"Really!?" Celestia shouted and questioned in anticipation and excitement.

"Sister!" Luna yelled out.

Celestia winced at the calling of her sister, "Y-yes?"

One of Luna's eyes twitched, "Mind I share a word with you?" She said while clenching her teeth speaking in the most polite tone she could with irritation still seeping through.

"Ah- perhaps we could wait before-" as Celestia spoke, she found her sister's gaze to be piercing into her soul.

"Ahm, okay..." Celestia shut her mouth to follow her sister while the biped was still standing where he accepted their offer, she was led to an ally-way next to the tavern and as she and her sister were out of range of the creature's vision Luna spoke.

"WHY WOULD YOU TELL HIM OF THE BELL!? DO YOU REALIZE HOW EASILY HE COULD ASSAY TO BEHOOF FROM THE POWER?" She was speaking in a loud whisper, berating her sister.

Celestia winced. "I know! But we need him!"

Luna bit at her statement. "And pray tell why would we need a simpleton like him?"

Celestia was hurt at the insult, "He's not a 'simpleton' he's intelligent as us, and you know why! Have we had any success in recruitment?"

Luna looked away for a moment but kept moving with the conversation, "Nay, but! A single creature could not make up for a host"

Celestia spoke calmly in a low voice. "Luna I may have told a bit more than I needed to"

Her sister spoke in a low but loud tone at that. "Perchance? A little?!"

"But! Star swirl has already told us our current situation, we may be his students and yes our army is big but a three-way war against them? We are completely outmatched, we need any warriors."

"Of course we need warriors but you've told him of a powerful bell that led to the desire of our enemies in the first place!"

"Okay, I admit that telling him was a bad idea and I'm sorry, but he could prove invaluable! I mean we've never seen his kind around and he's proven himself adept at combat somewhat."

"I highly doubt that is enough to show his adequacy, he could very well be bootless of the position."

"Luna I won't lie to you, I completely botched this and I know I shouldn't have told him but something tells me inside that we'll need him."

"Relying on feelings sister? Really? I'd expected something tangible instead of just passing feelings."

"Luna, please trust me on this, we're preparing for war and I need to know you'll support me on this, I think this could be a turning point for us."

Luna grumbled at that but sighed in acceptance, "You put too much faith in this creature...Fine I will accept that point but telling IT of the bell at all was a bad move on your part of judgment."

"I will accept that I just needed-"

"I understand sister, you need not explain to me, however, I wonder how Starswirl will feel about his favorite student becoming so careless," Luna smirked with a teasing tone.

Celestia's eyes widened, "You wouldn't!"

Luna started to giggle at her reaction, "I shan't"

Celestia felt relieved.

"I wonder, however, why you are so interested in this creature, unless..."

"Unless?"

"Perhaps you speak of something more than just surface feelings? Perhaps, a lestallion? "

Celestia blushed lightly at the implication, she cleared her throat before speaking. "I can assure you nothing of the sort."

"Like how you assured me when I found you at the bar trying to drunkenly flirt with some fine stallions like a fizgig?"

Celestia blushed profusely at the mention of the memory. "Luna! I-it was a one-time thing! Y-you know how taxing it is to be Starswirl's student!"

Luna could barely stifle her laughter.

"A-and you promised not to mention it!" Celestia's voice cracked at the end pitch of her sentence.

"I'm sorry, hehe, tis just-" Luna tried to keep her laughter in but it was a losing battle, "Tis just so rare to see you loosen up sister." She began to let go of the build-up while her sister was in full blast embarrassment.

Luna slowly began to recompose herself before speaking, "I'm sorry sister but an opportunity such as that? You could not truly expect me NOT to mention it?"

"I-it's fine, as long as we agree about this mistake I've made."

Luna smiled cruelly. "Ah, but I will require a favor in turn sister."

"What?! Ugh!" Celestia covered her face in her hooves, "It seems I have no real choice." She spoke through her cover. She dragged her hooves as she put down her hooves, "What is it?"

"Well, I wish to shape up the odd creature."

"What? Why?"

"I won't lie sister, the creature is somewhat interesting but lacks many proper manners and I feel he requires a close eye."

Celestia eyed her sister a bit to which Luna responded with a questioning face.

"What?"

"Lulu...You wouldn't be by chance, be interested in this creature, would you?" The white unicorn smirked at the insinuation she was giving.

Luna's eyes bugged out, "What?" She took a few seconds to process what her sister had said before responding, "Nay, of course not, I just need to make sure he's well with his equipage when the time comes for his services."

"Oh? So that he may be equipped for his services?" Celestia smirked a devious smile.

Luna groaned the implication. "Sister please, I shan't even play with your indecent thoughts, he is a warrior."

"Very well." Celestial still kept her smirk which earned another groan from her sister.

As they walked into the light out of the alleyway they found the creature looking at them with intrigue and interest behind its eyes.

Celestia tensed, "What's wrong?"

The creature looked at her intently before speaking, "I need my weapons."

That dumbfounded Luna, "You," She turned her head to the side. "Do not have your weapons on you?"

Celestia chirped in, "Why?"

"I was having them reforged in the local blacksmith."

Celestia connected the dots. "Is that why you were in the Tavern?"

The only response was a nod.

Luna stepped forward. "Creature, what weapons do you wield?"

The creature was slightly insulted by the use of his new label. "I'm a human."

Luna soon realized how rude she was coming off. "Ah, I'm sorry Hooman-"

"Human."

"Um yes, hue-man."

He looked at her with disbelief but shook it off.

Celestia found the idea odd. "Why do you need them reforged?"

"They were worn down a bit."

Celestia still found it off, "Only worn down a bit?"

The human sighed before saying anything. "Okay, a lot."

Luna perked at this. "And you did not use a whetstone?"

"I don't have what you ponies call 'silver pieces' or 'bits'."

Celestia was fascinated with the use of none of the economy. "How do you survive then?"

"From the forest, look I'm going, will you stay here until I come back?"

Celestia found no problems with the idea. "Fine by me-"

Luna however felt to intrude. "Absolutely not."

Celestia looked surprised at her sister for abruptly speaking. "What? You are a soon-to-be warrior of the royal army, I need to know of your weapon and practice."

The human sneered. "My practice is my hands alone, could kill you."

Luna was surprised by the offhand use of killing but stayed firm. "So you say, but from what I could tell you are ill practiced, you would need great training to land a hoof on me."

Before Celestia could stop where the conversation was leading, the human pulled his left arm from his cloak and tried to punch Luna with a downwards angle due to the height difference but she moved her head in a swift, seamless motion before his fist could solid.

In that moment of shock from the human from her dodge, Luna swiped her left front hoof to push his legs to the side, putting him off balance she used her magic to slam his head and body to the floor.

After the dust settled the human was sideways onto the ground, wincing at his side that was now sharing an intimate connection to the ground.

"Your movements show some potential, but you were too slow with the force it took, it left too many openings to your side and legs."

He rolled over to his front facing the ground before lifting himself.

Groaning from the pain he responded. "Okay, ow, you're right."

Luna was surprised at that, "You, do not have an issue with a mare giving you pointers?"

"Well, when said mare just kicked my ass? No, I guess I needed that reality check." He spoke as he dusted himself off with only his left hand, it seemed weird to Luna but she held her tongue on the matter.

"Mayhaps I've judged you too soon, Sir ?"

"Jack."

"Thank you, I've judged you too soon, Sir Jack."

"Mhm, you still want to accompany me?"

"No, I've tested your skills and while rather short of the experience, I shall grant you some ease."

"Mhm." Jack began his trek down the gravel road to pass a couple of shops before reaching the shop he came for.

As he opened the door he looked around to find various weapons on display, from swords and daggers to hammers and sickles.

An earth pony spoke out as he was busy setting up another display item. "Welcome to Colville's local blacksmith! How can I help you-" he turned to find the tall biped creature.

"I'm here for my reforged swords order." Jack was unphased by the strange scared reaction from the pony.

"O-of course, heh, I'm surprised you were able to drive out those timberwolves though. Honestly, when you asked about a job or favor to do I thought you were just some bandit, I wasn't actually expecting you to deal with Timberwolves. Before you dealt with them they made it hard to work, customers being scared hurts sales so it's been a huge help, and less worried faces." He looked onto Jack but found nothing but a stonewall face, the lack of response made the pony sweat a bit at the poker face.

Jack gave no response which didn't help quell the fears of the owner, "I-it's in the back, I'll go get it."

As the blacksmith left, Jack had stood near the counter, Jack looked at a clock on the wall, waiting until the pony was finally gone before speaking.

...

"Show yourself"

...

The room's lighting dampened, the space around him seemed to grow slower and the colors soon became muted. Shadows began to move and swirl as the air grew tense and in the shadows slowly morphed glowing teal eyes and a wicked toothy smile before disappearing into the darkness. But Jack could feel the eyes still watching him, the sinister smile showing vividly in his mind.

"It's been quite a while hasn't it, Jack..." The voice was smooth yet menacing, no ill will but no comfort that could be made.

"For good reason." Jack snarled, "Why are you here?"

The toothy smile only grew in length and size, "Straight to the point, I like that about you over the others you know."

"What others?"

The voice chuckled "Don't worry about that, for another timeline and universe. I'm here to give you an out, a way to get out of Equestria and-

"'Rule over nations and people with all the power I could imagine at my fingertips' you've said the exact thing the first and last time you showed up. My answer is still no, I don't do deals with demons that could take advantage of me."

The voice began to echo of laughter all around, "You still think I'm a demon? That's rich, I'm. So. Much. MORE."

The area began to shake with everything still frozen in place it felt as though Jack was the only thing shaking and trembling, slowly he began to feel gravity push on top of him and his lungs, compressing from both sides.

"How long has it been hm? 2 years now? You can't honestly tell me that this has been great for you. Do you really think you have a chance to opt-out? With everything coming into place?"

The pressure slowly subsided allowing Jack to take quick and shallow breaths. "M-my answer is still no, what's even in it for you? The bell?"

Silence resumed, Jack started to think he had an edge until an eruption of laughter haunted the air and his head.

"You think that bell is important? Some whimsical magic held in a bottle just wasting away? Honestly, Jack do you take me for a fool?"

"What?"

"The bell. It's cracked, why do you think there's a reason that now, of all times, every power-hungry mortal is after the bell aside from Grogar losing it from some pony. The magical restraints and enchantments have been cracked, broken. It's power is draining that he's been building up for over a century."

Jack was astounded by the explanation.

The voice laughed as if sensing or seeing his reaction. "It's simple really, ponies see the power of the bell dwindling due to a leak in the enchantments and they come to use the bell one final time for some grand, special wish. Somewhat like how your people work if you think about it."

...

"So, what are you after then? Why me? Why come and suck the air out of my lungs just to try to recruit me."

The smile grew wider and malicious, "Because I need a warrior, a protegé to take on what so little mortals realize. You don't even realize what's at stake, do you? The bigger piece your future holds in the grand scheme of things, I could make you the most powerful, important person in the entire universe, isn't that what you humans always strived for? Importance? A purpose?"

Jack shivered but steeled himself. "I just want to go home..." He breathed in deeply and then exhaled heavily. "I'm not some puppet you can play with, you want me to join you but you still speak in vague words and empty promises."

"Because I can't spoil the plan yet, I'm here to simply give you an out on what could be the worst hell of your life."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't tell me you seriously thought getting the bell to use to take you back home would be easy with three armies coming after you did you? Not including what the royal army would do if they found out the sudden betrayal."

"...How did you know about my plan?"

"Really? I thought you'd be sharper than that."

The voice was close as if whispering into his ear. "I know EVERYTHING about you, to the hopes and dreams of coming back home, where you can delude yourself into normalcy, where you find stability in lies and empty dreams."

The air grew cold and the voice turned empty without emotion. "But I also know the endless abyss of your nightmares, the fear, the pain, the lonely, desolate, emptiness in your heart. Devoid of connection and warmth where only the hardest of warriors find pleasure in the bloodshed and ṁ̶̖͗ͅa̴̳̦̍̈d̸̡̓ń̴͍̿e̷̛̟̥͐s̵̖̈́ͅs̶̯̅͝."

A chuckle echoed in his head, his spine chilled and left him shaking, to Jack the last bit was garbled and messy with its pronunciation, but he knew it wasn't good.

"A-are we done here?"

More laughter filled Jack's head, nauseating him. "It's funny you think you can try to pretend you have some kind of bravado but I suppose so. One day, however, you'll be coming to me, begging, and on that day where a part of you is dying... I'll watch you break apart and crumble, where the blood of the dead and the heart connect. I'll be watching it drip away into the emptiness of your pleas. Until then...I̸'̶l̵l̶ ̴b̴e̶ ̴w̵a̸t̵c̸h̵i̷n̷g̷,̷ ̷w̴a̸i̶t̴i̷n̸g̶."

The world around Jack slowly seemed to take away the muted colors that were once overlaid over everything, as if time resumed and colors became lively again. Jack looked to the clock earlier to find...that it hadn't changed.

The idea that shadow, that creature, did truly stop time was...chilling.

"H-here you are."

The voice took him out of his focus on the worrisome thought.

The earth pony sat down a wrapped bag of leather holding three sword handles peeking out all bunched up in brown cloth.

Jack spoke in a whisper. "Thank you." Before turning around to move away from what just had happened.

I felt a bit more at ease of the hu-mane. While Jack desperately needed practice. His reaction told me he wasn't expecting me to dodge, perhaps due to his opponents before, and since he came out of a bar-.

I grimaced at the idea of having a warrior that has only fought drunks and random creatures in the forest.

"So, what do you think sister?

The sentence from my sister had broken my thoughts.

"He seems, inexperienced like he is still learning, but I find potential in him."

"I see what you mean, that little kerfuffle has-" that word perplexed me-

I turned to my sister while turning my sideways. "Kerfuffle?"

Sister gave a strange look before registering my question. "Hm? Oh! Yes, a new slang I learned from Cozy Glow."

That rang a bell. "Ah, yes, Starswirl's assistant," I grumbled.

"Oh don't be like that, she's so friendly!"

"Precisely why I do not like her!" I fumed and turned, feeling a blush creep in, "She makes it look so easy..."

"Lulu..." She began to come closer but I stepped away.

"Ahem, as you were saying?"

She was saddened, "Sister, I know you have a hard time finding friends, but give Cozy a chance, she's been so nice to you, to all of us, perhaps she could give you insight on how to give ponies more of a chance."

I was not convinced. "I- will think about it."

"Lulu-" she pleaded.

"Please Sister, I would rather not speak of this..."

"Okay... Well, I agree with you, that showed that he would need a teacher, but are you sure you want to be his mentor?"

"Are you saying I can't mentor a warrior?" I was a bit insulted at that.

She smirked, "I don't know how much he would want to punch your face in more is all I'm saying." She smiled that infectious smile as it slowly grew onto my lips, she chuckled at that and I returned its jovial tone.

"I can't say he will not want revenge, stallion recruits always seem to have something to flaunt and show." I rolled my eyes with a smile that still held firm. Numerous 'stallions' have tried to challenge my might over a simple one-on-one. And rarely did they accept anything other than being a sore loser, half the reason I was so surprised by Him being so accepting of my praise and criticism.

"I shall trust your judgment." She replied.

"Thank you, sister." I looked out to wait for the Human's figure to reappear again.

Author's Note

If anyone is worried about the story going off the rails because of this shadow man. Don't worry, he's meant to elude for AFTER the story.

The story will focus on the war and what comes of it and everything else so nothing will deviate it from the actual concept and all.

So don't worry about the main gist, if you couldn't tell I sorta flopped on the second half of the chapter. Hope you enjoyed it though!