Twelve

"Royal student Twilight Sparkle." the guard announced as the group entered the throne room. "And friends."

Rarity had to make an effort not to correct the guard. After all this time and all the times that they had saved Equestria, one would think that they would announce each of the bearers by name, instead of just...Twilight and company.

"Maybe I shall think twice before doing your job for you..." Rarity thought.

"My dear student." Celestia descended from her throne. "How wonderful it is to see you."

"It is wonderful to see you too princess." Twilight walked into the embrace of her mentor. The five zodiac stood, unsure as to what do, but a small sign from Rarity made them bow.

"So this are the zodiacs that I've heard so much about." Celestia smiled, making a sing as to allow the ponies to rise. "I thought you said they were twelve."

"They are. The rest are back in Ponyville." Rarity said.

"Why didn't you bring all of them? I would have loved to meet them." Celestia said.

"Things have been…hectic, with all of them around." Twilight answered.

A small throat clearing brought the attention of the ruler of Equestria back to the main topic of the meeting.

"I think it would be best if we introduce ourselves, don't you think?" Capricorn said. Rarity was about to correct him on taking like that to the ruler of Equestria, but the princess merely chuckled.

"Alright. Please proceed."

"My name is Leo, and I am the leader of the zodiacs." Leo said, taking a step forward. "These are Virgo, Libra, Aries and Capricorn."

"It is an honor to meet the mentor of the pony who is housing our dear sister." Virgo said. Celestia nodded in acknowledgment.

"Its getting stuffy with this thing on. Can I take it off now?" Aries said. Before any pony could say anything, the sweater had disappeared in a flash of golden light, leaving Aries completely bare of clothes.

"Wow…I feel so naked now."

"I've never seen such horns grow on a pony before. I take it those are natural in your place of origin?"

"If he tan take the sweater off…" Capricorn focused for a few seconds. His two large horns grew once more on his head. "Its only fair that I can do this."

"Interesting." Celestia said. Twilight however, was quite mortified. This wasn't supposed to happen yet. She was supposed to explain to the princess first before they demonstrated their powers!

Was a little patience and coordination too much to ask?

"Do there rest of you posses the same abilities?" Celestia asked.

Apparently it was too much to ask.

"Well, not exactly the same powers, but we all have a particular way of manifesting our cosmic abilities." Capricorn explained. "I can alter my shape for example."

"I see. Fascinating." Celestia noted, letting the scientist inside of her flourish for a while. "What other things are you capable off?"

"Wait!" Twilight walked between the princess and the zodiacs. "Can we please have some sort of organization?!"

"Whats wrong Twilight? You seem to be quite on edge." Celestia noted. Twilight could almost feel her eye starting to twitch, but she suppressed it with a deep breath.

"You have no idea."

While all this happened, Rarity looked around the royal throne room. A couple of guards were at the door. Other than them, they were completely alone on the room.

"I thought Princess Luna was going to join us." she noted.

"Luna tried to come, but she was too tired. She was very busy let night." Celestia answered. "Something about the stars not looking right."

"You have a sister?" Libra asked. "I thought the country was ruled by you only."

"Its a long story." Twilight answered. "Now, can we please put some order around?"

"If you so wish my dear student." Celestia laughed briefly. "How about we meet later, in a more orderly fashion once my sister is awake. That is, if you are willing to wait for a few hours."

"That would be no problem." Leo said. "But what should we do until then?"

"You are free to wander around the castle or Canterlot as you may see fit." Celestia answered. "I do ask however, that you have some pony accompany you. You wouldn't want to get lost now would you?"

The five zodiacs gave each other a short glance before nodding. Virgo noticed that Libra was bit shaky on her feet, but did not comment on it.

"We accept the terms." Leo said. Celestia smiled. Looking outside, she noticed that the sun was a bit passed the middle of the day.

"Oh dear. Its lunch time already." she looked over to the royal guards at the door. "Would be so kind as to escort our guests to the dinning room?"

The guards nodded and opened the doors. The five zodiacs, followed by Rarity and Twilight exited the throne room.

"Twilight." the princess called. "May I speak to you?"

Twilight made a sign for the rest to continue forward while she returned to the throne room. Leo stopped, eyeing the doors once they closed behind Twilight.

"She is not in trouble because of us, is she?" she asked.

"Don't worry dear. The princess probably just wants to check some facts with her."

Twilight took a deep breath once the doors closed behind her. No matter how many times the princess had said that she wasn't angry, Twilight couldn't help but to et worried.

"Now that we are alone." Celestia said. "Can you tell me more about this zodiacs? Anything I need to know right now?"

"I'm afraid there isn't much I can tell you princess. I've barely had any time to find out things myself."

"And why is that?" Celestia asked.

Twilight thought about mentioning all the misfortunes that had happened since the twelve aliens arrived, but decided against it. She didn't want to worry the princess.

"Its just a lot of stuff going on at the same time….but there is nothing to worry about. I promise." Twilight said confidently.

"Thats alright Twilight, I believe you." She started walking towards the door. "Now, I believe we have a delicious salad waiting for us at the table."

"Right….a salad…" she murmured as she followed her mentor. "Wait a minute…"

At that moment, a loud crashing sound reached their ears. Mentor and student shared a worried look before hurrying to the dinning room. A couple of trays were on the floor, along with many broken plates. Salad was scattered everywhere, particularly around Leo.

"What is going on?" Celestia asked.

"T-t-they, uh, they are…" a terrified maid stammered while she hugged another of her coworkers for dear life. Rarity had an appalled look on her face. The zodiacs however, where between somewhere between confused and, in the case of Leo, annoyance.

"Why does everyone have the same reaction?!" she asked out loud. "I only asked for a steak!"