Broken Era:New Age

Darkness. The very same Darkness he experienced all those millennia ago. It surround him as he laid on the cold "floor". He knew this place very well...after all it was the place he called home. Aster looked around and saw that even the souls he had reaped did not dare to come near him. Left to wallow in his own anger and sadness. How could they have betrayed him like that? Surely they knew that he had no reason to utilize the magic in that artifact for evil. He required it for another purpose all together. The war had not simply started from whims of the Primordials; it was started due to the death of Terra and her not leaving a successor! "Father was right...I was betrayed by those I loved." A grin now crept on his ethereal body. "Then I shall show them what will happen when you mess with the Primordial of Death!"

He began to call about the dark forces that roamed the realm of this land. Dark pools of energy now began to enter through his forehead as he weaved his fingers around. Forming the next physical vessel that will carry his soul. "I can't have him looking like me from before...I must change him..." Aster now began to mold the threads he weaved in the air to a basic form a fairly large human. Standing at six foot two this vessel now looked to be in the basic shape of a human. He now clasped his hands with the vessel and began to fill it with the energy he used to weave the form before him. The energy began to flow through it and creating the basic skeletal structure of a human body. The threads sitting above them by a few inches as he perused the body he created. "Seems to be a bit denser than before...good. I will require a strong vessel to hold the power I will give it." As he looked around he saw that the body was beginning to attract unwanted attention. The souls of those now placed in this damned place began to look over at him. Floating in the air around him and chanting at the vessel. "Back away demons! I am you master and this is my body!"

”We need it! We wish to go back to the land you took from us!"

Aster growled as his anger now began to emit an aura of fear. "I control this domain! I shall show you if I must!" However he knew he was virtually powerless now. He may have been the Primordial of Death, but when one is killed they must be cautious of the souls that wished to escape their eternal damnation in the void. Material bodies and such always attracted them since it was the only way to go through the Gate of Return. Sure he could have waited for his body to naturally return to him but that always took a few thousand years to do and he wanted to get revenge as quick as possible.

The souls reeled back from the aura. Inside showed the greatest fears they had when they were alive. Some saw gruesome deaths of loved ones and others saw the fact that they were now scorned by the living. "But we must! We...need...a second chance..."

"Leave me be or I shall make your stay even more hellish than before!" He finally used the only trick he knew to disperse these ghosts. He knew that it would be merely an illusion but they did not. He forced the dark energy to flow into the "floor" through his palms. A loud clap was heard as flames now burst from the ground. The ground split and shook as jets of lava and fire began to illuminate the darkness around them. The void now turning into a place of heat and destruction. The souls now scampered in all directions as they wished to escape the ever expanding flames. "I'm glad I trained in here while living...otherwise I would have never been able to do that.”

Aster now turned back to the skeleton and placed his hand over its skull. Flooding it with electricity from his fingertips. It shook and flailed as it began to grow tissue. Sinews of muscle and blood began to now spread across the vessel. "I must make each organ though...this will only make the brain and basic aspects of the body. I have little time to waste." With the body now covered in muscle and flesh he moved his hands in a circular motion. He twisted the threads of energy between his fingers and pulled them about a foot apart from one another. Moving his fingers as he pulled and loosened certain threads to create a cylindrical shape to birth the organs from the void. "First a heart...strong and large." The threads began to vibrate and split into the chamber. Creating the outline of a fairly large heart and then flooding it with the energy in his ethereal form. "Then a stomach, hardy and tough. A liver to destroy the poisons of the material world. Intestines that will drain every bit of nutrients and kidneys to make sure the blood is pure."

He repeated the process for each and every organ. Carefully placing each into the cavities that were in the body. Pulling roughly on the threads he snapped them apart and forced them to act as tendrils as they bonded to each organ. Black electricity jolted off of each thread and assaulted the body. It spasmed and shook as skin began to ripple across like a tidal wave crashing onto the shore. Shortly after the scalp began to grow short and coarse black hair. The vessel grew a fair amount of hair all over his body save for his face. "Now, the simple act of entering my soul into this vessel and all will be well." Placing his hands at the temples of the body he began to filter the basics of life into it. Completely devoting himself to the task at hand he did not see the giant portal that began to form behind the body. A powerful force began to suck the material body from his grasp as he screamed in anger. "WHAT IS HAPPENING!?” was all he managed to say as the vessel opened its eyes and saw the ethereal figure before him for the blink of an eye before falling through the portal.

Twilight Sparkle had been pacing around the room with a blackboard behind her filled with mathematical equations. She snorted as she took one gander at the board and braced herself as she pointed her horn toward it. She knew that this was wrong, but magical theory needed to be tested and she was the only unicorn willing to go that far. After all, summoning a being from the void was thought to be impossible since the magical bridge between both realms were not interconnected. However through her tedious mathematical calculations she found that not only were they in fact connected, but were actually a part of a much bigger realm all together! Now of course this was in theory; in practice it provided a much more daunting challenge all together.

First was the fact that one required to open a portal as if they were doing a simple ritual spell, but required the user to know how magical leylines can be altered to splice two separate leylines into one. It didn't just stop there either. One would need a gigantic amount of magical energy to then have the spliced piece be covered by a protective coat so that the leylines wouldn't split apart immediately. Then the daunting task of having a being travel through that leyline and not being ripped into nothing but gore as the leylines detached from each other after the portal closed. However if the math proved correct than she had nothing to worry about since the leylines were actually one in the same, but that still didn't prevent her from covering the room in tarps for...science.

As she began the incantation the portal began to rip open into a dark void. Channeling the magic she shot a bolt of energy into the hole and actually heard a snap from it. "Alright...broke the leyline...now to splice it onto another." She felt the leyline begin to bend in her aura despite not seeing it and began to move it closer to a leyline below it. "If my calculations are correct...that should be the void. Let's see if we can get it to give something up!" Sweat began to pour down her face as she strained to connect the two leylines together. Her aura acted as a needle as it "stitched" the two together. "Yes! perhaps not as good a threading job as Rarity but it gets the job done." She chuckled lightly as she now levitated crystals around the portal to stabilize the leylines. Previously she had filled these gems with magic to act as the protective coating for the leylines. Fate, however, would not be kind to the curious unicorn as a large gust of wind began to exit through the portal.

Twilight was thrown around the room like a ragdoll as the crystals began to crack and jolted electricity from one to another. In her panicked state she held onto the post of her bed and desperately tried to stop the ritual by firing a bolt toward the crystals. It was to no avail as the bolt simply got absorbed into the crystal and shattered it into millions of pieces. "No no no! This was not what was supposed to happen at all! Now with a crystal destroyed the leyline will collapse and whatever is traveling inside will die!" she shouted in fear. The fact that she was about to kill a possibly confused creature was eating away at her as she could do nothing to stop the chain reaction of crystals beginning to burst from magical capacity overload. One by one they shattered into millions of pieces until finally the last one shined brightly for a second and filled the room with a blinding light. Twilight could hear the crystal shatter and the portal closed. The gust of wind suddenly ended and the room went back to normal. Well as normal as it could be after having a massive gust blowing around all the items that were inside.

Twilight blinked a few times to readjust her sight after being blinded. She shook and whimpered as the fear of flesh and blood covering most of the room overtook her thoughts. But to her pleasure the room was not covered in gore or fluid. Rather at the center of the room there laid a strange looking creature. The creature had a short black mane on the top of his head. His skin was that of a lightly tanned leather and was covered in small hairs. She took a few steps over to and cautiously prodded its side. She felt the warmth coming off of it as it took in a sharp breath and quickly rose on two legs. Startled by the sudden movement she fell on backwards on her rump and just looked up at him in awe. It had two fairly large arms that ended with what she presumed to be claws. Its small emerald eyes looked down at her and his face was in a neutral stare. It scanned the room and then looked her over as and spoke in a fairly deep tone "Where is this?”

Seeing as it had a fairly deep tone Twilight presumed that the creature was male. She responded quickly "What are you?"

The man quickly brought a hand to his head and held it tightly. "A...human...my name is Aster..." His mind felt as if it were on fire.

"Human? I've never heard of one of those before." Suddenly Twilight realized that her spell had in fact succeeded and she began to jump wildly as she shouted "Yes yes yes yes!"

Aster looked at the little lavender...thing as it began its little act of joy. He had no clue as to what was going on but clearly this thing was happy that he was here. "Um excuse me...if you wouldn't mind can you tell me where I am and what I am doing here?"

Twilight quickly regained her self-control and coughed into her hoof. "Eheh sorry about that. It's just that I am so happy that my spell worked! It's nice to meet you Aster and my name is Twilight Sparkle. Student of Princess Celestia and the Element of Magic." She raised a hoof to her chest as she proudly proclaimed the last part of her introduction. After all what's a little stroke to the ego every once in a while?

Aster held his head once more as he heard Twilight speak of this Princess. It felt as if his head was about to explode from the thought of that name. He simply grunted and replied back "Nice to meet you Twilight Sparkle. Is there any place I can sit down?" He then looked down to find himself naked as well and began to feel warmth fill his cheeks. "And if you don't mind...something to cover up with?"

Twilight began to look down his chest until she eventually came upon exactly what he was talking about in terms of "covering up". She blushed and turned around quickly to get her guest what he required. Leaving Aster by himself to peruse the room. He darted his eyes to see if he could find anything useful to tell him exactly where he was. Carefully roaming his eyes around he found a fairly large bookshelf that might assist him in learning more about what was beyond the confines of this abode. Looking at the variety of titles and colors of the books he found one spine to read "Equestria and You: A Beginner's Guide to Learning about Equestria". He opened the book and on the first page found a picture of two things circling around one another. Flipping the page, he quickly found that this world was inhabited by ponies and that there were three kinds of beings. The unicorns which control magic and have horns, The pegasi which have the power to control the weather, and the earth ponies which were the stronger of the three races and had agricultural roots.

Twilight practically kicked the door in and gave Aster the towel she had taken from her bathroom. Startled by the booming sound of wood on wood, Aster dropped the book immediately and got covered by the towel. Slowly reaching up, he pulled the towel down to his waist and fastened a makeshift skirt. "Thank you."

"Not a problem." Twilight beamed. "So you were reading? Did you understand the book?"

"I got a vague idea of where I am and who inhabit it." He knelt down and picked the book up from the spine. "Though I'm sure a more thorough explanation will be necessary."

Twilight's eyes sparkled in delight as she heard his reply. Finally she was going to be the teacher to somepony! She couldn't believe that he actually wanted a lecture since most other ponies would "rather watch paint dry" than listen to the amount of knowledge she bestowed. She pulled up a stool and grasped a quill, notepad, and inkbottle. "Sit down on my bed and I'll start, but in exchange you have to give me some knowledge on your anatomy."

Aster placed himself gently on the bed and nodded at her proposal. "Seems like a fair trade...though there isn't much I can give."

Time rolled on by as the two of them began to discuss back and forth. Aster learned that two princesses that were "alicorns", were in charge of this country of Equestria. He also found out that Equestria wasn't the only kingdom and that many different kinds of sapient beings lived in this land. Deer, gryphons, zebra, minotaurs, and even cows were intelligent. Some even had thier own kingdoms that were mostly friendly towards Equestria. Furthermore, Twilight told him all about recent history with Nightmare Moon, Discord, the Elements of Harmony and how Twilight and her friends were holders of them. Hours passed as she went on about everything she thought he needed to know and Aster soaked it all up like a sponge. Though throughout her speech, he had gotten a few headaches from specific names and events. Twilight often stopped to check if he was alright to continue and each time he simply asked for a glass of water and a few minutes to recollect himself.

After she was done with what she thought was the most important things that Aster should know, Twilight had let him speak about his body. He explained things like his hands and fingers. How they were dexterous, but were also very fragile. Talking about how human stood on two legs and were omnivores. All the basics about human anatomy, but never delving anything more than a few sentences about each detail. What could she expect though? After all, he did suffer from amnesia. She was lucky he knew even half of the things she was jotting down on her notepad. The session went long into the night and soon enough both of them began to show all the signs of fatigue. Yawning, excessive blinking and a much slower response than when they had began the interview. Twilight rubbed her eyes and faced Aster. "I think it's about time we go to bed. After all that has happened today, a good night's rest is something I'm sure both of us need." Aster merely nodded in agreement. "Then you take the couch downstairs, and don't worry about spike. I already told him about you when I got you your towel. Tomorrow we will wake up early so we can get you to Rarity's boutique for some proper clothes."

"Good. As comfortable as this towel may be, I would enjoy some proper clothing." Aster replied sarcastically.

"Very funny Aster. Oh and bring this down with you." Twilight levitated a scroll into his open palm. "Put it down in the kitchen."

"Your wish is my command." Twilight snorted at his retort. He wished her a good night and proceeded to his new arrangements. As he stepped down the stairs he saw the vast collection of books inside her home. "I take it she is a avid fan of reading then. Makes sense as to how she was able to explain all of that to me before." Aster thought. He quickly made for the kitchen and set the scroll on the table. Walking back to the couch and finally laying down after such a long day. "Maybe I'll be able to remember more in the morning. And who knows...perhaps I'll even be able to figure out if I'm a part of some ancient prophecy like Nightmare Moon was." He chuckled lightly at the absurdity of that thought and quickly drifted off into the realm of dreams.

Spike saw the human thing Twilight spoke about come into the kitchen and leave the scroll she gave to him. He shrugged and thought it better to simply go with the flow rather than make a big fuss about it. There were way weirder things that have happened so why not this? He grasped the scroll and breathed his green fire to disintegrate it. With his last chore for the day done, he smiled devilishly and went for the secret stash of gems Twilight hid from him in the cupboard.

Princess Celestia was just about to retire for the night when she received a scroll by first class dragon mail. She chuckled slightly as she imagined Twilight frantically wanting to get a friendship report to her before bed. Quickly grasping the scroll in her aura she opened it up and read the contents carefully. She gasped as Twilight explained how she brought a creature to their realm from another and even managed to find out that it knew Equestrian! However the name and description of the creature was the one thing that truly perturbed her. "Aster? And it called itself a human?" As she began to think about these thoughts, she began to have a massive migraine. She quickly shook her head and attempted to refocus herself at the thoughts, but no matter what she tried the migraine would only get worse. Finally, she reluctantly gave up and thought it best to make sure a guard was to remind her early in the morning. "Guard!" she called out painfully.

A unicorn stallion with golden armor and a short sword sheathed, entered the room quickly. "Princess? Are you alright?"

"Yes...do not worry about that. I have a task for you."

"As you wish my princess. What is the task you require me to do?"

She handed him the note and yawned loudly. "I wish for you to hold on to that note. When it is morning and I am to raise the sun, I wish for you to give the note back to me so that I may examine it more when I am not as tired."

"Of course my princess." His aura spread across the note as she held it in front of him. "Anything else?"

"No, you are dismissed."

"As you wish your highness." The stallion exited the room and began to wonder why the princess would hand him such a useless scroll. He knew, just like every other guard, that the insignia the scroll held was that of her favored student Twilight Sparkle. Never before had any guard been tasked with such a strange task. His curiosity got the better of him however and he looked left and right to make sure nopony was around. After feeling that his search was adequate enough, he opened the scroll and began to read the contents inside. His eyes went wide as he carefully re-read the scroll to make sure he was correct in its message. After concluding that the message was the truth, he hurriedly rushed into the dark corridors of the castle. His commander would need to see this...