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Making a large story break here, just 'cause a pretty good episode got lost and stuff, and I've never gotten around to rewriting it, nor do I really want to! My bad.

Mainly experimenting with characters and their interactions in a big mesh of a world at this point. Feel free to check it out if you'd like!

For this whole thing, Christian's back. He got taken away by the "creator" of all this nonsense for maintenance, but after a mishap up in the 4th Dimension, he's suddenly returned, with nothing to go by from the creator. At this point, Cruce and everyone else are up at Equestria still, dealing with the Star Ponies and such. All of Christian's communication with Light and Darkness has been snapped, and his powers completely altered in the brief maintenance. So let's see how that does.

I'm also planning on making this feel a lot like a video game, more so than previous attempts, hopefully.
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...Ggh... Where am I...?

[Both arms forward, he observes the palms of his hands, noticing that is prone upon a plain of blue, stretching as far as the eye can see. An ethereal, cyan mist obscures the sky. Broken pillars of pearl ascend into this foggy unknown. The land is soulless and empty; infinite and devoid of any sense of reality.]

...I'm here...? I... can't feel... the fire inside...

[He lowers his head, hesitating before pushing himself from the rocky, blue ground. Without too much trouble, the human stands.]

Christian: [Gazing into the blue beyond, he inhales...] ... [Breathing out, he lowers his gaze at his gloved palms once again, before fixing his black hood over his head.] (I know who I am. I'm the Connector. And as the Connector, I've got to get back to the ones that matter to me, and fulfill my true purpose... I... kill them. I take their souls, and I reshape them, so that they can be strong again. I kill them quickly, so they don't suffer. I do this because...) [Once again, he looks to the otherworldly sky.] (...She warned me to... Mm... I wonder who she is.)

I remember who I am. I'm Christian Bayer. I was born into this realm as a human being, but my spirit's far from human. It's far from anything in this realm... what is it...?

I can't feel the fire inside. I've been changed, but by who? What's changed about me? My power?

...I can't... stay here... I'm being pulled...

...Away...

[Weighed down by an untouchable force, Christian drops to his knees. The ground around him transforms into glass for a brief moment, revealing to him the crimson, ravaged scape that is his homeland. The glass leaves him to descend. He falls through clouds of red, bound to crash into the rubble wasteland. From this immense height, he can see that the world has begun to quake uncontrollably at one time, revealing enormous crevasses with streams of magma flowing underneath them. The Earth's crust is shattering, flaking away, splitting apart, as small asteroids can be faintly seen in patches of clear, red skies. Armageddon is at play.]

...

[Christian plummets into the wreckage of a former house; a bed breaking his fall, and into many small pieces. Despite the crash landing, he appears to be completely undamaged. As the scarlet dust clears from the crash, he opens his eyes, finding that the skies are lifeless, and the planet is but fragments. As he sits up, a feeling of familiarity overcomes him. Day after day, he would awaken in this spot as a regular boy. Now, it is naught but ruin. He lacks a home, as it is in pieces around him.]

Christian: Gnh... [Pressing his hand to his head, he stands, observing his surroundings.] Liberty Rock is nothing. And it looks like the whole world's sharing in that fate... (I'll need to get a better understanding of what's going on. I have no idea how long I've been away. I remember working for Darkness and being pursued by Light, but I don't think I'll be tagging along with either. I also remember some dangerous characters running around this area, so it's in my best interest to be careful. I'm not sure how my powers work now, and it'd be horribly inconvenient to get myself killed after returning from wherever I was. I don't have any reason for being on Earth right now, so I'll need to follow signs of non-Earth activity: magic and such. That won't be hard.)

[He starts forward, stepping from the mess of debris and making his way to the center of the neighborhood cul-de-sac. Large cracks in the asphalt create unstable footing.]

Christian: (My Connection sense still seems to be going on strong. It'll point me in the direction of the nearest point of interest. That should making tracking my way to the other worlds easy.) [Christian picks up speed, breaking into a steady jog.] (Some of this rubble's causing me some hassle. Nothing a few good leaps can't fix. Should get the blood pumping again, if I have any left.) [He climbs and hops his way over some debris, as well as some large breaks in the earth. Making his way through the uphill neighborhood street, he notices a vast crevasse separating him from his goal. A massive gap in the crumbled street leaves him peering over the edge of a large cliff, the bottom of this gap glowing bright with a wide river of lava. He kicks off a few pebbles of broken asphalt into the liquid earth.] End of the road... Looking around will give me a few more options.

[Christian searches around the cliff's edge, looking to locate the highest point for a possible leap of faith across the magmatic chasm. With no adequate point in sight, he backtracks, wading through the ruin and the ashen rain. He is presented with a morbid discovery as he searches for any way across the gap.]

Christian: [Within the proximity of a few shattered houses, he notices many charred bodies laying prone upon the soot-covered ground, or sitting up against crumbled walls, necks as loose as their heads are low. Christian approaches one of the bodies, crouched.] (To think I could've known these people... That would have made things harder.) [His right hand begins trembling.] Hm? [He observes it as it shakes. His palm glows faintly.] 'The hell's...? [He clenches his fist, attempting to control the shaking. It is of to no avail. Suddenly, his entire arm jerks forward, as his palm points at the human corpse. A blue radiance escapes the body, Christian's hand absorbing this light. Making a fist once more, he achieves full control over his hand once again.] (What'd I just...? I-I can feel this light, it feels like... like some kind of new strength.) No, oh no... this is some necromancy, grim reaper crap now. What could I have taken from a dead guy--his soul? Isn't his soul already gone? [He releases a huff of his breath, rising.] Well, sorry, whatever I did. (Maybe I should try to understand what I just did a bit better, if I can.)

[Feeling a passive warmth welling up within himself, Christian searches the wreckage for any further bodies.]

Christian: [Upon finding the corpse of a young man, he lifts his arm, holding his palm out. The same transaction takes place, as a faint blue radiance escapes the body, entering Christian's own.] (Am I really draining their spirits--is that's what's going on here? I feel... stronger, when I do.)

A Voice Within: [Resides within Christian's mind.] (Of course you do. And of course you're taking their souls. How else would you accomplish your priority in the first place?)

Christian: Who's...? [Standing tall, he searches around for the origins of this playful, young-spirited voice.] Hello? Someone around?

[There is no response given...]

Christian: [He rubs the back of his head, pondering over the thought of the disembodied voice.] (I'm not pissing off the paranormal, am I? I guess the voice knew something about me though.) [Giving consideration to the childish voice, he carries on, searching around the ruin.] (My priority... right... I have to kill the beings known as Eclipses, so that I can take their souls, and reshape them. Then maybe that's what I'm doing to these bodies--taking whatever spiritual energy is left, and making it my own. If I can reshape souls in the first place, I might be able to get across that chasm using the collected energy in some kind of jump.)

[He stumbles across the body of an older woman, repeating the process from earlier.]

Christian: [Observing the woman's scarred, burnt features.] Poor people. I forgot how this all happened. [He looks away, gaze fixed on the hazy distance, ashes gently floating to the scorched earth. Giving his actions a moment's thought, he breaks back into a run, making his way back to the gap in the street.] (How did this happen? Darkness didn't cause this, right? I remember thinking that they did. I became obsessed with the idea, and eventually went insane... I learned later that I was only losing my mind because of my distance from the Eclipses. I'm the Connector. I'm supposed to be guarding them... Is that what it meant to be the Connector...? Hm... I'm going to have to do a lot of backtracking here.)

...And what of my friends? My family? I may be something other than human, but I was born here, with the identity of a human, so... I have people to be concerned about...

...Stuff's flooding back to me. I have to kill the Eclipses because something is coming, but... How long to I have? Can I make amends for all the time I've lost? Can I play my part in saving this world?

Or do I stop at nothing to complete my duty? Do I ignore my past life and get whatever this is done? The sooner I do it, the sooner the Eclipses will be fixed, I guess, and we'll be better prepared against this problem I've been warned about...

...Or... do I believe... her...? Do I ignore her warning, her commands, her everything... do I forge my own path from here?

[Christian reaches the massive gap, clueless as to what to do next.]

Christian: [He shakes his head, shrugging.] How the heck... how? What do I even...?

A Voice Within: [The voice chatters quickly, leaving no room for Christian to interrupt.] (Christian, you've used magic powers and all that crazy stuff before, right? This is a little different. Let's brainstorm together! You've taken the spiritual energy of three human beings, right? Well, that means you can transfer that energy into your own physical abilities. Since you're human for the time being, you'll get a bit of a bonus. Now, it's all about channeling that absorbed energy into certain parts of your body. If you wanna jump across this thing, you're gonna need to channel all of that energy into your legs. If you want to build a bridge, go ahead and channel it into your arms, so you can lift some heavy stuff. Go ahead and think it through!)

Christian: Wait, wha--slow down! ...Ugh... How am I... channel it? [He lowers his head, looking at his feet.] Jumping will be quicker, but... h-how long do I get to keep that enhanced strength, or whatever it is?

[There is no response.]

Christian: ...Good. Glad you could stick around. We'll get along just fine... [He takes a deep breath, focusing on the new warmth within him. As he does so, a shimmering glow begins emitting from his body. The glow drops to his feet.] Like this? That felt too easy. But now I feel like... like I can... [Almost mischievously, he squints at the opposing end of the chasm, stepping back a few feet... He breaks into a sprint, leaping from the edge. With this burst of speed and strength, he catches unreal air, soaring on the molten air beneath. Upon touchdown, he rolls quickly, absorbing the fall, which happened to bring him across the gap. He glances back at his legs, grinning.] Sweet. [With his increased strength, he continues ahead, following blazing, dilapidated neighborhood streets as his otherworldly sense leads him closer to his destination. Another, smaller gap presents itself to Christian. This time faced with a downward slope, his leap of faith is quite easier. The spiritual energy remains within his legs. Throwing caution to the fiery wind, he performs another wide leap, reaching the other end with no trouble.]

...I can work with this power.

It feels natural, but...

...How does it work elsewhere?

[Finally, Christian comes across a sight to behold: a distorted region; another cul-de-sac within the same hellish suburbs. The ruin around this anomaly is warped, concave bulges attempting to escape the area. Within the center of this bedlam is perfectly circular hole, a flickering, border of magenta neon. This hole appears to reveal another world entirely; one far less molten, anyway. The world's azure sky, as well as a few opalescent, frosted mountains are the only features to be seen.]

Christian: I remember this... [He crouches at the edge of the portal, unaffected by the peculiar neon borders. Upon gazing into the reflection-like pool of dimensional air, he notices a few blades of tall grass on the opposite end.] Someone left these portals around Liberty Rock. I think I was tracking him or her at one point. Then I died... I guess I'll find out whoever it was soon enough... [He stands, rolling his shoulders, ready to delve into the other side.]

A Voice Within: (Oh, be advised, Christian! The world you're about to enter is Soren. The Pull is strong here! You'll be transformed into a Sorenian right away, so those non-Sorenian souls you've absorbed won't take any affect. You can absorb minor energy from living things, too! That's a good starting point for when you're bottomed out. Good luck in there!)

Christian: [Again, he glances around.] Who... wh... [He sighs, shrugging his shoulders, and lowering his glance to the portal. Without further hesitation, he takes a dive into the world called Soren...]

...

Cruce's Story, episode 26:

(Twilight's split us up into teams of four to go an search for these people called the Star Ponies. Allegedly, they're kind of strong. We have to stop them before they cause too much trouble. Maybe they can help us out once everything's fixed, if possible...)

(We were the last group to leave Canterlot. I was searching for Safiri with Rush, because I'm pretty worried, and so is he. She doesn't know anything about this world... but she probably senses whatever Rush does. There's some Ecliptic "stuff" around here. Hell if I feel it, but they do.)

(...Dammit... We were attacked... Th-the Nightmares... Darkness attacked us. They took Spitfire and Rarity, but Rainbow and I are still here. There were too many. They can follow the scent of Vesse, who's within me... she warned me about this, but I didn't think it would be a problem... This is an emergency. The Storm and the Star Ponies aren't the only things we have to worry about anymore. Forget it, Rainbow and I agreed to go after Darkness and rescue Rarity and Spitfire before anything horrible happens to them. Luckily, I learned a few new abilities during that battle, like how to summon these weird wings from the Crossblade...)

(Darkness is here in full form. They want Vesse back, and they're stopping at nothing to tear her from me. I wish she could tell them that this is what she intended... Danielle, that icy Shade princess Safan, is here. She's blaming me for the death of that other Shade back on Safa, but that... wasn't me...)

(Rainbow Dash can use the Crossblade. She summoned her own in a battle with Danielle, after having seen Rarity and Spitfire transform into Nightmares. They fought us, but we drove them back. It looked like Glace was also fighting with them. I've never seen such resolve driven by emotion... Dash was amazing, but she's in a lot of pain right now. She's overwhelmed, and not speaking to me again... Like Safiri, I think she's going to be blaming the Crossblade for this, ultimately me. She has every right.)

(Danielle left with Rarity, Spitfire, and Glace. I don't know where Darkness went. We need to regroup.)

...