//------------------------------// // Prologue (Revised) // Story: The Equestrian Intelligence Agency // by General Soarin //------------------------------// "There better be a good reason why you woke me up," growled Princess Celestia as she slowly lowered herself onto her royal throne. Moonlight filtered through the various stain-glass windows that adorned the throne room, basking the room in a brilliant silverish glow. Standing before Celestia's throne was a cyan pegasus mare with magenta eyes and a distinctive rainbow-colored mane. The mare was dressed in a plain black suit and red tie, and had a pair of black shades hanging from one of the suit's two pockets. She slowly dipped her head in respect to the Princess, then finally opened her mouth to speak. "Several of the Element Bearers have gone missing Princess." she announced, maintaining a neutral tone in her voice. Princess Celestia frowned, turning her gaze to one of the stained-glass windows and thought silently for a few moments. "What exactly do you mean by the word 'missing' Rainbow Dash? How do you know they didn't just go on a simple evening stroll together and forgot to tell you about it?" asked the Princess, portraying no emotion in her voice. Rainbow was silent for a few moments, then slowly shook her head. "I don't think Twilight's team would call in a code red if she just went out for a late-night stroll with our friends," she replied in a very serious tone. The Princess turned her attention back to Agent Dash, slowly nodding her head in agreement. "Well, that definitely signals that something went wrong. Give me a full situation report," ordered the Princess. Agent Dash cleared her throat before telling the Princess everything that had happened. "Like I told you before, Twilight's team sent out a code red signal just before midnight, and requested that I get to the library ASAP. I told them that I would be there within several minutes, then threw on my suit and sped off to help them with whatever problem they were facing. I arrived at the Library, and found out that Twilight was missing and every member of her team had been knocked out cold. I quickly sent a message to the teams guarding Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, and asked if they were having any problems at their posts while I looked for evidence that told me what happened. Of all the teams that were watching my friends, only Fluttershy's team managed to reply to my message, informing me that Fluttershy was sleeping peacefully in her house, and everything was normal. I figured that whatever happened to Twilight's team would happen to the rest of the teams, so I ordered them to stay alert for any suspicious activity while I went to check the other teams. After that, I sped off to check out each house, only to find them all in the same state as Twilight's, with each friend missing and the teams knocked out. I then ordered several other teams to move in and secure each house while I traveled here to inform you of the news." The Princess was silent for a few moments, then slowly got off her throne and sighed deeply. "Something sinister is going down, Agent Dash... and I am going to find out what it is and put a stop to it!" exclaimed Princess Celestia as she stomped her hoof on the ground. Rainbow Dash nodded, letting out a quiet yawn. "Is there anything that you need me to do, Princess? Or is it okay to go home for the night?" Rainbow asked. Princess Celestia gazed silently at Rainbow Dash for a few moments, then slowly nodded her head. "If you really want to do something else for me, you could relay a message to Director Armor for me. Keep in mind that this offer is purely optional, and I would understand if you're really tired and want to call it quits; after all, you've been working hard ever since midnight trying to figure out what happened to your friends, and you look like you could use some rest. I could simply just send someone else to relay the message if you want." Rainbow Dash shook her head, quickly reassuring the Princess that she could deliver the message before going back to her house. Princess Celestia nodded, before clearing her throat. "Very well, Agent Dash; it's your decision after all. Inform the Director of the current situation with the missing Bearers, and tell him that it is the EIA's top priority to discover what happened to them, and to rescue them if they are in any danger. I cannot stress the importance of this Operation enough, for Equestria is extremely exposed with the loss of the Element Bearers. Good luck Agent Dash, and Faust speed." Rainbow nodded her head in understanding, quickly saluting to the Princess before speeding out of the room. Princess Celestia sighed deeply to herself then slowly trudged back to her bedroom, leaving the vast throne room in an eerie silence.