== Chapter 3: Recruitment ==

Bon Bon was in tears. She watched the visions of Ponyville unfold as it degenerated into a burning heap of destruction and chaos. But there under the house was Lyra, thick blood dripping down her arm and pooling on the soot and wood.

She bent down and rubbed the bloody hoof of her dead friend across her forehead, leaving streaks of red across her light green coat and curled cobalt-rosy streaked mane. The screams and crackling flames gently faded and when she looked up and around, there was calm. She stopped and backed away, the vision was gone. There were suddenly nothing but stars.

"What troubles you, my little pony?"

Bon Bon wiped her tears and searched for the source. She looked up at the brilliant constellations of blues and gentle greens and saw Princess Luna. The pony of the night was floating down and landed on an unseen, solid surface as her mane and tail of dark blue and flickering stars bobbed behind. Bon Bon would have bowed politely bowed but she was still overcoming the shock of her dream, and so resorted to sliding into a miserable droop.

Bon Bon tried responding between sobs. "I am sorry you came to me in this nightmare, Princess. I was trained for lucid dreaming and I was doing fine for many years."

"That is precisely why we am here," Luna replied with her voice in an echo. "I have not had the pleasure to alleviate you of any nightmare in all the time I have returned to Equestria because it seems you do not have any. What is it?"

"The destruction of Ponyville and threat to my friends should be nothing new," Bon Bon sniffed her last, stood up, and looked away. "But there is something in the air here, something is going to happen. I can feel it. Something terrible is brewing. Things are just too calm. Something must be happening, and things have already happened."

"How do you know this?"

"I—I guess I don't. It's just intuition. Like I said, even when I do start to have a nightmare, I am trained to recognize and control them, considering my previous jobs and missions. But this time I can't help it. Something has probably already happened."

Luna raised her head and looked towards a myriad of doors, each leading to the dreams of a different pony. "If that were true, I should have gotten a glimpse of it through the nightmares of other ponies. But I do agree, Ponyville is quite overly peaceful these past few moons."

Bon Bon lifted her head and frowned into determination. "But if something is happening, and able to hide from your dream walks, Princess Luna, something must really be amiss. I must do whatever I can to protect my home. My friends. And Lyra. Please understand."

"I do. It will be Nightmare Night tomorrow, and if anything is to happen, that is the perfect time. Twilight and her friends will be busy at her castle for the celebration. If Ponyville is under threat, they will be there to stop it. But I believe this is something for you to handle quietly. I will see what I can find for you before you wake. But if things are as serious as they seem, there are two battle ponies in Ponyville who can aid you."

---

Swift Blade shot awake and he was out of bed in an instant. His sky blue coat shone in the moonlight piercing the window, showing his red-yellow flash and dagger cutie mark. His thick jet black and cobalt hair sifted around his horn as he twitched left and right. Behind him in bed was the grey wing to a mare still sleeping peacefully. He quietly edged up to the side of the window out of the light and perked up his ear.

Sure enough, there was an unusual clattering.

Swift galloped downstairs and opened the door with his magic. He looked around all too ready for a fight. "Show yourself," he said in a low tone on edge. Movement above caught his eye; the shadow of a pony hanging on the side of his roof who waved at him. With focus, he teleported on the roof above the mysterious pony, legs perfectly balanced. He tilted his head suspiciously at the mare dressed in black below him.

She lowered her hood. It was Bon Bon.

He raised an eyebrow high but did not lower his guard. Being a battle pony, it was his nature and thus, also being not very social, struggled to put a name to the face. "Um—Bon Bon, was it?"

Bon Bon looked left and right. "My alias, yes. I'm special agent Sweetie Drops. There's not much time to explain, and things need to be kept quiet. I've got a hunch something terrible is coming to Ponyville, maybe all of Equestria. But I need battle ponies I can trust that can help me get to the bottom of it. My intrusion was a test of your abilities and you passed."

She pulled up an Equestrian pendant hanging on her necklace of the two sisters in a yin yang circle. It was made of a rare white gem that had to be forged in magic and to those who had military or special training, it was a sign of top secret missions from the princesses. Swift would otherwise have clearly logical reasons to dismiss the mare. "Alright. What do you need?"

"I'm recruiting you and a lone traveler named Redeye. Being that tomorrow is Nightmare Night, if anything happens, that's the time. What little I could pick up was that there was some sort of 'exclusive' ritual going on in the Everfree Forest. And on such a night, no pony should be venturing there. Wear a costume disguise that allows you to be equipped with weapons and armor. There will be a drink stand set up by Lyra and Berry by the south road. Meet us there."

She handed him the pendant, saluted and dropped down from the roof, disappearing into the night with her grappling kit. Off in the distance was a tall, masculine stallion who waved at Swift as Sweetie Drops ran by.