"Spike, forget about the beard and just send the letter to Princess Celestia already."
"OK OK..."
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Spike the Dragon performed an obvious eyeroll as he took the rolled up and sealed parchment scroll on which the friendship letter had been written by Twilight Sparkle. He then positioned the scroll a little bit out and downward and breathed his magic green fire on it, the positioning such that Spike's fire breath did not accidentally burn his magically-given mustache as it came out of his mouth.
The scroll quickly turns to ash and with another puff of air the ashes are on their way to Princess Celestia. Spike and Twilight Sparkle watch the ashes float through an opened window in the library where they lived in Ponyville, and just as they disappear from sight both of them hear a door slam open.
Turning in the direction where the door slam came from, both Twilight and Spike see Pinkie Pie excitedly bouncing in place just inside the front door of the library. The pink earth pony is excitedly speaking in a rapid-fire manner that neither Twilight nor Spike can make head or tail of as she continues bouncing around.
"Pinkie slow down, I can't understand what you're saying." Twilight states with a degree of exasperation in her voice.
Pinkie Pie stops bouncing while facing Twilight and starts again with what she was trying to say, still rapidfire but at least with the words distinguishable: "TheCakesmadesomethingsuperduperspecialforyou! Comeoncomeoncomeon!"
"Pinkie, where are we going?!" Twilight exclaims as Pinkie starts pulling her out of the library, done so by Pinkie hooking one of her forelegs around one of Twilight's and tugging repeatedly.
"Sugarcube Corner, silly! Now come on, everypony's waiting for you!" Pinkie exclaims as she continues her tugging, Twilight having a mortified look as she stumbles on three hooves trying to not fall down on her face.
"Hey wait up!" Spike exclaims as he hurries after Twilight and Pinkie, who have very quickly exited the library out onto the streets of Ponyville...
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A FEW MINUTES LATER...
Sugarcube Corner is abuzz with both excitement and gossip. The excitement is from Twilight Sparkle's recent impressive defense of Ponyville from an upset Ursa Minor - the occasion of the celebration now in the establishment. The gossip is about various rumors that have spread about "the Great and Powerful" Trixie as well as Twilight, as well as arguments about whether a Royal Guard intervention would now be necessary to negate further danger to Ponyville from a provoked Ursa Minor.
The only ponies not sharing in the celebratory mood are a pair of pegasi stallions, one white coated and one gray coated, sitting at a corner table. Both of them frowned at the newspaper laying in front of them on the table, which was turned to an article titled "Showmare Whereabouts Unknown".
"Too bad she gave the patrollers the slip. We could've tried to recruit her." the grey coated stallion comments to his counterpart, shaking his head sadly.
"Are you kidding? She's got an ego the size of Canterlot Castle!" the white coated stallion replies. "No way she'd join us, even if we could talk to her."
"Yeah, maybe you're right. But the letter..."
"I know what the letter read. We may still have a chance to fulfill Snake's orders with the Ursas, but we need a good opportunity. Now pipe down and prop that thing back up, the laughing one will be back with the sparkling one any second now..."
The two stallions slide hooves between the paper and the table, one on each side, and prop up the paper in such a way that it screens the faces of the two stallions from direct view. They only dare to peek at the buzz of the establishment over the top edge of the paper. The concealment is needed - as Agents of Chaos (white "P1", grey "P2") it was paramount that the Element Bearers not be able to identify them, lest they get run out of town or need to leave on very short notice. Agent Snake, the leader of the Agents of Chaos, had only ordered them to be a distraction in order to keep the Element Bearers' attention away from Canterlot, not directly meddle with the assignment of Twilight Sparkle.
And just as "P1" stated, both Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie enter Sugarcube Corner shortly after the two Agents get their screening up, Spike hurrying behind Twilight and Pinkie shortly after. The stallion agents watch as cheers and hooves pounding on tables greet their entrance, Pinkie excitedly rushing on ahead while Twilight and Spike hang back in bewilderment.
"OK, she's here now!" Pinkie Pie shouts back toward the kitchen area, and shortly afterward both Rainbow Dash and Rarity emerge from the door leading to said area, forming into a protective triangle with Pinkie in front of said door.
The need for the protective triangle quickly becomes obvious as Fluttershy directs the Cake couple with foreleg gestures through the door. Balanced on the backs of the earth pony couple that owns and operates Sugarcube Corner is a large, three-tied cake with a general design depicting Twilight "taming" the Ursa Minor. Although not as impressive as some of their later creations, the general size and indigo-and-purple overall color scheme make impression enough on the gathered crowd.
Twilight, not surprisingly, is overawed by this culinary creation but retains enough sense to magically restrain Spike from charging right at the cake, a gesture which produces an indignant glare from the young dragon. Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Rarity work together to clear a path for the Cakes and Fluttershy to move around while Applejack stays a short distance behind as a kind of spotter. The procession slowly works its way toward a previously reserved central table, where both Pinkie and Applejack help the Cakes safely place the large dessert on the table, this time the others all acting as spotters.
"Is all that for me?!" is all the breathless Twilight can say once the cake is safely on the table.
"Of course, dearie. We worked on it all night for you!" Mrs. Cake exclaims, referring to both herself and her husband.
"And I helped!" Pinkie pipes in, her face displaying a proud grin.
"We all helped, Pinkie, in different ways of course." Rarity gently corrects.
"Well, I'm flattered, but you didn't really need to go..." Twilight begins to say, blushing shyly as she speaks.
"Oh nonsense! We're all very proud of our pretty little hero, aren't we?" Mrs. Cake says affectionately, now walking up to Twilight and squeezing the unicorn mare's cheeks between her forehooves.
"Mrs. Cake, pwease..." Twilight tries to say as her friends and the crowd around start chuckling at Mrs. Cake's affectionate cheek pinching.
"But she's right, you know. It's worth saying again, Twilight. We're all very proud of you." Rarity affirms, and the other Element Bearers all add in affirmations.
It's at this point that the two Agents of Chaos dropped down back behind their newspaper cover. Agent P2 gives P1 a gag expression.
"I agree. Let's get out of here while they're distracted, I don't think it's going to do any good sticking around..." Agent P1 affirms.
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MEANWHILE, IN CANTERLOT...
Princess Celestia hums to herself - a rare occurrence in the days she ruled alone but now increasingly common - as she looks back from the parchment in front of her to a magically floating screen off to her side. She seems to be engaged in some careful note-taking based on what she sees on the "magic security cam" that she uses to remotely monitor Twilight Sparkle's mission in Ponyville.
The combination of Twilight Sparkle's recent triumph and well-learned lesson has put Celestia in a good mood, but she also realizes the need to prevent a repeat of the Ursa Minor intrusion. An Ursa Minor, and by extension an Ursa Major, this close to such an important place is a threat too big to ignore. Fortunately, as Ursas tend not to come out of their caves unless provoked, the fix is a relatively simple one.
"Raven?" Celestia calls to her aide, who is sitting at a nearby desk sorting through paperwork.
"Yes, Your Majesty?" Raven replies, looking up from her work.
"Take this parchment to Captain Gibraltar. There's a field assignment that needs doing." Celestia states, levitating up the piece of parchment she has been writing on with her bright yellow unicorn magic.
"Understood, Your Majesty. I will return to the prioritizing work after delivering the assignment notice." Raven crisply replies, taking the parchment with her own raspberry-colored unicorn magic and carrying it along with her as she begins her exit from Celestia's chambers.
As soon as Raven is gone, Celestia levitates a slice out of a nearby cake on a platter and begins chomping on it - no need for forks or even plates - as she watches footage, not for the first time, of Twilight dealing with the Ursa Minor in Ponyville.
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Captain of the Guard Gibraltar gives a frown as he reads the parchment Raven brought him. He didn't like sending Canterlot ponies on field assignment, particularly when he was short on personnel - a condition the attacks of the Agents of Chaos had generated.
"This is at least a two-squad assignment. I'm going to have to pull Fidelitas to supervise the whole thing." Gibraltar comments.
"I will make sure to tell Princess Celestia that." Raven affirms.
"Very good. Does Celestia need anything else?" the Guard Captain asks.
"No, sir." Raven answers, shaking her head as she speaks.
"Alright then. I'll have Lieutenant Biro summon Fidelitas to my office to give the assignment to him. You can return to whatever the Princess needs you to do." Gibraltar states, still frowning down at the parchment.
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A FEW MINUTES LATER...
"Sorry to interrupt you, Lieutenant Captain, but this is something Princess Celestia has put on highest priority." Gibraltar says to Lieutenant Captain Fidelitas, who is standing at attention at Gibraltar's desk.
"Let me guess, a field assignment to Ponyville?" Fidelitas asks as a smirk forms across his face.
"Good guess." Gibraltar answers. "Celestia wants the path to the den of the Ursas near Ponyville closed off so as to avoid a repeat of the recent incident there. I want you to select two Lieutenants, each to lead a work squad. One will take the guards under their command here with them, the other will rally all the members of the Guard currently located in Ponyville to fill the other squad. I'm leaving everything else to your discretion."
"Understood, sir. But with all due respect, I would recommend Shining Armor take this assignment instead." Fidelitas replies.
Gibraltar lets out a chuckle before he speaks again: "Trust me Fidelitas, I would rather send Shining Armor to do this too. I don't want Aten running two shifts any more than you do. But Guard protocol does not allow me to assign anypony working the Luna Shift for this operation - sleep scheduling, you understand."
"I understand, sir. But I still believe that Shining Armor would be the better officer to take this assignment." Fidelitas tries again.
"And I'm not disagreeing with you, particularly considering you would likely be dealing with Twilight Sparkle and the other Element Bearers. But I'm not about to trust Aten with this project, either. That leaves you as the only option, you understand?" Gibraltar explains.
"Yes, sir. Is there anything else I need to know about, sir?"
"That you and those going on assignment with you are leaving on the first train to Ponyville tomorrow, so be ready by then. Make sure that you interview Guard Upper Class Meadow Song and Aide Cherry Fizzy, as the notes here indicate they were witness to some of the events leading up to the incident. See what you can get out of the Element Bearers too."
"Understood. Anything else, sir?"
"No, that's all. You are dismissed."
"Yes, sir." Fidelitas replies, saluting as he turns around and exits the office, an uneasy look forming on his face...