The Mightiest Mare of Equus Vol. 1: The Seven Deadly Sins: Issue #3: The Word of Power
Pinkie was standing in the middle of a gold circle with the Wizard in front of her. The Phantom Stranger was standing just outside the circle, observing the scene. He would admit to being a little curious as to how this process would take place. He never even heard of such magic that can transfer the power of gods to a mortal being existing. And there were few things he wasn't aware of.
His curiosity was nothing compared to Pinkie's however. Just this morning, setting up a birthday party was her biggest concern. Now, she was chosen by an ancient wizard to get the power of gods and stop the Seven Deadly Sins from consuming Ponykind. And she thought her life was dull.
"So..." Pinkie started, getting tired of the awkward silence. "How will this work exactly?" The Wizard raised his staff and slammed it into the middle of the circle.
"Grab my staff, Pinkie Pie!" He commanded. The mare complied and as her hoof made contact with it, she could already feel the power surging through it. The Wizard closed his eyes and spoke.
"I hereby bestow upon thee, the wisdom of Starswirl. The greatest mortal unicorn mage to ever live and the mentor of the Royal Princesses of Equestria!"
CRACK!
As soon as he finished that sentence, a lightning strike from out of nowhere hit the staff, startling Pinkie so much that she almost let go of it. As she looked around, she also saw how the gold circle was beginning to glow. The Wizard continued.
"I hereby bestow upon thee, the strength of Hoof Acres! The strongest earth pony to ever live whose hooves could shatter acres of land with one mighty blow!"
CRACK!
Another lightning strike hit the staff and the circle became even brighter.
"I hereby bestow upon thee, the stamina of Air Last! The pegasus mare who could tame storms and carry mountains with the flap of her wings!"
CRACK!
"I hereby bestow upon thee, the power of Zephyr Hooves! King of the gods and ruler of lightning!"
CRACK!
"I hereby bestow upon thee, the courage of Arrow Mass! The invincible warrior of ancient Nimbusia!"
CRACK!
"I hereby bestow upon thee, the speed of Merry Breeze! The fastest pegasus to ever live and messenger of the gods!"
CRACK!
The last lighting bolt that struck the staff created a flowing field of electricity on the lightning symbol on the top of it and the gold circle was now so bright that the light emanating from it now reached up to a pony's neckline. The Wizard opened his eyes to reveal that they were glowing white with power and crackling with lightning and looked at Pinkie.
"And now, Pinkie Pie, say my name! Say my name and this power shall flow into you!" He boomed. Pinkie was confused. She couldn't recall the wizard ever mentioning his name.
"Um... I don't think I caught your name, sir." She replied nervously.
"My name is..." The Wizard's voice became low and faint, barely above a whisper but Pinkie was still able to make it out. "Shazam." Pinkie would have chuckled at that unusual name, but the power glowing inside the Wizard's eyes quickly made her realize that this wouldn't have been wise. Instead, she tightened her grip on the staff and closed her eyes.
"Shazam." She spoke softly. It was probably the most quiet word that ever left her lips, but it would still have the biggest impact on her life.
CRACK!
Another lightning bolt struck, but this time, instead of the staff, it hit her. It didn't hurt but the shock still made Pinkie's eyes snap open.
"OW! Don't do that again!" She snapped at the Wizard, but to her surprise, she saw that the old unicorn was now significantly shorter. She had to look down to see him properly. "Um... How did you get so small?" Pinkie asked, but as the words left her mouth, she immediately clapped her hooves in front of it. The voice that came out definitely wasn't hers. It was much deeper, which considering Pinkie's unusually high tone of voice wasn't saying much, but it was still greatly surprising.
And the tone wasn't the only surprise. Not only did her voice sound deeper but - for the lack of a better word - more regal. It came out almost exactly as Princess Celestia spoke when Pinkie actually heard her talk. And she soon discovered the reason just why she sounded like that.
"I didn't." Shazam replied. "You are taller. Look at yourself!" Pinkie did so and was marveled at what she saw. Not only were here hooves significantly longer but they were also covered in a red suit with majestic gold shoes covering her hooves. She then looked at her chest and saw the lightning bolt symbol spreading across it with electricity flowing through it.
She was so dumbstruck by these changes that she raised her hoof to her head, but she couldn't touch it as she felt something poke it. Something long and sharp. She pulled her hoof across it until she reached the top of her head and she didn't need the wisdom of Starswirl to figure out what it was.
"I.... I have a horn?!" She exclaimed. She was so shocked that her entire body went stiff, along with her spread out wings. "Wait... I have wings too?!" She stared back at Shazam in shock. "I'M AN ALICORN?!" She screamed so loud that even the wizard was a little fazed. It took him a few moments to recover.
"Only in your transformed state." He explained. "But your normal self is still the same. You just have to speak the same word to turn back."
"You mean Shazam?"
CRACK!
Lightning struck Pinkie again and she was pleased to see that she was now back to her normal height. She quickly checked herself and saw that her horn and wings were also gone. She let out a relieved sigh.
"Phew. Okay. I get it. All I have to do is say Shazam."
CRACK!
Another lightning strike and Pinkie was back in her alicorn form. She looked down at the wizard and saw him looking up at her in an unamused way. She smiled sheepishly.
"Okay. Lesson number one, be careful when and where you say that word."
"Remarkable." The Stranger said as he entered the circle for the first time. "So what happens now?"
"I have given her the power she needs to defeat the Seven Deadly Sins." Shazam replied before turning back to Pinkie. "The rest is up to her. From this day on, she shall be known as Captain MareVel! The Mightiest Mare of Equus!"
Dr. Caballeron felt himself coming to an abrupt halt as he entered a bar in the town of Ponyville. And he didn't understand why. He had no intention of stopping but something inside of him suddenly made his entire being freeze. And he was well aware of what that something was.
'What is it?' He asked the demon possessing his body internally. He was instructed to stay low until all of it's brothers were found hosts for. And talking to himself about their quest would have been a good way to attract unwanted attention.
The demon didn't answer at first. A brief feeling of dread crossed it's being. It felt something. Something very familiar. It didn't know where or how, but that same magic that was used when it and it's brothers were sealed in their prison was cast again. And that thought terrified the creature, only increasing it's eagerness to succeed in the search.
'I have felt something. Something I haven't felt since...' Caballeron waited for the demon to finish the sentence, but it never did. 'Never mind! We have a job to do. I feel a being nearby who will be a perfect host for Wrath. Once we awaken him, our job will be significantly easier. But we must hurry!'
Caballeron heeded the demon's orders and sat down at the counter before looking around the bar. Though he wasnt quite sure who could be a suitable host for a rage demon in this place. Apart from him, there were only six other individuals here. The bartender who was a unicorn, an earth pony stallion sitting by himself, three pagasus stallions sitting around a round table and the last one wasn't even a pony. Sitting on the right side of the counter was a female griffin who had several empty mugs next to her.
"Give me another one." She grumbled to the bartender. The unicorn stallion saw that the griffin already consumed more beverage than an average pony could handle, but as long as he was paid for the drinks he served, he was more than happy to provide as much as his customers wanted. And who knew? Maybe griffins could take more than ponies so he gladly gave her another mug.
"The bird's drinking too much!" One of the pegasi growled as they turned towards them.
"Yeah. Leave some for us too!" The griffin just glared at them in response.
"Buck off!" She snarled before chugging down her drink. The pegasi narrowed their eyes at her.
"I'm surprised you serve the likes of her around here." The third pegasus said to the bartender who just shrugged.
"Racial discrimination is bad for business. Why should I turn away any paying customer?" The griffin finished her drink and slammed her mug on the counter.
"Listen, dweebs! I'm not having a good day, so don't push me! I flew my ass off all the way from Griffonstone to here to meet an old friend only to learn that she moved back to your stupid cloud city where only pegasi can enter! So the last thing I need is some douches trying to screw it up for me even more!" She seethed towards the ponies. The three pegasi finally had it with her and started walking over to the griffin but before anything could happen, the bartender spoke up.
"Hey, guys! If you're gonna do this, do it outside! Some ponies in here are trying to enjoy their drinks." He said as he gave Caballeron his order. The griffin just smirked in response.
"Gladly." She mused and before anypony could move a muscle, she gave flight, tackled one of the pegasi and pushed him out the door, onto the streets as the two other pegasi immediately flew after them. Caballeron looked on and he could feel the demon inside him smile in excitement.
'Yes! Such anger, such ferocity, such savagery! That griffin is perfect! Follow her! I want to see her in action!' Caballeron picked up his drink and followed the fighters outside. When he got out, the sight that greeted him left him horrified.
One of the three pegasi was already lying unconscious on the ground with several bruises and bleeding gashes across his body. He then saw the second one with similar wounds, but he was still conscious and trying to crawl away from any alley besides that bar. Caballeron walked into the alleyway and saw the griffin already putting on the same wounds on the third one. While the stallion was appalled, Envy was very pleased.
'That griffin is such a perfect host for my brother that I'm almost envious of it.' It chuckled. 'Get my him ready, doctor! This fight was over before it even began.' Caballeron reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a miniature version of Wrath's statue from the Sins' chamber and held it up towards the griffin.
'Took your damn time, brother.' Wrath fumed, but his anger was soon replaced by the eagerness to finally become one with a new host after ages. It didn't waste anymore time and flew out of the statue, heading straight at the griffin. She was about to deepen her claws into the stallion again when the demon's misty form reached her and enter her body. The process so was quick that the griffin didn't even have time to be shocked. She stopped her assault while the demon adjusted to her body.
'Why did you stop, Gilda?' The demon asked. 'This pony and his cohorts offended you. They brought their wrath upon themselves. Are you just gonna let that slide?' Gilda narrowed her eyes as her fury turned into cold hatred.
'Like Tartarus I will!' Wrath grinned inside her head.
'Then make them suffer it. All of them.'
Gilda suddenly felt her anger increase tenfold and the beating she subjugated the stallion to became a bloody massacre. Her claws went much deeper and not only drew blood but internals as well. A few moments later the stallion she just slaughtered was completely unrecognisable, lying in a pool of his own blood and guts. The griffin's feathers were red from all the blood, but by the time she was done with the stallion, she still wasn't satisfied. She wanted more.
She stormed out of the alley to find the other two pegasi she did a number on. The one that was awake and still trying to crawl away just reached the unconscious one lying on the ground. The griffin marched up to them and dragged both of them into the alley, probably to give them a similar treatment, but Caballeron didn't stick around to see that. The sounds he heard coming out of the alley were more than enough.
'He seems to have gotten a little carried away, but can you blame him?' Envy mused. 'That's the first time he felt whole since ages.'
'Can we please just get back to the task at hoof?' Caballeron groaned mentally, wanting to get as far away from this scene as possible. 'What's next?'
'Obviously, we keep searching for more hosts. Two down, five more to go.' The demon suddenly fell silent and Caballeron could feel that it sensed something. 'And we seem to be in luck. I sense another creature nearby who would make a fine host for one of my other siblings. Lust, if I'm not mistaken.' Caballeron wasn't sure if he liked the idea of looking for a pony engaging in an act of lust around him.
'Please don't tell me I'll have to drag somepony out of bed in the middle of it for your sibling.' He groaned. To his confusion, the demon actually chuckled at that remark.
'You mortals can be pretty amusing sometimes, I give you that.' Envy said. 'It doesn't take a creature who wants to mate to attract Lust. Even something as light as unrequited love is enough. And I feel an aching heart nearby. In the same bar where we just found that griffin no less. What a small world indeed.'
'How convenient.' Caballeron noted before re-entering the bar. The only two remaining ponies there were the bartender and the earth pony drinking at the left side of the counter.
"Turned down again, Cheese?" The bartender asked as he cleaned the mugs the griffin just emptied. The stallion called Cheese chugged down another mug and shook his head.
"Turned down? Even that would have been better than being completely looked through like I was. I don't think she even understood what I wanted from her. She's just up there in her little world. I don't know what to do anymore!" He moaned pathetically as he dropped his head on the counter in misery.
'Poor, sad creature.' Envy mocked with fake sympathy. 'You know the drill, doctor.' Sighing with reluctance, Caballeron reached back into his saddlebag.
Pinkie Pie didn't consider herself somepony who easily surprised. In fact, she liked to think of herself as the one doing the surprising most of the time. Therefore, she was rather unamused when she had to admit the wizard managed to surprise her when she found herself immediately cast out of the Rock of Eternity after he had crystaled her with her superhero name and pushed back into the forest around Ponyville.
Shazam and the Phantom Stranger were both gone, along with the thrones and statues that decorated the place. Instead, the only thing Pinkie saw were the surrounding trees and her abandoned cart full of party supplies. The wildlife seemed to have returned too as she heard the chirping of birds and the scattering of squirrels around the trees. All Pinkie could do was stare in disbelief at the holy tree in front of her.
"Um... Hello? Anypony still there?" She called out as she reached into the hole, trying to find the entrance, but this time, she only felt the inside of the tree.
"What?! That's it?!" She cried incredulously. "You just give me all these powers out of the blue and send me off to fight evil in the world with no further instructions?!" When she was done with her rant, Pinkie groaned in frustration and let herself fall on the ground. It was one thing to say you were gonna go fight evil in the world, but first, you'd have to actually find evil to fight.
As far as pinkie was concerned, she had never met evil that was worth fighting with phenomenal, cosmic powers. The occasional jerks and bullies she did encounter, she was always able to overcome with her kindness. And now, she was being shoved into a fight against demons. The literal embodiments of the seven deadly sins. Never before in her life did she feel so completely lost.
"Oh, why did I agree to this?" Pinkie whimpered, placing her hooves on her head. "What am I supposed to do now?"
"I believe stopping talking to yourself would be an excellent start." Another unexpected surprise. Pinkie jumped into the air in sturtlement upon hearing the voice but she quickly hopped back onto her hooves, spreading her wings and aiming her horn into the direction where it came from, only to notice that the one who spoke was merely the Phantom Stranger standing in front of her and looking at her curiously. Pinkie quickly dropped her defensive state.
"Um... Sorry. I didn't see you there. I thought you stayed back in the cave." She said as she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.
"I apologise." The Stranger replied. "It took me longer to return to this plane of existence than it did for you." Pinkie then looked around, as if looking for something.
"Uh... Is the wizard coming?" The Stranger shook his head.
"Unfortunately his duties require him to remain at the Rock of Eternity and he was forced to stay behind." Pinkie's first thought was pitying the poor wizard. It must have been very lonely being stuck at that dark and gloomy place all by himself. But that thought was quickly replaced by worry when she realised that this meant she was supposed to figure everything out by herself.
"Fret not though." The Stranger spoke when he sensed her panic. "I shall act as your guide until you master your new skills." Pinkie's face lit up. Despite showing little enthusiasm about this whole superhero thing, she couldn't help but feel excited about trying her powers. But she quickly found a small problem in that plan, she didn't know what kind of powers she had. The old wizard couldn't even bother to tell her that.
"And... What abilities would those be exactly?" She asked, nervously fidgeting with her wings. The Stranger actually allowed a little confusion to show up on his face.
"Weren't you listening before? You have been bestowed the power of six gods and heroes. The wisdom of..."
"Yeah, yeah, I get that!" Pinkie interrupted. "The Wisdom of Starswirl, the Strength of Hoof Acres, etcetera. But what are there to these exactly? Obviously these two make me super smart and super strong and the speed of Merry Breeze make me super fast but those are just the half of it. What else is there?" The Stranger thought for a few moments, trying to find the best approach to Pinkie's training, before eventually deciding that the best approach would be letting the mare herself decide.
"Where exactly would you like to start?" Pinkie put her hoof to her chin. With the wisdom of Starswirl, it was easy to figure out the best place to start. She would have to understand all of her new powers perfectly in order to master them. And one of them still eluded her a little bit.
"What exactly does the power of Zephyr Hooves consist of?"
"As Shazam mentioned, Zephyr Hooves was the king of the gods and the ruler of lightning in the ancient nimbusian pantheon. This gives you absolute control over it as well. You are able to create lightning and bend it to your will." This blew Pinkie's mind. She could control lightning? Perhaps the wisdom of Starswirl required more maturity from her, but in that moment, she didn't care. There was only one way to describe this: it was flipping awesome!
"Wow!" Pinkie shouted as her face lit up as she started bouncing with excitement. "That's so cool! So, how do I do it? Do they come out of my hooves? Or do I shoot them out of my eyes?"
"I understand your excitement, Pinkie Pie, but please restrain yourself. I shall explain everything." The Stranger requested, remaining completely stoic. His calmness actually reminded Pinkie of the circumstances and she blushed with embarrassment, but the Stranger just ignored her antics and continued.
"To answer your question, they do not come out of either of those. Your horn serves that particular purpose. Seeing as you are not a natural alicorn, you are unable to cast unicorn magic, but the lightnings of Zephyr Hooves are at your disposal." Pinkie gazed up at her horn and suddenly she wasn't so confident anymore. She then looked back at the Stranger uncertainly, who was still patiently waiting for her to cast her first lightning. "Well?" He asked, after seeing her hesitation. Pinkie chuckled nervously.
"Well, don't you think we should find a more suitable place to train? The last thing we want is to level this forest." She was clearly making excuses, but the Stranger saw the truth in her words and attributed them to the wisdom of Starswirl.
"A wise choice indeed."
Pinkie and the Stranger relocated themselves to the bottom of a nearby mountain. The mare had spotted several boulders about the size of herself which she presumed would have made ideal practice dummies for a mare with super strength.
"I do not think those will make ideal targets for your lightnings." The Stranger remarked as Pinkie approached the boulders.
"Actually, I think I would rather test the strength of Hoof Acres first." Pinkie replied, still trying to weasel her way out of the lightning test. "To see just how much strength it gives me." Her nervousness evaporated when she saw that the Stranger once again bought her excuse.
"Very well then. Go ahead."
Pinkie went up to one of the boulders and examined it for a while. She then raised one of her hooves and gave it a light tap. While a normal pony - even an earth pony - would have just her hoof, she actually managed to make roll back a few inches. She smiled as her confidence returned. This was a good start.
In fact, her confidence became so strong that she pulled her hoof back and gave the boulder a mighty punch. But perhaps she became a little too confident. She expected the boulder to shatter into tiny pebbles, instead, it only flew back several meters. Pinkie's eyes widened when she saw how the boulder was about to land on some trees. She couldn't allow that to happen. Trees were living things as well and some of them could even have animals living on them.
With speed almost invisible to the naked eye, she bolted off towards the trees and caught the boulder between her forelegs, lifting it effortlessly above her head. Her speed managed to surprise even her. She knew she had super speed now, but even she didn't expect it to work so easily or to be so efficient. Experiencing the mix of her new strength and speed had her new alicorn body soaring with adrenaline. She looked back at the other boulders lined up at the bottom of the mountain and got a brand new idea for a training exercise.
She hurled the boulder she was holding back into the air before running over to another one, lifting it up and throwing it after the first one. The two boulders crashed into each other in the air and shattered into several smaller rocks. Pinkie then put her speed to the test and ran to to crush all of the falling rocks with a single strike before they hit the ground. To the Phantom Stranger who was observing from nearby, she moved so quickly that it looked like she was teleporting from one place to the other before hitting the rocks. By the time Pinkie was finished, a large collection of small pebbles were covering the ground.
"There!" Pinkie said in satisfaction as she dusted off her hooves. "I believe that covers the strength and speed training."
"Imdeed." The Stranger added. "Now then, do you feel ready to cast lightning?" Pinkie's newfound confidence quickly came crashing down, but she realised she won't be able to put this off any longer. She was running out of excuses.
"I... I suppose..." Pinkie replied nervously, rubbing one of her forelegs. The Stranger nodded for Pinkie to begin the process, but as the seconds passed, the mare just stood there and looked around frantically, not knowing what to do.
"You can begin whenever you wish, Pinkie." The Stranger encouraged, but his words seemed to have the opposing effect.
"I... I..." Pinkie stuttered and while she couldn't finish the sentence, the Stranger knew exactly what she wanted to say.
"You do not know how?" The Stranger asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, how should I know?!" Pinkie shouted, throwing her hooves in the air. "I never had a horn before! I... I don't even know how they work! I have no idea how the unicorns do it!" Pinkie ranted. The Stranger, to his credit did not even flinch at the tirade. He simply stood there and waited until Pinkie was done.
"You have to feel it inside yourself, Pinkie." He explained. "Inside your heart and then channel it to your horn to unleash it." Pinkie sighed. She had no idea how she should try that. All she could do was close her eyes and concentrate on igniting the lightning inside her chest. She focused so hard on creating it's image in her head that she felt like her furrowed brows will start bleeding anytime soon. Even when she did start feeling something inside herself, she had no clue how to channel it to her horn.
'Argh! How do the unicorns do this?' She groaned in her head before finally giving up. "It's not working!"
"The lightning has to be born out of vengeful anger." The Stranger said. "Out of your desire to protect others." This explanation didn't make Pinkie feel better.
"So what?! I have to wait for somepony to get into trouble so I can summon lightning?! How are we going to do that out here! There's nopony here but us!" The Stranger had to concede to that point.
"Some things have to be learned at the right time, I suppose." He admitted himself. "You are right. That is not something I can show you out here. But I give you my solemn vow, when the time comes, I will be there and help you any way I can." The Stranger saw that his words did little to ease Pinkie's mood about this as she cast her head down, but he knew something that maybe could.
"But for the time being, maybe we could try something simpler." Pinkie looked up at him.
"Oh, yeah? What?"
"Given that you were born an earth pony, i think it is safe to assume that you lack experience with flying either." Pinkie looked down at the two wings at her sides. While she did manage to spread them out before on two occasions, those were more of involuntary reactions born out of shock. On purpose, she never managed to move them.
"Yes. That's true." Pinkie replied. "I may not be able to move them, but I can still feel them. And it's so new. So..." She paused, trying to find the right words. "...strange. It feels like my sides are itching."
"Follow that sensation, Pinkie!" The Stranger instructed. "Follow them until you reach your wings and gain control of them!"
Pinkie followed the instructions and tried to welcome the unfamiliar sense of the wings at her sides into her body. As she extended her consciousness to them, it felt like her nerves merged together with the ones in the alien body parts and became one with her.
Pinkie's face lit up with joy and excitement when she finally managed to make them move according to her will. She spread them out and flapped them up and down a few time before increasing the flapping with the hopes of taking off, but when she looked back at the Stranger, she was disheartened to find that she was still standing on the ground in front of him.
"Um... I'm not flying." She stated in surprise.
"Of course you're not." The Stranger replied. "A newborn bird, or in your case alicorn is not born with the knowledge to fly. You have managed to gain control of your wings, but that is just the first step."
"So then what's the second?" Pinkie asked.
"I would lie if I said I was an expert on flying, given my own lack of wings, but perhaps I know a way to slowly get you to take flight." He then pointed at Pinkie's hind legs. "With your increased strength, you should be able to leap very high up into the air. Once you are up there, try flapping until you manage to get your wings to keep you up!"
Pinkie crouched down on the prepared herself for the leap, before pushing herself up. Her hind legs shot her up towards the sky like springs and she rocketed up into the air at breakneck speed. When she reached the top of the of her leap, she spread out her wings and flapped them as hard as she could.
She did manage to move forward a little in the air and at first, she believed that she managed to take flight already. But when she saw how she was slowly descending down towards the end ground, it made her realise that her wings were only carrying her forward, not upward.
One failed attempt wasn't gonna discourage her. After she landed, she immediately sprung back into the air and tried to take flight again, only to get the same result. She groaned in frustration.
'Argh! How do the pegasi do this?!' She asked herself while still flapping her wings. 'Don't give up, Pinkie! You managed to figure out how to control your wings! You'll figure this out too! Come on wisdom of Starswirl, give me an idea!'
Thinking about how she gained control of her wings eventually did give her one. She rembembered how she managed to move them by following the sensations they gave her body. Perhaps that will be the key to flight too. Obviously, flapping her wings around like an idiot won't do her much good. Maybe she should just feel what her wings felt again.
Pinkie prepared herself for another leap, but this time, she spread her wings before jumping, allowing them drink in the sensations around them. She was surprised how many things they felt. The wind, the heat, even the dust the air carried around. There were so many sensations that she didn't even know which one she should focus on. Starswirl's wisdom gave her a surprising advice. It told her to just follow the wind.
Deciding to heed the advice, Pinkie closed her eyes and launched herself into the air again and tried to find where the wind blew with her wings. She shut out all of her other senses, there was nothing but the wind against her skin. Her eyes snapped open when she finally felt the wind under her wing and with the hardest flap she performed so far, she finally took flight.
The sensation was beyond incredible. The winds bowed to her will and carried her on their back wherever she pleased. Pinkie flapped her wings again and they launched her even higher into the air. She grinned wider than ever before and laughed in excitement. She was flying! She was actually flying!
She suddenly launched herself into a nosedive and flew down between the trees. Just before reaching the ground, she flapped her wings again and broke her fall, putting herself into a horizontal flight again. The speed Merry Breeze slowed down the world around her and allowed her to maneuver between the trees easily. If a bird or a pegasus were passing by and looked down, all they would have seen was a living lightning bolt zigzagging beneath them. When she felt another current of wind under her wings, she flapped them again and rose up into the sky. She felt like she was soaring towards the heavens! She was having the time of her life.
"THIS IS AMAZING!" She shrieked pure joy. "I'M FLYING! I'M FLY..."
SPLAT!
Unfortunately, even the best flyers cannot neglect to look where they are going. Something Pinkie just learned the hard way. A literally very hard way as she crashed against the side of the mountain at full speed, spread out against it like a bug against a window. If it weren't for the stamina of Air Last, every single bone in her body would have broke. And even with it, it still hurt.
"Ow." That was the only thing Pinkie could say before rolling down from the mountainside like a piece of old wallpaper. She was so stunned by the crash that she couldn't even attempt to fly down safely. Instead, she just bounced down the mountain like a rubber ball.
"Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!" Repeated Pinkie as she hit about a dozen rocks standing out from the mountainside until she reached the bottom. When she regained her senses, she grabbed her head in a vague attempt to ease the pain.
"Uhhh... I think that's enough training for today." She moaned. "And I also think I'll stick to walking, thank you very much. Shazam."
CRACK!
Lightning struck Pinkie, turning her back into her regular earth pony self as she slowly and shakily got back on her hooves. A decision she immediately regretted as she was hit with the worst headache she ever felt in her life.
"Ow... I don't feel like doing this again anytime soon."
"But you will have to." Pinkie jumped up with a yelp of surprise before she turned to see the Phantom Stranger standing next to her once more. She narrowed her eyes at him.
"Is this going to be a regular thing with you?" She asked angrily. The Stranger remained stoic.
"I apologise but I felt the need to remind you that of your duty. You are to begin your search for the Seven Deadly Sins and defeat them. That the sole purpose for which you received your powers."
"And just where should I start looking for them?!" Pinkie demanded. "Do you have any idea how gigantic Equestria is?! They could be anywhere!"
"I will help you with that." The Stranger replied, not at all affected by the mare's outburst. "I can sense nearly all forms of magical energy and the darkness of the Sins is no exception. First, we will..." Pinkie waited for him to continue, but he never did. He simply looked up and for the first time in a long while, his face showed an actual emotion. It was worry.
"First we will do what?" Pinkie asked, raising a brow. The Stranger turned back to her.
"First, I believe you should turn around and look up." Pinkie did just that and when she looked up, her eyes grew to the size of dinner plates and her pupils shrunk to the size of peas. The mountain she just crashed into was crumbling from the spot she hit and several pieces of rocks were coming tumbling down on it's side. But the most peculiar thing was that Pinkie was seeing water pouring out of the newly formed hole in the rock at an increased rate.
"Um... What is happening?" Pinkie asked meekly as she turned to the Stranger.
"I believe this is what happens when the strength of Hoof Acres collides with a mountain towering upon an underground river at full speed." The Phantom replied and this time he was unable to keep the increasing dread out of his voice. The water pouring down on the mountainside reached Pinkie's hooves and as the mountain crumbled, it's remains began rolling down towards her. She didn't need the wisdom of Starswirl to recognise the danger of the situation.
"I should probably get moving." She mumbled quietly, but the Stranger still managed to hear it.
"Yes. That would be wise." That was all the encouragement Pinkie needed. She turned and ran. The mountain behind her finally crumbled and the rocks fell into the water below, increasing it's lever to the point where it was high enough to burst out of the ground and cascade down the remaining rocks, right towards the escaping earth pony. Pinkie saw the shadow of the huge tidal wave in front of her and knew that she won't be able to outrun it. Fortunately, she didn't have to.
"SHAZAM!"
CRACK!
Pinkie lepaed into the air before the lightning even evaporated and with her wings and the speed Merry Breeze, she was easily able to get away from the wave. From the air, she could see the water still flowing from the crater she accidentally created at such an alarming rate that a terrifying thought was planted into Pinkie's mind. What if there were ponies living nearby? Ponyville was on the other side of the mountain, she had never been so far out of the town. There could always be other towns in close proximity!
She had no time to waste. It didn't take her long enough to catch up with the wave but she had to get ahead of it if she wanted to save any nearby settlements. If there were any that is. Maybe she'll get lucky and the area would end up being uninhabited. But when she suddenly several ponies collectively screaming from just a little further up ahead, she realised that she'd have no such luck.
Sure enough, as Pinkie flew forward, she saw a small town between the trees with the entire population fleeing from the incoming disaster. It was of no use. They will not be able to outrun the wave. Any Pinkie will not be able to evacuate all of them either. There was just not enough time. Pinkie groaned in frustration. She had all of these powers and she still won't be able to save those ponies from certain doom. A doom that her carelessness brought upon them.
"Some hero I turned out to be." Pinkie moaned, but her use of words suddenly gave her an idea. "Wait! TURN! That's it!" Pinkie flew back until she was only a few seconds away from having to wave crash into her. She quickly spun around, pressed her forelegs together and turned towards the ground.
"This will either be the most brilliant or the most moronic idea I've ever had." She winced before putting her plan in motion. She begin spinning around in the air at incredible speed until she resembled a giant drill machine and rocketed towards the ground, burying herself into it and creating a deep hole.
She then continued to spin in the ground and drilled her way towards the town, extending the hole into a canal. The longer the canal became the more water it began to absorb and the tidal wave became smaller and smaller. When Pinkie reached the town, she turned to the left and drew a circle in the ground that surrounded the entire town. The canal began to fill with water and the wave slowly began to die down. By the time it reached the town, it was only a harmless splash on the side of it's outskirts.
Pinkie climbed out of the river she made and at first, she didn't dare to open her eyes, afraid of the destruction she might see if her plan didn't work. But when she finally did, she let out a sigh of relief upon seeing that the town was still standing. She quickly looked around to see if anypony was seeing her and when she didn't see any prying eyes, she spoke the magic word.
"Shazam."
CRACK!
Pinkie looked at herself and noted with satisfaction that she was an earth pony once more. An alicorn superhero was very noticeable and she had no intention of drawing any attention to herself as she made her way out of the town. As she snuck between the houses, she noticed the townsponies gathering around and looking at the newly formed river around their home.
"What in the name of Celestia?" A black earth pony stallion marveled.
"I think this is definitely her doing." A creamy white pegasus mare replied. "There is no other explanation."
"Actually there is!" A blue unicorn stallion said. "Obviously there was an underground water source nearby that could no longer contain it's water and it broke to the surface."
"Oh, yeah? And how does that explain the new canals in the ground?" The mare challenged.
"Soil erosion." The unicorn replied. "The soil couldn't support the weight of the water and gave out beneath it."
"In a completely circular fashion around the whole town?" The earth pony asked, not sounding convinced. The unicorn shrugged.
"It's possible."
"Does it matter how it happened?" Asked a yellow earth pony mare. "We now have our own water source! We needed this badly! Ever since kidney infection epidemic, we were lacking it severely. Not to mention we can now start growing crops! No more starvation! There might just be hope for this town yet!"
"It's not a permanent water source though." The unicorn pointed out. "If we don't locate the underground source and somehow connect the canal to it, this will run out very fast."
"We'll worry about that later." The earth pony mare replied. "Right now, we'll need to get as much of this water to the infected as possible."
Pinkie smiled to herself. Looks like in the end, she managed to do good anyway. The tonwsponies were so busy gathering water that she had no problem leaving the town undetected. They would be able to handle things for themselves from now on. And it was a long way back to Ponyville from here. She briefly considered turning back into Captain MareVel and flying back home but she quickly dismissed the idea. She had done more than enough Shazaming for the day. And after all the sweets she consumed at the party earlier that day, she could use the exercise.
Unfortunately, the Phantom Stranger could not be there to witness Pinkie Pie's heroic achievement. Like he told her earlier, he had the ability to detect the Sins' dark energy and when he left Pinkie while she was fleeing from the tidal wave, he did just that. He tracked it back to the town of Ponyville and found himself outside local bar surrounded by police officers. The alleyway next to the bar was cordoned off and the CSI ponies were standing over three bodies covered by white blankets. As the Stranger approached the alley, he heard the nearby officers conversing.
"Have you seen them?" A grey earth pony stallion wearing a blue trenchcoat asked a white earth pony policemare.
"I wish I didn't. I've never seen bodies this badly mauled. It's like their killer was rabid or possessed." That last word caught the Stranger's attention. "We questioned the bartender. He said the victims got into a heated argument with a griffin, which they then continued outside."
"A griffin, huh?"
"Yes, sir. He gave us a description too. Female, white head and green body. We already put out the search for her." The Stranger had heard enough. If this griffin really was under the influence of what he suspected, these police ponies will not be able to stop her.
He phased through the cordons as if they weren't even there. The physics of the mortal world were no obstacles to him. He walked up to the three bodies. He didn't see who they were or how badly damaged they were, but he didn't have to. He could feel evil lurking all around this alleyway and that was all he needed. This was the Sins' doing, there was no doubt about that. And it didn't require peak detective skills to figure out which one's.
He had seen enough. The champion needed to be notified of this development immediately.
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Hey there. Thanks greatly for getting the next chapter up. I really appreciate the effort that went into the exchanges, characterizations, action and future chapter set-up in all the right places. Appreciated the descriptions of the power donors as well as Pinkie's initial reactions to the transformations. And, yeah, her being taller AND having wings and a horn in super form will, at least, make it easier to keep her identity a secret (as there are obvious physical differences between the two forms). So, Wrath and Envy have both found their hosts (though, yeah, Wrath egging Gilda on even after she already had the fight clearly won was a definite indication of how bad the situation is). Also appreciated Pinkie getting in some practice with her powers (especially the new horn and wings) and saving that town from that flood following some initial difficulty in working with her new powers. And, now, Pinkie is soon about to face one of the first of the Seven Sins.
REALLY looking forward to the next chapter.
First Dr. Caballeron, then Gilda and now Cheese Sandwich!?
Who will be next?!
11553602
That is still up in the air. Filthy Rich will be tempted by Pride but he will resist the demon. There is no way a character playing the role of Lex Luthor would ever allow anything to take control of his mind.
11553604
Touche
I was listening to Don't Stop Me Now from Queen during the entire training scene.
11554067
Oh, man! I'm so tired of that song. I've been hearing it all over commercials in my country for the past few years!
11553604
FYI, you brought up Filthy's name in the first Shazam chapter (and a minor typo, too).
Pinkie crashing actually had me rolling. Way too funny.
Gilda casually murdering a trio of ponies is fun. Wonder if we'll get some villain death finally.
Oh Cheese, good luck, though I'm sure you'll make it out just fine.
Reading on.
11666315
As always, thank you for the comment!
Yeah, the chapter about Pinkie Pie playing the superhero who's a child in the original media feels like the perfect part to add some levity. As for the villain death and Cheese's fate, you'll just have to read on and see.
Until next time!