mold each piece to form as she softened and shaped. We make wondrous smiths together. I could wear this for who knows how long before it becomes unbearable.” Rarity boasted, and Cadence smiled.

“I'm fine with it, but I'd be more comfortable with your helmet off.” Cadence stated, before she turned to Kamina. “Coming Kamina? We have to get your dress prepared too.”

Kamina looked to her brother, who looked away, and she sighed. “Yes. I'll come get dolled up...can I wear a circlet?” Kamina asked as she left with Cadence and Rarity.

“As for the rest of you....” Celestia continued once again. “Blitz, I want you to perform a Sonic Rainboom the moment the couple says I do, so that there's a glorious and beautiful explosion when they kiss.” Celestia smirked, getting the armored stallion to pump a hoof and woop. “Applejack is in charge of the catering.” AJ bowed, and quickly trotted off to the kitchens to get started, her brother joining her. “Fluttershy, I see you brought your own choir.”

“Oh yes, I felt they would perform better since I've had a lot of practice with them.” Fluttershy informed as her feathered friends all chirped musically in joy at her praise.

“That's lovely. A performance stand has been set up in the hall the wedding is going to be.” Fluttershy bowed and then flew along with her little friends to find the hall to practice. “As for you Twilight, you're in charge of making sure everything goes according to plan.”

“I won't let you down Princess! Spike!” Twilight instinctively called, only to shake herself at Spike's confused blinking. “Uh, right-.”

“Ahem!” Trixie briskly reminded her love of her existence, and levitated a scroll from her hammerspace.

“Thank you Trixie. Let's get started.” The two Shifters briskly trotted out, not bothering to even change out of armor, or note that their intimidating forms caused even the guards to shuffle away slightly as they passed.

“Finally, there's you my sons.” Celestia brought the remaining group to her attention. “Spike, you're the ring-bearer.” Spike saluted jokingly, getting her to giggle. “Lastly, for you Animak...we need to talk.”

“I can't interact with Kamina without feeling like I'm dying mom. It's as simple as that. We don't know what's causing it, but it's been since we last visited.” Animak dully informed them all, getting a sigh out of Celestia.

“Then it is her fault. The only thing I can think of that could cause this is that Kamina's rejected you as her Will of Self.” Simply stating this made Animak screech in agony as he fell over, and Spike quickly jumped to his side to help him up, and the royal sisters and Shining looked on sadly. “Has her behavior been odd lately?”

“She's been much more girly, she's been much more forceful...actually, she's like a total female version of the original Kamina, before he split into Kam and Ani here.” Gilda informed as she finally drew attention to herself. “She's been chatting me up a lot, something that they usually only did to hang out, but she seemed...off.”

“Desperate?” Blitz asked rhetorically. “Yeah, I've been getting that vibe. Like she's starving for attention. I thought it was just because she and Ani fell out. But if she's got her own Will of Self now....”

“Then that is why she is hurting Animak.” Luna growled, looking down the hall her niece followed the bride through. “How did she come about it? You said when you were all visiting last month. When did you first notice it?”

Animak hissed as he leaned into his little brother, feeling drained at the realization dawned upon him. “When...when Cadence asked her to be her bridesmaid.” Animak answered briskly. “She started drifting from me then, getting worse and worse since. Don't be too upset with her like I was, since when I finally confronted her earlier, she seemed confused if anything.”

“Very well. This may or may not also be the work of the anonymous terrorist who threatened Canterlot. We'll see to it that today goes well, and then clear up this issue with Kamina. Just rest and be alert son.” Celestia stated before she kissed her bio-mechanical son's cheek. “Help him to a room Spike, we'll get everything ready.”

“On it ma.” Spike grinned as he helped lead Animak out.

After all the royals were gone, and the knights fully dispersed, one of the guards who paid witness to the proceedings grit his teeth, and promptly announced to his companion he had to cover another area. When he got to the servant's quarters, he knocked in a rhythm on the door, and it cracked open. “Code Bumblebee.”

“Damn...we'll have to be extra careful.”

Author's Notes:

Uhhhhhh...zombie...must...work.... *drags feet as works soul-crushing retail job for seventh night straight.*