Twelve

Spike chomped on his ruby. It was tasty, sweet and felt like strawberry. What better way to relax the nerves than a nice rocky treat. Too bad the others couldn't eat diamonds. They would love it.

"IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD! MAH' FAMILY IS IN DANGER!"

"ALIENS ARE COMING! DARING DO WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"I'M SCREAMING BECAUSE EVERYPONY IS SCREAMING!"

Spike chomped on his ruby. It was tasty, sweet and felt like strawberry. Yep. There was no better way to calm the nerves.

"This is it. Are you sure they are coming?" Twilight asked as installed the telescope. The last rays of the sun were disappearing over the horizon. A few stars could already bee seen on the sky. Were they actual stars or not was anypony's guess.

"Yes. They will be arriving soon. The signal had already been sent by the time the dragon noticed it." Leo answered.

"Are they, uhm, nice zodiacs?" Fluttershy whispered, the memory of the brawl still fresh. Leo didn't answer. So far, interactions with Fluttershy had been...less than perfect.

"How exciting! Life from beyond the stars. I wonder if they will be into the beauty of the universe. I could show them what we call fashion here in Equestria." Rarity commented.

"I don't think fashion is on the top of their lists Rarity..." Twilight said as she adjusted the telescope.

"Why not? They have been traveling for Celestia knows how long. If I were to meet a new race on a foreign land, I would do my best effort to look as dazzling as possible. First impression do matter after all."

"Why would fashion even be on their lists?j"

"Why wouldn't it?"

Twilight decided it would be pointless to continue. Her mind was more focused on the matter at hand and what Leo had told her yesterday. Eleven siblings. All of them with different skills and powers. How would they behave? Would be friendly? Would they be violent? Would Leo stop them if they tried anything? Would she join them? Leo had refused to comment on that point, arguing that her opinion wouldn't be fair to the reality. What was that supposed to mean?

"Our only option is to roll the dice and hope for the best..." Twilight thought. Their only real defense would be the letter he had Spike write and send in case of emergency, and the hope for that the princess could stop them.

The screaming of her friends didn't help at all.

"Girls..." Twilight said. The shrieking didn't stop.

"Girls." Twilight repeated louder.

"GIRLS!"

Even Leo was stunned when she heard the roar. Who knew Fluttershy had such a voice?

"Please...be calm." she squeaked. All shock in Leo evaporated. Everypony sat down on the blanket that Spike had brought. Pinkie had, once again, brought cupcakes. Leo had tasted the pastry, only to spit it out, much to the pink mare's horror. It was like eating clay. Further attempts to eat anything she prepared were met with similar results.

"We're not gonna have to worry about the sky fallin' on top of our heads right?" Applejack asked as the lasts rays of the sun disappeared.

"Absolutely not. They are...better are it than me..." Leo muttered.

Hours passed with no sign of activity. Applejack yawned while Rainbow Dash napped, using Rarity as a pillow. The rest weren't faring much better in the battle against sleep.

"I don't want to sound rude but, are you sure they are coming?" Rarity asked while pushing Rainbow's head from her.

"The scouting light only activates when the rest of the ships are nearby. They are close, of that I am certain." Leo answered. Meanwhile, Twilight continued to observe through the telescope, jotting down on a scroll every few minutes. Spike had fallen asleep besides her.

"Well, I hope you are, because I've looking around for a while and there's no sign of them..." Twilight replied. Leo didn't say anything.

A couple more hours passed. All but Twilight and Leo had fallen asleep. The shy was as peaceful as always, with sing of falling stars. Twilight was laying down on the blanket, reading a book, while Leo sat on the grass, staring at the sky. She hadn't said anything.

"Leo. I...don't want to ruin it but-"

"They will come." Leo said sternly.

"But we've been here for hours!" Twilight said.

"They will come. They have to come." Leo said. Twilight sighted. What was expected to be an amazing night was turning out be a total bust. It really sucked. She was expecting to-

"Look up!" Leo exclaimed.  Twilight looked up.

Lights were on the sky. Not stars. Lights. Growing lights. Moving lights! She was right! They were here! With a quick spell, all her friends rolled off the blanket, waking up in the process.

"Hey Twi', Ah' know you're excited and all but-"

"They're here! Look!" Twilight said pointing a hoof to the sky, showing her friends the spectacle. Indeed, bright lights were descending upon them fast. Really fast. As in I'm-a-flatterer-and-not-in-the-good-way fast.

"Uh, Twilight?" Rainbow said. The lights were almost upon them.

"Twilight.." Applejack said. Almost there.

"Twilight!" Spike said before pushing her out of the way. A single ship landed right where she stood, all but squashing the telescope.

"Hey! I bought that three days ago!" Twilight shouted.

"They are attacking us! It's an invasion! RUN FOR THE HILLS!" Pinkie screamed.

Another ship fell, this time besides Applejack, who had to be pulled away by Rainbow before it tumbled upon her. Two more fell a few feet away. Another five fell besides Leo, who didn't even budge. A couple fell besides Pinkie Pie, who simply stared in amazement. Silence returned as all eleven ships stopped moving, smoke coming from them.

"You said they would't squash us like a bug!" Applejack shouted.

"I said they were better than me, not that they were perfect." Leo replied.

The first pod's door fizzled and opened. Crawling out slowly, a blue stallion jumped out. He was pretty normal too. Except for his horn. Both of his horns. They were big! And they twirled around his head like a goat! His cutie mark was weird too. A single, sharply curved line.

"That...was not pleasant.." he said muttered as he rubbed his head.

"I almost thought you were not going to come." Leo said while Twilight walked besides her.

"Leo! What a pleasure! I cannot believe you arrived here first. Go you!" the stallion said as he brought her into a big hug.

"I-its alright! Let me go! Aries, let go!" Leo stammered as a scarlet blush covered her cheeks. The light of the moon provided an excellent light.

"Why would he let go of our little sister? Leo, you know he can't help it." A female voice said. A mare with a mane of the purest white walked near them. Her cyan color had a light green tone. Her cutie mark consisted of two wavy lines.

"And you are?" Dash asked rather brashly.

"My name is Aquarius, though you may call me Aqua." the mare answered.

"And who's this lady here?" Aries asked as he walked towards Rainbow.

"I'm Rainbow Dash, element of loyalty, future wonderbolt and best pony ever." Dash answered with a smirk.

"You have spice in you. I like that." Aries said cooly, prompting Dash to blush slightly.

"Stop wooing the natives and help me here Aries." another female voice said. Aries walked to one of the pods, pulling out a magenta colored hoof. Soon, a stern looking mare joined Aquarius. She was pretty normal looking. Her tail looked kinda funny though.

"Oh Scorpio, what would you do without me?" Aries said. Scorpio simply frowned. Slowly but surely, more and more zodiacs left their pods and joined their place in front of Leo. There were a couple of pegasus even! Most of them were pretty normal looking though.

Except three of them.

One of them was a huge red stallion. He was probably even bigger than Big Mac! His two horns reminded Fluttershy of Iron Will a lot. She would have said something if she wasn't too busy cowering behind Pinkie Pie.

"Wow, it's so shiny, even in the middle of the night!" a purple mare said. All the elements gaped at her. Specially at her hoofs. Her red hoofs. Hoofs that weren't hoofs, but pincers! How could she even walk with those?! She even had to sit besides Aries with her hoo-pincers raised.

The third exception was a mare, who, just like Aries, had to large horns that grew to the back. Her green tail was odd too. It was tied like Applejack's, but it was somehow split at the end. She didn't say anything as she joined the rest of her brothers and sisters. There was something odd in the way she walked.

"Where are the twins?" Leo asked.

"Here." A delicate voice said. A very elegantly dressed mare carried two little unicorn foals on her back. Rarity couldn't help but think back at Fleur-de-Lis. She was gorgeous! Actually, all of them were spotless in their appearance. Polished and clean, not single trail of dust or bruise was on them.

"Told they would be fashionable..." Rarity whispered to Twilight.

All of them stood there, right in front of Leo, who was at loss as to what to say. She shook her head before turning to Twilight.

"Well...here they are..." she said. Twilight couldn't close her mouth from the shock, her brain having stopped a while ago from the sheer excitement.

"In attendance: The Twelve Zodiacs." Leo finished.

Twelve zodiacs.

Twelve aliens.

Twelve sources of cosmic knowledge.

Twilight looked at them. Then at her friends. She took a deep breath...

And she fainted.