Long before Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have ascended to the throne of Equestria and have been generally accepted as not only the rulers but the deities of Equestria - even if they frequently denied it themselves - ponies held all different kinds of religious beliefs. These were all universally different yet still held some similarities.
Some of them believed that all life on Equus was created by a giant volcano eruption and therefor built temples around volcanos and worshipped them. Others assumed visitors from beyond the stars build their civilisation and looked towards the sky with similar fanatism. And there was one religion that even worshipped a group of beings called the Lords of Chaos and viewed a being named Discord as their messiah. These believers continued to remain even after the princesses rose to power.
But one common trait these religions all shared was the belief of malevolent spirits whose sole purpose of existence was to spread harm and corrupt the inhabitants of this world into abandoning their morals and give in to evil. There were several names for those entities but one name they shared in almost every religion was demon.
As modern scholars kept researching their religions, they were fascinated to discover that there were seven demons that all of them depicted in some form. And even more peculiarly, in all of them, these seven entities all shared the same name, The Seven Deadly Sins.
The first one was Envy. A being who fed on a creature's anger and longing for the possessions and achievements of others and could possess them into committing heinous acts in an attempt to claim them for themselves.
The second one was Lust. This demon could force others to abandon all of their moral restraints and give in to the most basic instinct of any creature, the satiation of carnal desires.
The third one was Gluttony. This creature usually targeted rulers and nobels of societies, giving them insatiable appetites and making them bled their lands dry for all of their resources that can be made into food. Entire lands and kingdoms have fallen because this demon was just as hungry for victims as it made them.
The fourth one was Greed. Any creature could fall victim to the influence of this monster and once they did, no matter what was their most desired thing, the more of them they had, the more of it they wanted and they did not concern themselves on who they had to hurt or what atrocities they bad to commit to get it.
The fifth one was Pride. No creature was immune to this feeling but this demon could increase it to irrational levels inside them, making them do horrible things to those who wound their pride or commit even more horrible things to make sure their pride is unhurt.
The sixth one was Sloth. At first, one would believe that sloth in tself is a harmless quality. But try telling that to the ponies who died or lost everything because the ones they sought help from were too lazy to bother offering it to them.
And lastly, there was the demon that was perhaps the most malicious and most dangerous of them all, Wrath. It was the most destructive of it's brothers and everywhere it went and corrupted creatures, the destruction it left in it's wake was unimaginable. Hundreds of wars, revolutions and violent crimes have been sparked because of this demon's insatiable bloodlust.
The Seven Sins have ravaged the land since the dawn of time, bringing ruin to several civilisations, kingdoms and individual creatures as well, until one day, they suddenly vanished. And the fact that every single religion tells of them made their tale even more credible to many.
Dr. Caballeron was not among those. He has heard the several folk tales and legends that surrounded these entities and he himself also witnessed several outlandish and otherworldly happenings during his time as a treasure hunter. But even after all of that, he could never bring himself to give any credit to stories born of religions.
So why did he come out to the middle of nowhere to take part in the alleged discovery of the chamber where these alleged beings were allegedly prisonerd. To be completely honest, even he wasn't sure. Maybe he just wanted a break from being constantly beaten by that accursed Daring Do to every single archaeological discovery he tried to dig up himself. Much like himself, Daring never had much interest in religious artifacts and he knew she would never bother herself with a story like this, so he thought maybe he could escape the frustration that mare meant for him by coming here.
And who knew? Maybe he wouldn't find the prison of the most evil beings Equestria has ever seen, but he could find something of value down there that could make him rich and famous. He had nothing to lose from trying. Though he had to admit he was at the end of his patience by the guide of his crew.
The mare who lead them to the entrance of the cavern they were about to explore was none the wiser about their true intentions and believed them to be a group of priests who came to help them exorcise the demons from this place. While they were supposed to be imprisoned down there, their influence was still powerful enough to affect nearby settlements. In fact, that was how they managed to find the chamber in the first place. By tracking the demonic influence to it's source.
"Father Caballeron!" The aqua blue pegasus mare with matching mane greeted the earth pony stallion as he arrived at the entrance of the cave they were supposed to investigate. "We are so happy you could make it!" Caballeron feigned a warm smile.
"Of course, my child. Nothing can take priority over our fight against the forces of evil." He replied on a faux sweet voice. "Now would you please show us to the chamber?"
"Of course!" The mare replied with a smile. "This way please!"
The ponies entered the cave and descended down on a lengthy set of stairs. Since they didn't have a unicorn in their group, they had to use a torch to light their way. In the light of the flame, Caballeron could make out a few murals in the walls depicting the misdeeds of all the sins such as Gluttony consuming everything around it, Sloth lazing on the backs of several creatures and Pride standing on a pedestal, placing itself above every creature and looking down on them.
"I take it this cavern isn't a natural creation then." He asked their guide as they arrived at the bottom of the stairs.
"We were just as surprised." The mare replied. "We have no idea who built this chamber. On the inside there are even more murals but we have been unable to deduce their meanings. And to be honest, the statues are far more fascinating." This last bit caught Caballeron's interest. Statutes sounded like they could be of some value.
He shared an eager glance with his crew as they approached the entrance of the chamber. It was a rather large pair of stone gates with a lightning symbol on it. It was already slightly ajar which he found rather strange.
"Isn't it risky leaving the gates open like that? Somepony could sneak inside and take the statues before us." The mare gave him an odd look and he suddenly remembered that he broke character. "I mean... the evil energy could escape." He corrected himself nervously. Fortunately for him, the mare didn't become suspicious and merely smiled again.
"Yes, we know. But the gates have been sealed shut by very powerful magical energy when we discovered them. We needed the combined might of the best unicorn images in our village to pry them open. We didn't want to risk getting them shut again." Caballeron nodded in understanding as the ponies entered the chamber.
The inside of the place looked exactly like Caballeron expected. A dark, dusty room only illuminated by their torch and held up by old stone columns that had several pieces of them missing.
"I can't see a thing down here." Caballeron said. "Where exactly are these statues?"
"At the end of the chamber." The mare replied. "Follow me." As she lead the stallions to the other side of the room, Caballeron could see more murals on the wall. They depicted the Seven Sins surrounded by seven ponies who looked like they were wearing robes and had staffs in their hooves. They formed a circle around the Sins and pointed their staffs at them, realising lightning that engulfed the demons whose faces showed agony. Before he could give the drawing any thought, he bumped into the mare in front of him.
"There they are, Father." She said as she pointed at the wall in front of them. Caballeron looked up and in the torchlight, he finally saw them. Seven statues of demonic equine creatures were lined up in front of him. She asked the mare to pass over the torch and went closer to get a better look at them.
The first in the row was a demon that looked like a mare with a seductive look on her face and one hoof held out in a beckoning motion that only could have been Lust.
"Hmph. Not as hot as I hoped." One of his companions noted, earning a hard nudge into his side from his boss. Caballeron then went on to the next statue and saw a demon that held the world in it's hooves and was about to consume it. It didn't take a genius to figure out this was supposed to be Gluttony.
The statue next to it showed a pony sitting on the world with a bored expression. No doubt that was Sloth. The demon next to it was standing tall and haughty, looking down at Caballeron condescendingly. Even though it was just stone, he could feel the pride radiating from it's eyes.
But it was the last three statues that really had an effect on Caballeron. The demon holding a bag of treasures greedily against it's chest. He made eye contact with the statue and for a brief moment, he could have sworn that he saw it's eyes lit up with red glow.
'Greed.'
Caballeron jumped in surprise upon hearing the voice. He looked back at his two companions.
"What did you say?" He asked nervously. They looked back at him in confusion.
"Nothing, boss." They replied. Caballeron wasn't sure if he believed them. He was certain he heard a voice but it didn't sound like his two accomplices. But if it weren't them who spoke, who was it? Eventually he just shook his head and tried to forget about it.
The next demon statue was staring longingly at bag in the hold of the previous one. Caballeron quickly figured out which one this was, but before he could even think it in his head, he heard a voice again.
'Envy.'
This time he tried to act like he didn't hear it. The last thing he wanted was to look like a lunatic in the eyes of his hired hooves. They may get the idea that he would be easy to double cross so he decided to just ignore it.
He moved on to the final statue and as much as he didn't want to admit it, this one frightened him the most. The statue at the end of the row that looked down at Caballeron with a look of pure, hate and fury. He actually gulped as he looked into the statue's eyes. If looks could kill, he would be dead a hundred times over. He made eye contact with this statue as well and he heard a voice again.
'Wrath.'
He wasn't even surprised when he heard the third statue's name inside his head. It was like the statues were calling out to him. He knew that was impossible, but more importantly, he wondered why would it be only these three statues that had this effect on him.
Caballeron suddenly felt a hoof on his shoulder and he was so caught up in his thoughts that even this simple gesture startled him. He turned around to see the mare that guided them down here standing next to him.
"I'm sorry, father. I didn't mean to startle you." She apologised immediately. "I just wanted to ask you what are you going to do?" Caballeron cleared his head to come up with a credible story for her.
"Well, my child, I believe it would be the best course of action if we tried to remove these dreadful things from this place to end their evil influence on the land. We will carry out the exorcism elsewhere. In the meantime, would you mind leaving us for a while? We will need to prepare them for the trip." The mare nodded.
"Of course, Father. The less time I have to spend in this vile place the better. I will wait at the entrance." After she left, Caballeron turned to his cohorts.
"So what do you think? Are they a good enough find for you?" The other two earth pony stallion didn't look convinced.
"I don't know. How much do you think we'd get for these ugly things?" One of them asked.
"Well, you never know. These art collectors will buy all kinds of stuff." The other replied. "A few months ago, a previous boss of mine sold a pitchfork to one of them that a farmer once allegedly used to protect his family form a dragon."
"So we're in an agreement." Caballeron replied. "Let's see if we can remove them from their place." The three stallions went over to the statues and grabbed one of them in an attempt to remove it, but to their dismay, they found that it was attached to the platform it was standing on. Eventually, they had to give up.
"Great!" One of them grunted, hitting the statue in frustration. "Now what?!"
"What do you think, genius?" The other one retorted. "We're gonna have to blast them off of these platforms. Good thing we brought explosives." He was about to head back to the entrance, but Caballeron stopped him.
"Are you crazy?! With statues this old, the whole thing could be blown to pieces from the blast! Not to mention it could cause a cave in! This place already looks it's gonna fall apart. No, we're gonna have to do this the old fashioned way. Go back up and get the pickaxes!" The other two stallions groaned in irritation upon the hard work that was implied they'll have to do but they had no choice but to comply.
Once they left, Caballeron was left alone with the statues. He looked back at them for a while, but the more he watched them, the more uncomfortable he got. He couldn't take it for long and turned away. Suddenly he wasn't so sure that this expedition was a good idea anymore.
"What are you so nervous about? These are just statues for Celestia's sake! Lifeless pieces of stone!" He snapped at himself, slapping his own muzzle. "Just think about all the bits you'll be making from this! You have finally manged to make a big discovery that Daring Do couldn't!" That thought alone made him giddy.
That pesky pegasus explorer has been a thorn in his side since day one. When she denied him to become her partner on her journeys, he felt more wrath than he ever did in his life. He became a treasure hunter himself but unlike Daring he was motivated by his greed for financial gain and he was always envious over her successes. Wrath. Greed. Envy.
Caballeron sat down in front of the three statues that symbolised those three negative traits with his back turned to them as he couldn't stand their gazes anymore and so he couldn't see the red glow in their eyes intensifying, nor did he hear the low, otherworldly whispers that soon filled the room.
"Yes. This one is greedy alright." A demonic voice mused. "Greedy enough to become my new host."
"Be silent!" An angry voice commanded. "He may be greedy and wrathful but that's nothing compared to the envy I feel inside him! He is the most suitable host for you, brother!" A third demonic voice just chuckled in satisfaction while the first one made no sound of opposition. The Sins would never admit it, but even they feared the wrath of their brother.
"Your wisdom is unmatched, brother." The third voice replied in a flattering way. "In that case, I will not delay. I have been imprisoned here without blood and flesh far too long!"
The demon reached out towards Caballeron and true to his brother's words, the envy he felt inside him gave it enough strength to leave his stone prison and float towards the stallion in the form of a red mist. It made no sound so Caballeron didn't hear anything when the demon reached him and entered his body. He jumped up in shock as he felt the heat of the entity taking control of him and forcing itself into the deepest part of his consciousness.
Caballeron panted heavily as he raised one of his hooves to his chest. He suddenly felt his entire world turn red and scorching hot. He tried taking a few steps forward but he fell over and collapsed on his knees. A sudden urge came over him to vomit but for some reason, nothing came out. He simply gagged and struggled to breathe. His head suddenly sprung upwards so fast that for a moment he was afraid his neck was broken. His eyes snapped wide open and his pupil grew as large as his entire eye socket with demonic red light. Then suddenly, it all stopped.
"Hey, doc, we're back!" The two stallions called out to him as they reentered the chamber with their tools. "We can start removing the statues as soon as you give the order." One of them replied as he tossed a pickaxe in front of him.
Caballeron didn't answer just kept staring ahead of himself. But eventually, he did raise his gaze at them but they saw right that something was wrong. His eyes were glazed over and his pupils appeared to be redder than they remembered.
"You..." He spoke on a raunchy voice that made the two in front of him jump in fright. "You want to take them away from me, don't you? You want them for yourselves!" He roared before reaching for his pickaxe. "You can't have them! They're mine!" Caballeron then lunged forward and swung the pickaxe. He moved so quickly that his cohorts didn't even have time to react. Much quicker than it was equinely possible. They didn't even have time to scream. By the time Caballeron was done, they were lying in front of him in a pool of their own blood.
The possessed doctor finally snapped out of his berserk state and when he saw what he has done, he gasped in horror and threw the pickaxe away. He fell back on the ground and grabbed his head in despair. He may have been an amoral treasure hunter but he wasn't a killer. What could have possessed him to do this? As if on cue, the voice inside his head made itself known.
"Greetings, Dr. Caballeron." Envy greeted it's new host who was rather taken aback. "You want our statues to become rich and famous, but we can give you so much more. I can feel your envy for a certain pony. You want to take everything from her. Now I can also see who that is."
"What are you?!" Caballeron voiced his first thought that was quickly overshadowed by another. "How... How do you..."
"I am a part of you now, Dr. I know all you know, all of your thoughts and memories." Envy replied. "Your Envy of Daring Do made it possible for me to be free and if you help my brothers do the same by getting them new hosts as well, I can give you what you most desire."
"And that would be..." Caballeron asked, clearly interested in the offer. He could feel envy smile inside his head.
"Everything Daring Do has." The proposal was tempting, but understandably, Caballeron wasn't thrilled about the idea of becoming a demon's puppet so he still head reservations.
"And if I refuse?" To his surprise, the demon merely chuckled in response.
"I wouldn't recommend that." It replied on a taunting voice. "In that case, I would have to kill you and look for a new host." Caballeron gasped in shock and Envy could feel that he already made up his mind. The demon smiled.
"Good choice, Dr. Now then, here's what you'll have to do." Before Envy could give him his instructions, he was interrupted when the gates of the chamber creaked open again. Caballeron looked up and saw the guide mare enter the chamber slowly and nervously.
"Father, is everything alright? I've heard some commission form up there and..." She froze when she saw the scene in front of her. The two butchered ponies on the ground and Caballeron covered in their blood. The stallion felt envy consuming him once more. If this mare got our and alerted others of what happened, no doubt they were going to send powerful ponies to stop him. Ponies that Caballeron was not ready to take on by himself. They were gonna take the possible fruits of his discovery from him and that he couldn't allow. Summoning incredible speed again, he ran to grab his pickaxe again and picked it up to finish the job.
Hours have passed since the horrendous events have gone down in the chamber of the Seven Sins. Caballeron have long since left to carry out the instructions of the demon that took control of him, leaving only three bloody corpses left in there to rot. Without the torchlight, not even an ounce of light illuminated the chamber. Not even from the entrance above as Caballeron sealed it shut to prevent others from discovering the chamber.
But there was one entity from whose eyes nothing could be concealed. A light suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the chamber. At first, it was but a faint blue glow, then it began to increase in intensity. Eventually, it grew into a blue orb of light and the silhouette of a pony began to materialise in it's center.
As the pony became more and more visible, he was revealed to be a green stallion with white mane and pupilless white eyes, wearing a blue trenchcoat that covered his entire body and a matching blue fedora hat.
The light behind him subsided, but the stallion himself was luminescent enough to still emit a light blue light out of himself for the room to remain visible. He walked up to the three dead ponies and gave them a long, expressionless look.
"Lost souls." He spoke with a somber tone and an echoey voice. "Gone before their time. I can hear them calling out to me. Asking me to help them cross into the hereafter. Forgive me, but the Phantom Stranger can only guide, not steer." The entity now known as the Phantom Stranger turned towards the statues.
"If their souls are to find rest, their passing must be avenged. But that is beyond my power." His gaze then turned towards the mural depicting the defeat and the trapping of the Sins. "I was there that day. I saw the downfall of the Seven Deadly Sins. There is only one group of creatures who can defeat them once more." The Stranger then turned away from the wall and started walking into the direction of the closed gates. "If this crisis is to be averted before the worst comes to pass, I must visit them immediately. Let us hope time hasn't diminished their power." As he walked towards the gates, his body started fading away and when he reached them, he simply passed through them and disappeared altogether, leaving the chamber once again in darkness.
The Stranger entered an endless corridor of spiraling blue and white light. This ethereal passageway was his method of traveling between the realms. He could enter any known plane of existence from here. Space was a plaything for him. All around the passageway were doorways into any and all places imaginable, showing marvelous things that would have caused anypony to drop their jaws in amazement. But the Stranger was not anypony. He had existed since time immemorial and during this time had seen anything that can be seen. And he couldn't allow himself any detours. His destination was clear.
When he spotted the exit he was looking for, he made his way towards it with slow and steady steps and walked through it to enter another dark chamber, not unlike the one he just left. But this one also had noticabe differences in it. The chamber the Stranger just left oozed malevolence from every crack, but in this one, he felt good vibes. It was a welcome change.
The other difference was that when he looked up, instead of seven statues, he saw seven thrones at the end of the room, but he found it odd that only one of them was occupied by a cloaked, bearded black unicorn stallion. The last time he was here, a similar pony was sitting on all seven of them. Granted, the last time he was here was centuries ago.
The unicorn on the throne was deeply asleep and apparently, his slumber was so deep that even the stranger's arrival wasn't enough to disturb his sleep. At first, the Stranger was afraid that the old wizard had already passed away, but as he approached him, the old unicorn must have felt the magical energy coming from him as he was quickly stirred awake.
"What? Who is... Who is there?" The wizard mumbled as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Once he was fully conscious, he grabbed his staff and sprang up on his hooves, pointing it at the intruder furiously. "Who dares to enter the Rock of Eternity?! This place is supposed to be inaccessible to anypony without my consent!" He roared. But the Stranger was not intimidated at all. As even the strongest of magic was incapable of harming him, he had nothing to fear.
"No place is beyond reach for the Phantom Stranger!" The phantom boasted in reply. Upon realising who his visitor was, the wizard calmed down and lowered his staff. He looked at the Stranger with a face full of surprise. As if he was looking at somepony he never expected to see again.
"It is you." He said once the realisation finally sunk in. "I haven't seen you in... I've forgotten how long it has been."
"As an eternal being, time means little to me as well. But it seems like quite a lot of time had passed since my last visit considering your fellow wizards seem to have moved on." The Stranger replied. The wizard cast his eyes down in sorrow.
"They are... all gone." He told him, clearly struggling with his words. "We have been guarding Ponykind against magical threats for thousands of years. Tens of thousands. But as time passed on, it became obvious that the world no longer needed the Council of Wizards. After our last deed in the defense of ponies, we have disappeared into obscurity and our magic began to fade. Due to that, our longevity was also affected and they gave began to pass away one by one. I am the only one left." The Wizard finished his tale. While the Stranger mostly kept his expression stoic, this time he did allow the hint of an emotion to cross his face and the wizard saw that it clearly was a negative one.
"That is unfortunate. For the world needs the Council of Wizards now more than ever." The wizard scoffed.
"So I assumed correctly that this was not just a friendly visit. What happened?"
"The Sins are back." A long silence had descended upon the two as they just stood there, allowing the wizard to process what the Stranger just told him. When he finally did, he wasn't pleased. With a scowl, he slammed the end of his staff into the ground, making the ground shake and sparks of lightning jump out of the floor.
"Those fools!" He cursed with rage. "They just had to go and undo everything we have done for them with a flick of their hooves! Do they think sealing away the most evil entities to ever live was easy?! It required the strongest of magic we can summon and exhausted us beyond our limits! There were several moments we thought we wouldn't survive!" The Stranger just stood there and watched him pace up and down in fury. His rant lasted for almost a minute and when he saw that he was done, he spoke again.
"You know perfectly well that mortals are not aware of their existence. Or yours. You cannot fault them for that." He spoke just as calmly as he always did. He never let his emotions get the better of him. The wizard calmed down a little but his sour disposition didn't improve.
"It makes no difference. This time, I cannot help them. Even the seven of us together could barely summon enough magic to seal the Sins away. I cannot stand alone against the seven of them!"
"There has to be something you can do." The Stranger implored. The wizard turned back to him and looked like he was about to say something, but in the last moment he changed his mind and remained silent but it was too late. The Stranger had already seen that he was about to speak.
"So there is." The wizard furiously shook his head.
"No! I will not do that again! I was a fool to ever think it would work!"
"To think what would work?" The wizard looked unsure whether he should tell him and the Stranger saw the conflict in his eyes. "You realise I'm going to find out whether you tell me or not." The wizard knew he was right and let out a reluctant sigh.
"Ages ago when ponies first came to the land of Equestria, they immediately came into conflict with it's native creautres, the Thestrals." He started as he waved his staff around, making green, glowing silhouettes of several dozen ponies appear around them. The ponies began fighting among themselves until only a few Thestrals remained, cowering as they got surrounded by unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies who closed in on them. "They didn't stand a chance. The newcomers were going to massacre them all." He continued as the Stranger realised something.
"You weren't there to stop the massacre. I suppose that means by that time your were the only one left." The wizard nodded.
"Yes. I was left all alone, I was old and my power was but a fragment of what it once was. I myself couldn't put an end to this madness. But there was something I could do." He waved his staff again, making all the silhouettes merge together into one. The one silhouette left began to take the form of a Thestral stallion in a hood and a lightning bolt across his chest. But the most noticeable trait about him was that unlike the rest of his kin, he also had a horn on his head.
"I decided to give my power to a Thestral. A mighty warrior who could become their defender and end the injustices against his kind." The Thestral alicorn lifted up into the air and crossed his forelegs across his chest as he glared down at the Stranger with lightning sparkling in his eyes.
"I take it that did not end well?" He asked, looking back at the wizard whose expression fell.
"On the contrary. It ended too well." The silhouette of the alicorn lit up it's horn and fired lightning around himself, leaving ruins, death and destruction in it's wake. Even the Stranger was shocked as the bodies of ponies and ruined buildings began to appear all over the room.
"He brought justice to his own kind." The wizard continued. "Unfortunately, he had his own twisted sense of justice. He wanted to make the invaders pay for what they did to them. Severely. And in the end, the champion I believed could be my successor ended up being my downfall. I had just enough magic left to banish him into a hidden prison he will never be able to escape." He then made the image of a lightning bolt striking the alicorn from above and sending him into the ground, making all the images disappear, once again leaving the room in darkness. "But the process left me completely drained. At least for the time. I have recovered since, but like I said, I won't be able to stand against the Sins by myself." He finished his talk glumly. The Stranger contemplated his words for a few seconds before he spoke again.
"If you cannot do anything, then Ponykind is doomed." The wizard sighed.
"Then perhaps that is it's fate." But the Stranger wasn't going to accept that.
"If your power is restored, surely you can cast that spell again. Find another pony to become your new champion." The wizard looked at him incredulously.
"Weren't you listening? The last champion I chose was corrupted by the power I bestowed on him. And that was without the influence of the Sins. With them around, the next pony I chose would fall even faster."
"Then we will have to find an incorruptible soul. A pony who will not fall to their taints." The Stranger insisted. "A pony with a pure heart." The wizard just looked down and sadly shook his head.
"Pure heart? My idealism has long since faded, my friend. I do not believe there is anypony who possesses such a trait."
"Mine hasn't." The Stranger rebutted. "I will find one for you. I have been interacting with their kind a lot more than you have during the ages. I have seen the good inside them. There is still pureness among them." The wizard still looked unconvinced, but if there was the slightest chance that Ponykind could still be saved, he was not going to let it go to waste. Eventually, he gave in.
"Very well. I will wait here until you can find me a pony that you believe is strong enough to withstand the corruption of the Sins." He replied before turning away and sitting back on his throne. The Stranger turned away to leave, but before he could fade out of this plane, he the wizard calling out to him one last time. "But I still believe you are running a fool's errand." The Stranger stopped and briefly looked back at him but he didn't respond. He turned away and exited the Rock of Eternity through his ethereal passageway. He wondered just when did the Wizard turn so cynical. One failure with his former champion shouldn't have taken this much of a toll on him. But in the end, it didn't matter. Should he find a pure hearted pony, not only will he find the mean of salvation for all of Ponykind, but he could also restore the faith of his old friend.
He could only hope it wasn't too late. And wonder just what kind of a pony would his search lead him to...
In the small town of Ponyville, the windows of a small building's top floor just swung open and a pink mare with matching fluffy pink mane leaned out on it with the brightest and biggest smile one could imgaine.
"GOOD MORNING, PONYVILLE!" She screamed out the window with pure joy and enthusiasm. "What a wonderful new day to bring smiles to the faces of everypony and joy into their lives!" She took a deep breath from the fresh morning air and shut the windows, twirling back inside the house to start her day.