==Allen POV==

It was a long training session after another. While Cain was teaching me everything there was to know about aura and it's many applications across the board, he said that learning every aspect right down to the letter would be difficult at best and nigh impossible at worst. Aura can change shape to change it's function. This can lead into it doing many things but to a lesser degree. Flame shapes can burn but refinement dictates its intensity. Thunder can shock but the arcs dictate that actual volts and amps. Ice can freeze but can also be mistaken for crystal without a sub-aura to emulate cool air. It was exhausting. The more simple shaping forms like slash, blunt, spike and even spiral are easier to manage as these shapes help to achieve a specific damage type.

After that I had to color the aura and that's where things started getting bonkers. For one, coloring aura means the color has a property of its own and this property can be applied to the shapes. A drill that sucks in light, a blade that freezes foes, a sickle that rots bodies, and potentially souls, a spike that erupts the ground with nature and vines and more. With so many colors, the properties were nigh endless on their own. Once we got to combinations.... I did not bother taking notes. Even Cain said that most combinations, if the colors work with each other, can be very powerful. So experimentation wasn't on the table.

One thing I did catch was my body. "Cain." The massive Eva tribute looked my way. "Why is my body reducing to a skeleton?" He felt hesitant. I knew I was in the crystals a long time but I didn't know how long.

"Your aura is trapped in the crystals, as is your soul. But without nourishment, you started to slowly die." My eyes widened. Best case I was pale as a ghost and a little thin. Worst case, I was a skeleton. "Your body and soul are still where you cast the crystal imprisonment. But over these long years, you started withering."

I look out, enjoying the taste of my drink. "Is there a way to constitute a new body?"

"You've been learning that for a while." I look at him, confused and intrigued. "These sessions of training your mind and body are methods of helping your body gain the skills to change and adapt." He stood up, his shrunken size still towering over me. "You've learned how to use Aura in its many form. Now it's time for your ultimate test." My body and clothes suddenly fell and I looked to see just my spine and ribs. I scream clearly but this wasn't a joke. Cain tried to reassure me and was getting pissed before we both felt a warm presence. My eyes, or lack there of, focused my vision outward. I could see Alexie in a town, asleep and dreaming. Her dream was pleasant as he smile was affectionate, reassuring me and calming me down. Taking a deep breath, I concentrate and by Cain's account, black markings, that light couldn't illuminate, covered my existing skeleton before appearing to seer together and cover my bones before the black turned to a light brown as bone structures grew from my body, forming a full skeleton. Black tissue emerged from the bones and took the shape and structure of my muscles and turned the same pale brown before more black tissue emerged, forming my skin before the black withdrew to my head, making my hair and revealing my skin. Aside from the lack of a penis, which can be made later, my body looked better. And whatever I did during training felt natural, like breathing. "You are ready. When you break out, your body will still be a skeleton, but your soul, spirit and mind will aid in your reconstruction. And this training will make your mastery of aura as natural as breathing. But be wary of inactive use for long periods." I nod and we spend when remaining time we have left flying or walking around the constructed world.

Deciding not to waste away my training, I use the same method as I did to grow my body to make an exoskeleton that resembled a mix of Armored Cores and the M.A.S.S. from the indie game. Shame I won't get to play it, but I can live it... sort of. To put simply, I wasn't going to let myself get rusty so I drew upon my repressed negativity to create the same enemies as the game, creatures from a seeming void that possess an eldritch power. This allowed me to attempt creating rifles, handguns, swords and the like from myself as I was the sheath and armory. 'Clevetius is so getting an upgrade.' So for the next.... I don't know how long I've been in here but it helps, since I can aid Alexie in times of distress during her sleep and with Clevetius I'd be able to calm her with my own presence.

During the invasion which happened in an unknown amount of time after my sealing, Clevetius was in hibernation and when I saw the barrier about to expel the changelings, I woke the sword and it acted, treating Alexie as the secondary user. He stopped the barrier and pushed it back to the source thanks in part to my knowledge of aura. After that, she went to the nearest town and made a home for herself their to live among the equines. I didn't know when the next chance would come, so I had to wake up.

This caused several things to happen. While I was asleep, the equines that moved here or were born here were affected by the aura residing in the crystals. They turned a giant jagged collection into a kingdom and the ponies eventually became anatomically capable of turning into living crystal. But they had a unicorn that became something akin to a lord of shadow as his body went from a unicorn to a natural force of shadows. In waking up myself and the kingdom I brought back a great horror. Thankfully, my body was untouched and resided in the throne itself but was also hidden deep within the throne as if it were a coffin.

I tried many times to break out. My aura was depleted and I needed to get out. "WAKE UP! ALLEN!" My wife's desire and my drive spurred me as I started gathering natural aura from around the kingdom and beyond. My body rushed with power as I attempted to break out, with success.

==General POV==

Alexie stared at the throne before a sharp crack rang from the throne as it shook. More cracks followed in random places before it split open, revealing the skull, spine and ribs of the former savior from millennia passes. Alexie was struck with dread before black markings emerged from the sockets, covering every bone in a flame mark pattern before searing together and turning a light brown. More bones were than being constructed with creaking and cracking sounds as they were shaped and refined. Each bone carefully made with ligaments until the skeleton was complete, covered in black tissue that looked like muscle then covered again before the black pulled away, revealing a pale skin complexion as the black drew up, making hair in dreadlocks that hung to Allen's shoulders. He opened his eyes to reveal an alluring and dangerous hazel. This was him, reborn but not replaced.

Alexie stared in awe and suspense. She walked closer to the man whom she felt connected to. Touching his skin made her shiver as his air was inviting and calm. He lifted his head and their eyes met. Alexie almost cried before smiling. "You're... here." She was relieved before the outside reminded them shit was going down. Allen saw the cannon fixture and was ready to head out. "Wait." He turned back and saw her holding a pair of bottoms for men. He slid them on and kissed her. Her wings fluttered and she savored the moment.

He broke the kiss and smiled lovingly. "I'll be back. Just need to break in the new body." His expression shifted to lust. "Then we can break you in." She flushed before the two shared laugh and a wholesome smile. "I'm off."

She let go and he headed out, the sound of static present for but a moment before appearing in front of the blast, blocking it. "So then, what's happened during my nap?" Everyone was stunned silent. This was a human in their kingdom and he stopped a laser blast from Sombra.

"A human....?" The smoke made unicorn smiled gleefully. "How interesting." The king fired a bolt that nailed Allen on the skull. He appeared to bow backward and Cadence was already afraid that the human would be under Sombra's control. The human slowly corrected his posture and opened his unchanged eyes with a smirk, chuckling at the unicorn's futility. "WHAT?!"

"That trick would work if it weren't for one thing. I spent god-knows-how-long in my head refining my abilities and craft. I know loneliness and anger." The air around Allen became dangerous and hot, like a smoldering inferno was about to rage into a roaring fire. "Would you like to see it?" He raised his hand as it lit ablaze with a crimson flame, the heat of which burned against the endless winter and caused many ponies to back away or sweat. Sombra smiled again and spread his arms, challenging the human's power. "Then burn." His short statement was cold and almost sinister. Allen had wanted to test his power and now he has a chance to against something cruel. Giving no restraints or chill he released his flame and Sombra immediately regret his decision as the flames washed over him and burned. The dark unicorn's hollowed voiced echoed a painful scream before the flames die down. When the ponies could see again, he was still standing and conscious. "I'm actually glad you're still up. The pain to your skin is possibly as bad as it feels, but you managed to stay on your feet."

Sombra looked so mad a blood vessel appeared on his head. "I will rot your soul and make you my unquestioning slave you insolent underling!" Sombra started firing off bolts so rapidly that some of them were missing, though with Allen's training, the bolts were dispersed and absorbed as raw essence into his body. Allen sat there taking spell after spell into him as Sombra started getting tired. "You will... serve me... insolent..." Sombra was short of breath but when he saw Allen, the unicorn withdrew a breath in fear before the human spoke.

His head held high, his voice boomed with power and confidence. "Subject of the Crystal Kingdom, lend me your ears." Crystal ponies lifted their heads as this human spoke like a warrior king. "You are neither a proud nor stalwart kind, but a peaceful and loving race. War is not what you seek and when backed into a corner you come together to shun the dark. Lend me you hearts, your kindness, your strength. Empower your kingdom and yourselves." The ponies, feeling lifted, turned into their truest nature as the kingdom lit with happiness and Sombra's rage fueled before retreating into his clouds and growing in size. The crystal heart was put in place during Allen's speech but it only purified the crystals as Sombra fired off another ray of darkness, met with a light coming from the human as he looked up, his eyes changing to bright cyan over black sclara. "The chromatic aura triad has been decided for your demise!" The air around Allen became visible as one streaked a color after another. "The darkness that guards innocence, Obsidian Black." A dark tint streak circled above the human but it seemed to produce light instead of absorb it.

Sombra felt the danger and tried to stop whatever was happening, only for his darkness to be absorbed before pulling back. "Burning rage of the sun, Solar Gold." A gold and scarlet wisp gathered, resembling the sun up close. Sombra again tried to strop the process and fired some crystal spells before the spells turned to crystal and were shattered by the close range heat or absorbed by the light producing shadow.

"And final, the confidence to take pity on evil, Proud Blue." A vibrant blue collected and the three seemed to spark together. Allen raised his right hand as it form a beast's maw, which devoured the colors before a cannon was produced from its mouth. "Burn with the sun as your darkness sears to nothing." He took aim and Sombra turned away to run. "Proud Lion Flare!" The beast maw formed into a lion's head as what appeared to be a piece of the sun was fired and chased down Sombra. When the stream hit Sombra, it screamed in pain as it and the dark clouds were burned, like gas fumes lit aflame. The weapon deformed and withdrew into the human's arm and he was seemingly stoic before chuckling childishly. "I bet everyone has tried to be Kaze once after seeing Final Fantasy, though I can't blame them." He turned back and saw the ponies looked more like refined crystal than uncut gems. "Again, what did I miss."

Author's Note

Sorry for the shorter chapter. I didn't want to cross introductions with a character's return as there is a lot of emotions and info to unpack onto these characters and onto Alexie since we're going into past lives. See you guys next part.