"Ahh, good, this week's friendship letter, on schedule as usual!" Princess Celestia comments with a smile as the scroll transported by Spike's magic breath reforms just above Celestia's desk in her office and drops down on the desktop.
Eagerly, Celestia levitates the rolled-up scroll and opens the seal that keeps it rolled up. The scroll unrolls while still being levitated in mid-air, and Celestia begins to read the letter written inside:
"Dear Princess Celestia,
My friends and I all learned an important lesson this week: Never judge a book by its cover. Someone may look unusual, or funny, or scary. But you have to look past that and learn who they are inside. Real friends don't care what your 'cover' is; it's the 'contents' of a pony that count. And a good friend, like a good book, is something that will last forever.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle"
When finished reading, Celestia lets the open scroll float back down on the desktop, covering over the work the sun princess had previously been focusing on before the arrival of the friendship letter. She could guess that the lesson was related to a "special" Equestrian, but she would need more information to figure out precisely what to make of it - it was time to pull out the "magical security cams".
A rectangle of yellow-colored unicorn magic appears to one side of Celestia, an image resolving in the rectangle of a scene in Ponyville. Mentally, Celestia "flips" through several images of different viewpoints, then directs one to fast rewind backward until something catches her attention - more specifically, the time when Twilight and her fellow poison joke-affected Element Bearers break into Zecora's hut.
"A zebra!" Celestia exclaims under her breath as she watches the confrontation on the screen. "Well, something will have to be done about the property damage, but a real zebra hiding in the Everfree Forest... no wonder there were misunderstandings."
"Raven!" Celestia calls as the "screen" collapses into a line of yellow magic that abruptly disappears.
"Yes, Your Majesty?" Raven asks as she looks up from her own work nearby.
"Summon the Captain of the Guard in here, tell him I have something that deserves his attention." Celestia replies.
"Right away, Your Majesty." Raven replies obediently.
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MORNING OF THE FOLLOWING DAY...
"Thank you both for showing up on time. We'll get started on this briefing right away." Captain of the Guard Gibraltar addresses in the officer's meeting room to the four in attendance: Lieutenant Captains Aten and Fidelitas as well as their respective secretaries - Lieutenant Amarna for Aten and Lieutenant Scriptor for Fidelitas.
"I am very much grateful for my counterpart showing up early." Aten replies in an annoyed and disinterested monotone, glaring over at his counterpart who he usually could barely stand being in the same room with. Similarly, Amarna glares at his counterpart in more-or-less deliberate imitation.
"Yes, well anyway, attention to the screen!" Gibraltar snaps out, causing all of the others present to snap to attention. The room goes dark - caused by Gibraltar using his unicorn magic to remotely operate a lightswitch - and a white screen appears next to where Gibraltar is standing.
While Gibraltar is talking, he remotely switches between images and uses a pointer he is levitating with his magic to make his presentation: "As you may be aware, Twilight Sparkle and the citizens of Ponyville have recently made contact with this individual, depicted in this image graciously provided to us by Her Majesty Princess Celestia. According to reports, this individual depicted here, going by the name Zecora, is a zebra that makes residence within the Everfree Forest itself. Besides the interest in Zecora herself, there is a likely historical connection to explain her presence in the forest."
Seeing the image of Zecora projected on the screen, Fidelitas and his secretary showed great interest, while Aten and his secretary show looks of confusion and vague repulsion. The emotion must've been noticeable by Gibraltar, because he continues right on that topic: "In the time of the youth of the royal sisters, Luna discovered a tribe of zebra living in what is now the Everfree Forest. Although they did not join the Equestrian kingdom at that time, Celestia allowed any zebra that moved into Equestria of their own free will to become a citizen upon taking an oath of loyalty. Despite the zebra tribe having long since disappeared into the mists of history, the offer made by Celestia still stands, and she has tasked me to send orders to Ponyville with making that offer in mind as well as to determine official compensation for damages caused by Twilight Sparkle and her friends."
Gibraltar pauses for a second before continuing, taking note of Fidelitas and Scriptor showing rapt interest while Aten and Amarna showing great apathy: "For this operation, which I have dubbed 'Operation Integration', I have determined that Lieutenant Crispin posted in Ponyville will be able to handle this operation himself. To that end, I have drawn up orders for all guards native to Ponyville to be sent there temporarily for the duration of operation. This will involve some shuffling of assignments, which is why I am briefing you on this mission. Hopefully, you will not need to be involved directly, but you will be provided by Lieutenant Biro with the details about the shuffling. Understood?"
"Yes, sir." all four other officers in the room reply, giving a salute as they speak.
"Very good." Gibraltar states as he remotely flicks the lights on again. "Aten and his secretary are dismissed back to their posts. Fidelitas and his secretary are to proceed to their office and prepare for the shift change. Dismissed!"
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A LITTLE LATER...
"This is outrageous!" Aten exclaims, papers flying as he slams forehooves down on his office desk.
"Oh I definitely agree, sir." Amarna comments in a dead-pan tone, calmly typing away in a corner of Aten's office.
"You read the report?" Aten asks, turning his full attention to his secretary.
"I didn't need to, sir. Seeing a picture of the zebra myself told me all I needed to know." Amarna answers.
"Going to town cloaked, stamping the ground, stripes with rings, speaking in rhyme, herbal magic, her taste in decoration... it's like everything wrong with unicorns and earth ponies in one unappealing package! And now the Captain wants me to send my stallions to do something for her those backward 'Ponyvillans' can do themselves?! Buck that, says I!"
"Sir, you do realize there are other ponies listening, right?"
"I don't care, Lieutenant. I'll say and do whatever I want, and the Captain can't touch me. You remember why, don't you?"
"Of course I do, sir. You know the secret Princess Celestia keeps in the castle statue garden."
"Exactly. And that's why she won't lay a hoof on me, and she won't let the Captain lay a hoof on me. It's the ultimate in job security!"
"Of course, sir."
"Besides, I have my own friends with their own plans. You'll see, Lieutenant. You'll see."
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It was thus that shortly after the setting up of "Operation Integration" - in fact, in the very same mail parcel with the orders going out to the members of the Royal Guard stationed in Ponyville - that this coded message went out (rendered in plaintext here):
"TO AGENTS P1, P2 - HIGH PRIORITY
Recent incident with Zecora will lead to interference from Canterlot. NON-INTERFERENCE MUST BE ENFORCED. You are authorized to use all available tactics and measures necessary to ensure enforcement. MAKE SURE OPERATION INTEGRATION FAILS.
- Agent Snake"