Twelve

Mr.Cake was a good stallion.

He loved his family, he worked hard and made sure to be full of integrity, honesty and patience. Whenever life got difficult, he thought of his wife and kids, both natural and adopted. The rest was easy. If there was anything that life of a cake cooker had taught him, it was that life was to short be sour. A sweet kiss in the morning and a warm shower and he was ready to face the day, no matter what it threw in his direction!

"Careful!"

"Got it!"

"Go sis!"

So when he entered the kitchen saw Pinkie juggling plates with another mare who had red pincers on her hooves, while two nearly identical foals giggled, he did what any rational, down to earth stallion would do.

He freaked out.

"Pinkie! The plates!" he shouted, already sweating from the sight.

"Hi Mr.Cake!"

"Hi native pony!"

More giggles.

The inevitable happened and a plate crashed, making Mr.Cake cringe, followed by another, and another. A fourth one was on the way down, but Cancer grabbed it with her pincers, but she pressed to hard and snapped the plate in half, both pieces crashing on the floor. Nopony said anything. Not even the twins were giggling anymore.

"I'll clean it up!" Pinkie said as she smiled nervously before snapping into action. Grabbing a broom, she started gathering the broken pieces. Cancer grabbed another broom and followed her new friend's example, only to snap the broom in three. The twins started giggling again.

"Gem! Minnie! Stop that!" Cancer said.

"Dear? Is there something wrong?"

"GOOD MORNING MRS.CAKE!" Pinkie shouted.

"GOOD MORNING NATIVE PONY WIFE!" Cancer shouted. The twins giggled before screaming in response, making the hole kitchen tremble. A free more plates rattled on their positions on the stands before falling as well. The entire kitchen floor soon became white all the broken plates. Nopony said anything for a while.

"I'll...clean it up?" Pinkie smiled sheepishly. The three extra ponies said nothing.

"Pinkie? Who are these?" Mr.Cake asked.

"This are, eh, new friends! And they needed a place to stay! So I brought them here." Pinkie answered.

"Brought who?...oh dear..." Mrs Cake muttered as she entered the kitchen and saw the mess. For one of the few times in her life, Pinkie didn't know what to say, or how to even begin explaining.

"Uhm...surprise?"

"Pinkie?" Can we talk to you?" Mrs.Cake said. Pinkie gulped as she followed the couple out of the kitchen, leaving the three zodiacs alone in the kitchen.

"I hope she's alright." Cancer said.

"She will." "We're sure of it." the twins said.

"How can you be sure?" she asked.

"Gut instinct." "Intuition."

Cancer tried to not think too much of her younger siblings odd answers. They were always cryptical when they felt in a good mood. Or when they wanted to mess with the world, which was amazingly often. Sometimes she wondered if they knew more than they actually let on.

"I should really start being mroe careful with this things..." she thought as she glared her pincers. Why couldn't equestrian things be more sturdy? she didn't have this problem back in Altarf!

"Eh, Cancer, was it?" Mr.Cake asked. The Cakes had returned to the kitchen, with Pinkie besides them.

"I think we have to talk." Mrs.Cake said, her tone sweet but stern.

This was going to be hard.

Meanwhile, high in the sky, two pegasus sat on a cloud couch. Both of them were sleepy. Both of them were tired. Rainbow Dash was not one of them. She was too busy asking questions to be tired. For once in her life, she had willingly  gotten up early. All just to start shooting questions and cheers left and right. Libra and Sagittarius had been flattered at first. Then they became slightly annoyed. Now they were just tired, even though it was barely ten in the morning!

"Oh what would Daring Do say?! Aliens! Here in my house! This is so awesome! It's almost as cool as winning the Young Flyers competition! Ever heard of the wonder bolts? I'm gonna be one!"

"And I thought the twins were hyperactive..." Libra said.

"Could be worse." Sagittarius replied.

"What was that?" Dash asked.

"Oh nothihg. You just remind remind of a couple of my siblings. They can get a bit hyperactive too."

"Really? Cool! Which one? The one with the stinger? No! The one with the horns! No no no! The one with the stinger! Scorpio right? Her!" Dash said excitedly.

"Actually...I meant one of my younger siblings...you know, the twins?"

Dash froze.

"The...foals?" she whispered.

"Well, not if you put that way..." Sagittarius replied. Libra placed a hoof on her forehead. This was not going to end well. It never did.

"You're comparing me to a kid?!" Dash shouted. Sag recoiled.

"No! I just thought you two were similar!"

"So you ARE comparing me!"

Screams and shout echoed from the cloud house as the two argued with each other. Libra simply stood and went for a glass of water. Sagittarius always managed to do this. Every time. Everywhere. It never failed.

"I just said something. You're not that childish!"

"I'm not childish at all!"

"Of course not! You're not like a child, just a little bit excitable!" Sagittarius argued, digging himself deeper. Libra sighed. Maybe it was time she stepped in.

"Look...Rainbow Dash?" she started.

"Yes?!" Dash semi-shouted. Her temper was flaring now, and any wrong word would set off the bomb that she could be.

"I think that was Sagittarius meant was that you were full of energy." Libra explained. Dash stood in front of her.

"Oh yeah? How so?" she growled.

"I can see that you are very fit. You must be some sort of athlete. I believe you said you were going to be a....thunderbolt?"

"Wonderbolt."

"Yes, that. You must be bursting with anticipation. Am I correct?" Libra said. Dash's earlier anger was replaced with a smirk, which told Libra everything she needed to know about Equestria's fastest flier, like how defuse any situation involving her.

This was going to be easy.

"Oh my, are they really like that?" Rarity asked.

"I am afraid so. Quite a lovely bunch I have to say." Virgo explained. She and Rarity had been chatting for the past hour. It had been a lovely experience for the zodiac, who had to put up with the antics of her siblings. Make no mistake though. She loved them dearly, but a change of scenery was always good as they said.

Who would have thought that equestrian tea could be so tasty?

"Why, my friends are also capable of being quite the ruffians if needed. Can't say I enjoy it that much though." Rarity replied.

"You seem to be close though." Virgo mentioned.

"Oh yes. They may be a little too rude for my standards, but they are my most dearest friends. I wouldn't change them for the world..."

"Guuoood moornnnnng..."

Sweetie Belle stood on the entrance to the kitchen, pretty much sleep walking. Mornings had never been friendly with her. Her ruffled mane was proof of it.

"Sweetie Belle. Let me introduce you to Virgo. She is going to stay with us for a while." Rarity explained.

"Good Morning little one." Virgo said politely. Sweetie Belle half nodded before she set to make her own breakfast, leaving the two mares to their own devices.

"Is Aquarius stills sleeping?" Rarity asked.

"Aquarius usually sleeps in. She says it helps with creativity." Virgo answered. A slightly burnt smell could be felt across the kitchen. Sweetie Belle had put a bread on the toaster. Celestia help them all.

"Eh, dear? I'm afraid your toast is burning." Rarity warned. Sweetie Belle, now a bit more awake, immediately set herself to fix her mistake. Sounds of hammering and cutting could be heard as the little filly worked on her food.

"Is she always so...enthusiastic about breakfast?" Virgo asked.

"Oh yes. She's always trying to improve her cooking, though her results are less than stellar..."

"Here!"

A small plate of smelly, round, perfectly made cookies was on the table. They weren't anything special though. Just plain old brown wheat cookies. They actually seemed quite tasty, much to Rarity's surprise. Given Sweetie's record with the juice, the fact that she had managed to make something without burning, melting or just plain vaporizing anything was an accomplishment in itself!

"Here! Try one! I made them extra carefully this time." she said with a grin, which Virgo responded with a warm smile.

"Of course. Thank you." she said as she ate one. Rarity smiled. Who would have thought that Sweetie could cook brown wheat cookies. Brown. Wait a minute. Wheat cookies were yellow. Not brown. Yellow.

Uh oh.

Crack.

Something broke.

And it wasn't the cookie.