The Mightiest Mare of Equus Vol. 1: The Seven Deadly Sins: Issue #5: Divide and Conquer
Shazam, the wizard was interrupted in his work by the crack of lightning coming from the throne room of the Rock of Eternity. He ran up a staircase to find his old friend, the Phantom Stranger, accompanied by his new champion, Captain MareVel who held a badly bruised and burned earth pony stallion in her hooves. Before he could speak, Pinkie immediately flew up in his face.
"Please, you have to help him! The Stranger said only you could! He has one of those evil, mean things inside him and it made him want to kill me! I had to stop it somehow and this was only way! I didn't want to hurt him!" Shazam was rather taken aback by his champion's rapid ramblings and it took him a while to find his words. When he did, he grabbed Pinkie's shoulders and looked deep into her eyes with a firm and focused stare that quickly silenced the frantic mare.
"Calm yourself, Pinkie Pie!" He told her in a calm and reassuring tone. "Our friend here speaks the truth. If this stallion here hosts one of the Sins, than I can indeed rid him of it's influence." He then cast his eyes at Cheese Sandwich, but only when he took a closer look at him did he see just how badly injured he was.
He was horribly burnt in several places, even beneath his fur, Shazam could see pitch black scorch marks. But the most worrying part was the blood leaking from Cheese's mouth, which instantly let the wizard know that he suffered significant internal damage. Pinkie was too busy looking at Cheese with sorrow and regret, but the Stranger quickly spotted the troubled look on Shazam's face.
"What is it?" Shazam sighed.
"Nothing eludes your attention, does it, old friend?" He replied before turning to Pinkie Pie. "I am afraid your friend is in a worse state than I originally imagined." Pinkie's eyes filled with tears as she recoiled in horror upon hearing these news.
"Is he gonna... die?" She was almost too afraid to ask, but she had to know.
"It is complicated." The old wizard replied. "I do not mean to frighten you or make you feel responsible for his condition, but currently, only his increased stamina from the demon's influence is keeping him alive." Pinkie sniffed and became unable to conceal her tears anymore. She was reduced to a sobbing wreck as she pulled Cheese's body to her chest and cried into his shoulder. The Stranger was forced to continue the discussion.
"What do we do now? You said you found a way to find the others." The wizard nodded.
"Indeed. But with the unfortunate state of our guest, it will not be as simple as I hoped." He then raised his staff and lifted it over the wounded stallion's chest, pulling it across his body as if scanning him.
"I can use Lust's demonic energy to track down the others, but without extracting the demon from the host's body, it will be a much more difficult process. And we cannot remove it yet. Not until it healed the host to the point where he can survive the extraction." Pinkie finally finished weeping and recovered enough focus to rejoin the conversation.
"Don't you know a spell to help him?" She asked, not sounding demanding but genuinely curious. "You are one of the greatest unicorn images who ever lived. You could turn me into this." She said as she motioned across her new alicorn body. "Surely fixing him up would be nothing to you." But the wizard's sad look was all the answer she needed.
"I wish it were that simple my child, but healing a damaged body, especially one as severely damaged as this is not as simple as transforming a fully operational one. While I do know magic that could help your friend, casting it requires great power and as much as I detest to admit it, I am old. My power is not what it once was."
"But you can do it, right?" Pinkie asked in desperation.
"I could try." The wizard said. "But there is no guarantee I would succeed. Giving you your power has already taken a lot out of me. And even if I was successful, I would hardly have any power left to locate the other Sins."
Pinkie looked down. The last thing she wanted right now was to hear a self righteous speech about the needs of many against the needs of a few. She knew that heroes needed to make sacrifices sometimes to make the right choices and save innocents and she was fine with that. But to have an innocent pony be a part of that sacrifice, a pony she knew and cherished so much, no less was something she would not stand for. She had to help Cheese. By any means necessary.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" The wizard clearly did not expect this question. Helping him was not her task and she needed every bit of strength she could gather for her confrontation with the Sins. She could not allow to waste any of it. Not even to save a cherished friend. However, there was one way she would be able to help and the wizard couldn't bring himself to keep it hidden from his champion.
"Actually, there is. He started. "You could share some of the power you possess with me to give me enough to heal your friend. But that would..."
"I'll do it!" Pinkie answered without even thinking it over. The wizard held up a hoof to calm her down.
"Please, let me finish! As I was saying, that would diminish your own power greatly and would leave you vulnerable to the Sins once you face them. Do you understand that?" Pinkie nodded.
"Yes, I do. I will do it." She replied without an ounce of hesitation. Shazam raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"You will? Even after what I just told you?" The determination on the mare's face didn't falter.
If I cannot even save the ones closest to me, how could you expect me to save all of Equestria? I will do it and my decision is final! Now tell me how to do it!" While the wizard greatly disapproved of her recklessness, he saw it in her eyes that he won't be able to talk her out of this decision. And if he wanted to be honest, he was too old build up a convincing argument against the fiery energy of the youth. He resigned himself to the inevitable and slammed his staff into the ground between them.
"Grab my staff and speak the word!" He instructed. Pinkie did as she was told and wrapped her right hoof around the staff.
"Shazam."
CRACK!
The lightning bolt hit Pinkie, turning her back into an earth pony, but this time, the process didn't stop there. The lightning traveled from Pinkie into the staff and the lightning symbol on the top of it lit up with power. The power than traveled further, flowing into the sorcerer from the staff. The unicorn's eyes lit up with white light as electricity sparkled around his body before he placed his free hoof on Cheese's chest. The power flowed through the unicorn and into the earth pony.
Pinkie watched both with intrigue and trepidation as her friend laid motionlessly in front of her and his body absorbed the magical energy. At first, she almost panicked. Electricity shooting through a pony's body is hardly ever a good sign. But as she waited for the wizard to do his thing, he noticed that Cheese's wounds were slowly starting to heal. The black spots around his body began to fade and the rising and falling of his chest signaling his breathing was becoming more and more even and steady. In a few more seconds, the electricity died down and Cheese's body returned to a somewhat healthy looking state. The wizard on the other hoof stumbled slightly and nearly collapsed when the process was over. Pinkie immediately reached out to help him up.
"Are you alright?" She asked in concern. The wizard slowly managed to get back on his hooves with Pinkie's help and nodded.
"I will be fine, young one. It is just I cannot recall the last time I used such powerful magic. I am getting too old for all this excitement." Pinkie just waved dismissively.
"Oh, come on! You can't be that old." Shazam gave Pinkie an unamused look.
"I have been a member of the Council of Wizards for over four thousand years." The old unicorn replied. Pinkie was quite surprised by this, but then she remembered that the princesses were probably even older than that so it wasn't all that incredible. Still, her insensitive remark made her feel bad.
"Well, for what it's worth, you don't look a day older than twelve hundred." The wizard just kept looking at her stoically and Pinkie was worried she might have just worsened the situation, but then the old unicorn actually let out a chuckle.
"I have forgotten how refreshing the attitude of the youth can be. It really is a delight to have you around, especially during such dark times." Pinkie blushed and looked away. While she always appreciated kind words, she was getting them more and more recently and it was starting to make her feel uncomfortable. She wasn't used to so many compliments and she was getting worried that they might get to her ego. Pride was one of the Seven Sins after all.
"So..." Pinkie started, desperate to change the subject. "...is he gonna be ok?" The wizard's face turned serious once more.
"Physically, I managed to heal him to the point where he will be able to recover on his own. But that still leaves the issue of the Sin inside of him." At the mention the demon, Pinkie got worried again.
"You can remove it, right?" She asked nervously, but to her dismay, the wizard shook his head.
"Unfortunately no. At least not right now. For several reasons. First of all, the healing process took a lot out of me. I used up nearly all of my remaining magic to heal him as best as I could. The other reason is that after this ordeal, it is more than likely that his body wouldn't react well to the extraction process. It probably wouldn't be able to handle it." Pinkie's eyes widened.
"You mean... he could..." She didn't want to finish it, but thankfully, she didn't have to.
"Indeed." The wizard replied. "For now, our best option is to keep him under surveillance and await further development." Pinkie gave the unconscious stallion a somber look. To see him completely helpless and in the possession of such an evil being tore her to pieces. She was about to raise one of her hooves to caress Cheese's face, but the wizard's voice stopped her.
"In the meantime, please follow me. There is something I need to show you." With a heavy heart, Pinkie turned away from Cheese and followed the unicorn out of the room and they descended down the same set of stairs the wizard ran up earlier and they entered a room that Pinkie could only describe as the sorcerer's workshop.
Living in a world full of magical ponies, she was no stranger to magical artifacts, but what she saw in this room looked far too alien even to her. Some looked like weapons, some looked like magical artifacts and others looked like severed body parts of creatures that Pinkie couldn't even begin to imagine. The thing the wizard lead her to looked almost mundane compared everything else in the room. If it wasn't for it's unnerving appearance.
"Here you go, Pinkie Pie." The wizard said as he gave her an orb made of stone. Pinkie kept rotating it in her hooves as she looked at it. The orb had all seven of the Sins carved into it, each of them occupying the same amount of space around the object. Truth be told, Pinkie was pretty creeoed out by it and didn't know why the wizard had given it to her.
"Uh... Thanks, but I don't think I'll hang this on my wall."
"I sure hope not." The wizard replied flatly. "This artifact is the key to our victory over the Sins." Pinkie looked back at the orb, still confused about how it could help them.
"This orb made of rock?" She asked in disbelief. "Are we gonna throw a rock at the Sins?"
"This rock as you called it, is made of the same material as the prison that contained the Sins until now." The wizard explained. "The first time I sealed them away into seven different idols, I had my fellow wizards backing me up. But now, they are gone and I alone couldn't repeat that feat. This time we will only have enough magic to do it once. Right into this." He finished, poking the orb with his staff.
"That reminds me, sharing your power with me have taken a lot out of you. If you are to stand a chance against the Sins, we will have to restore your strength. Now follow me! I feel your encounter with the demons is more overdue than we believe!" The wizard turned away before Pinkie even had time to nod, so she started bouncing after him to catch up. Neither of them knew just how accurate the wizard's prediction actually was.
Despite being a seasoned adventurer - well, seasoned compared to an average pony - Caballeron couldn't stop himself from feeling nervous as he entered the Dragon Lands. Even the demon residing in him could barely give him enough courage to carry on. Few ponies dared to enter these lands and even fewer came back. Dragons weren't very fond of ponies. Envy didn't like the nervousness he felt inside his host. Quite frankly, it was making him disgusted. So he decided to get rid of it immediately.
'Doctor, could you ease up a little? I sense fear rising up inside you and it's nauseating me!'
'Of course I feel fear!' Caballeron snapped and for the first time, he didn't give a damn he was backtalking a powerful demon who could consume him from the inside. His fear of dragons were bigger. 'We are in the dragon lands?! Do you have any idea how dangerous they are?! And how much they hate ponies?!' Caballeron wasn't even surprised when he heard Envy chuckle inside his head. He had learned by now how demons were amused by the most horrific things.
'Actually, I do.' Envy replied. 'Back in the day, dragons were even mightier creatures than they are now. They actually respected the values we represent and were always easy to sway to our influence. Which is why I feel so confident about our trip here! We only need two more creatures to complete the awakening and Gluttony and Sloth shouldn't be difficult to find among dragons.' Unsurprisingly, Caballeron wasn't as enthusiastic as the demon.
'Well, I'll still be on the lookout for any dragon that might not like a pony wondering around their land.'
'Trust me, Doctor! They'll better be on the lookout for us! Did you get already forget our performance at the RichCorp building?' Caballeron didn't think he will ever forget that power trip, but he was uncertain if the same performance would be enough against a dragon. Or heaven forbid, a horde of them. But it's not like he had a choice in the matter. He just had to hope they would finish quickly.
As he made his way further into the land, he was surprised to see how lifeless it was. And not just in the desolate wasteland style that dragons were fond of but because he's been walking for almost half an hour now but he was yet to encounter one single dragon. Not that he complained. It looked like he would get lucky after all, but he knew this trip couldn't end without him dealing with a dragon. He could hear the musings of Envy inside him as they approached whoever it thought would be a suitable host for it's siblings.
When Caballeron reached the top of a hill in front of him, he did finally catch glimpse of a dragon, but the creature he was looking at was definitely not the first thing that would have crossed híd mind when he thought of one. It was a rather obese, yellow creature with pink scales on his head. He seemed pretty nervous as he walked, constantly looking around, as if to make sure no one was watching him before walking up to a pile of gems lying at the bottom of a cliff next to a lava pool and starting to eat them. It became evident to Caballeron that this dragon was not supposed to be here. This belief was further validated when another group of dragons appeared, much to the yellow one's fright.
'I smell trouble.' Caballeron thought, not liking the implications he was getting from the scene.
'Indeed.' Envy mused, once again with the opposite feeling from it's host's. 'Let's enjoy the show, shall we?' It said, watching in anticipation as the group of newcomers approached the lone dragon menacingly.
"Sludge." A tall and slim red dragon growled. "I thought we made it perfectly clear the last time that we don't want to see you around here again." The dragon named Sludge gulped before putting on a nervous smile.
"Why Garble, i thought that was just a friendly advice." The other dragons were not amused by this defense.
"Well, you should have taken that advice, fathead!" He then turned to his cohorts. "Teach this punk a lesson he won't ever forget!"
"What about you, Garble?" Asked one of the dragons. "You won't be joining us?" Garble shrugged.
"Nah." He replied as be walked into the lava pool and slumped down into it. "I'll just sit back and enjoy the sounds of his suffering. Have fun!" The other dragons rolled their eyes.
"Lazy bum." One of them muttered. "Okay, hold him down!" As the other dragons moved to hold Sludge down, Caballeron felt envy inside him growing restless.
'Things aren't looking good for our well fed friend!' The demon worried, much to Caballeron's surprise.
'Are you concerned for him?' He asked and though he couldn't see it, he knew the demon just rolled it's eyes.
'Hardly. But he is the best host I can feel for Gluttony within miles and I do not wish to travel so much in search of another. We need that dragon, Doctor! We will have to step in! Now!' Caballeron's eyes went wide as he heard that last sentences.
'Step in? Against so many dragons?' Envy could feel the fear rising inside it's host and groaned in frustration.
'To think I allowed such a mewling quim to become my host is an embarrassment! Fine, I'll do it myself!' In that moment, Caballeron's pupils widened and his eyes glowed red, signifying Envy overtaking his body. Then, before the dragons at the bottom could make their move against Sludge, he made his way down the hill.
"Stop!" The stallion growled in a demonic voice, making all the dragons turn to him. "That dragon belongs to me! Step away from him!" The dragons just stared at Caballeron in stunned silence before turning to each other and bursting out laughing.
"Well, what do you know, boys? A pony with some actual guts! I never thought I'd see the day!" Garble chuckled in the lava pool. "Too bad it won't do him any good around here. That pig of a dragon can wait. Show this little pony what we do to his kind around here!"
The dragon who was about to lay a smackdown on Sludge walked up to Caballeron and grabbed him by the throat. He was about to lift him off the ground, but he got the surprise of his life when the stallion simply bashed his muzzle into his face. The impact was much more powerful than the dragon dared to expect from a pony and it made him stumble back, barely able to prevent himself from falling over. As he held his face in pain, Caballeron ran up to him, spun around and bucked him into the lava pool.
The other dragons were understandably surprised by the pony's display of strength, but they were never ones to back down. Another dragon picked up a nearby rock and threw it at Caballeron, but the stallion dodged with impossible speed and with the same speed, he ran up to the dragon and rammed his head into his stomach, making him fall over. He then struck his hoof into his jaw before wrapping his forelegs around his neck, throwing him over his shoulder and slamming him into the ground.
The two dragons holding sludge shared a confounded gaze, unsure what they were supposed to do or if what they have seen was even real to begin with. Eventually they realised they had no choice but to let go of their captive who wasted no time and dashed towards the pile of gems to hide amongst them. Though even in a situation like this, he couldn't resist his gluttonous urges and gobbled up a few of them as he watched the rest of the events unfold.
The two dragons saw that physical strength alone won't cut it against the possessed stallion so they resorted to use their fire breaths on the intruder. Caballeron smiled as he just stood in one place and allowed the flames to consume his body. The dragons watched in satisfaction as the flames died down and the smoke cleared away but their smug joy was replaced by shock as Caballeron turned out to be completely unharmed by their fire. They looked at each other in horrified disbelief. If dragon fire wasn't going to hurt this pony, then what would?
"What are you?" One of them asked as they took a step back. Caballeron took full advantage of this by walking slowly towards them.
"I was forged by the very flames that created Tartarus itself! Your little singe is nothing to me!" The demon growled on the stallion's voice. "Now BEGONE!" He roared as he raised his forelegs and shoved the two dragons aside. "I have more important matters to attend to." He then turned towards the pile of gems where Sludge has been hiding. The obese dragon's eyes widened when he saw Caballeron making his way towards him and he crawled out from under the gems on his back.
"Come now, there's no need for that!" He pleaded with Caballeron as he kept backing away. "I ain't got no beef with ponies. I ain't like the rest of these dragons. Don't hurt me! I'm sure we can work something out!" Caballeron chuckled darkly.
"Oh, you bet your giant, greasy hide we can!" He growled before reaching into his saddlebag and pulled out the idol representing Gluttony. The demon inside the artifact quickly found it's target and since Sludge was such a perfect match for this sin, it easily managed to take control of him. Meanwhile, Garble who was still watching the events from the lava pool seemed unfazed by the stallion's display of strength and more focused on Sludge's cowardice.
"Groveling before a pony, Sludge?" He leered. "Just when I thought you couldn't sink any lower!" Sludge apparently didn't hear the comment. The possession of the demon immediately took effect, increasing his hunger to unimaginable levels. He gazed back at the pile of gems in front of him longingly before jumping up and beginning to devour it, taking huge chunks and shoving them into his mouth, not even chewing them, just swallowing. This made Garble finally lose his cool.
"Hey, what gives?!" He demanded as he finally summoned the willpower to get out of the pool. "Those gems are mine!" He was about to confront Sludge, but Caballeron stepped in the way.
"Oh, yes. I almost forgot about you." He spoke smoothly as he analysed the dragon's body and Garble suddenly felt like he could see into his very soul. "Hmm. I'm sure I could find a more suitable one than you, but for now you will do." Before Garble could decide what to make of that remark, Caballeron pulled out another idol that contained the last sin that needed a host, Sloth. For a moment, Envy had worries about whether or not it's sibling would accept the dragon, but his worries were laid to rest when red mist emerged from the idol and flew into the dragon. The demon smiled in satisfaction.
"It is done." It mused before giving Caballeron the control of his body back to him. The Earth Pony stumbled around a little before he regained full control. Despite the fact that he had just beaten a group of adult dragons into submission, he started feeling like this whole thing was worth it less and less.
'Well, now that all of your siblings have hosts, are we ready to begin?'
'Almost.' The demon replied. 'First we need to...' Envy suddenly went silent which really unnerved Caballeron.
'We need to what?' Envy didn't answer. It felt something and since he was it's host, Caballeron felt it too. It was the same demonic energy that he always felt radiating from the entity inhabiting his body, but it was also different. It was a distant, faint beckoning feeling calling them somewhere. And it came from far away. So far that to Caballeron, it felt like the place the call was coming from was not even in their own reality.
'Well, what do you know?' Envy mused as it finally got over the surprise of the call. 'Looks like one of my siblings beat me to it. Lust if I'm not mistaken. She is at...' The demon paused again as realisation dawned upon him. Caballeron didn't even dare to ask the demon to elaborate further this time. 'We must gather the other hosts at once!' Envy instructed it's host. 'It's time to pay a visit to some old friends.'
"Make haste, Pinkie Pie! We have no time to lose!" The wizard urged as he lead Pinkie through the Rock of Eternity. The mare panted as she struggled to keep up with the old unicorn.
"I'm... trying..." She responded before stopping briefly to catch her breath and wipe the sweat off her forehead. "By Celestia's mane, this place is bigger than it looks. I could sure use the stamina of Air Last right now."
As Pinkie Pie followed the wizard up a dark, torchlit staircase towards an old wooden door, she felt the flow of magic coming her way growing more and more powerful. Pinkie had felt quite a lot of magic in the past day. Very powerful magic. But what she felt behind this door was overwhelming even compared to that. It made her feel a little uneasy. The wizard raised his staff and pointed at the door with it.
"This is the top floor of the Rock of Eternity and the most important one of them all." He told Pinkie with more seriousness than the mare ever saw on his face. "What I'm about to reveal to you is extremely powerful and also extremely dangerous. And I expect you to treat it as such."
"Um... What's behind that door exactly?" She asked nervously, taking a step back. The wizard's horn lit up and the safety mechanisms around the door magically removed themselves. Locks flew off, wooden bars moved out of the way, chains came loose and the steel bars covering it moved up into the ceiling before the door itself finally opened slowly and heavily.
"Step inside and find out!" Shazam instructed before entering. Pinkie was hesitant for a moment. The courage of Arrow Mass also dissipated from her after her transformation. But then she shook her head and narrowed her eyes in determination.
"Pull yourself together, Pinkie!" She snapped before smacking herself. "If you can't go on without the courage of Arrow Mass, then you don't deserve it!" She then took a deep breath and entered the room. What she saw inside was kind of a letdown. The room was completely empty except for one very noticeable thing. The giant whole in the ground and the peak of a giant rock it was built around. The rock reached all the way to the ceiling and had an altar around it with a set of stairs on all four sides. Pinkie tilted her head and gave the wizard a confused look. "Really? All that fanfare for this?" The wizard raised an eyebrow.
"Do you have any idea what this is?" Pinkie walked up the altar to the rock and knocked her hoof against it a few time.
"Uh... It's a rock."
"Not just any rock!" The wizard countered, harsher than he intended but he was starting to lose his patience with the mare's antics. "This is the top of the Rock of Eternity itself. It contains the most powerful magic in this place and therefore must always be locked down by the according measures. I opened it up for you so that it may restore your powers in time for your confirmation with the Sins."
Pinkie looked back at the rock. For a moment, it's ordinary appearance made her forget about the powerful magic she felt eminating from this room. She could still feel it but it was fainter than before. And also different somehow. While she was outside, it made her scared and nervous. But from up close in this room, it almost felt like the magic in the rock was calling out to her, inviting her to step closer. And suddenly, even without looking back at be wizard, she knew what she had to do.
"Shazam."
CRACK!
Changing back into Captain MareVel, Pinkie slowly raised one of her hooves and reached out towards the rock. As she made contact with it, bright sparks of electricity jumped out of the rock and flowed right into Pinkie Pie. But she wasn't frightened at all. Not only did the electricity not hurt, they felt invigorating. As if it was breathing new life into her. Her eyes glowed blue from the power and her expression lit up realisation, much to the wizard's satisfaction.
"I see you understand now." Pinkie removed her hoof from the rock and the sparks disappeared. She stepped back and raised her hoof in front of her face, looking at it in wonder, still seeing some of the sparks dancing around it.
"I do." She replied bluntly. "So, am I ready now?" The wizard frowned and shook his head.
"I'm afraid it is going to be a long process. What you just felt is but a fraction of the power you normally weild and an even smaller fraction of the Rock's power. Normally, you would take far longer to return to full strength on your own. But the Rock will be able to speed up the process a little." He explained before making his towards the door. "I suggest you meditate in the meantime. Clearing your mind may not fasten the regeneration process but should help you control your powers better. Good luck, my champion!" With that, he exited the room and Pinkie could hear the safety mechanisms sealing the door once more once he closed it.
But she did not panic upon being closed. In fact, she felt safer than ever. The magic of this place felt like so similar to the one she was tasked with wielding that she almost felt apart of it. So it was with the greatest comfort she placed both of her hooves on the Rock and began absorbing more of it's power. Pinkie closed her eyes and emptied her mind, a task easily said than done since her mind was usually full of... well, not even Celestia knows what Pinkie Pie's mind was full of, but right now, it was a place of complete serenity.
As the magic coursed through her body, she felt like it was being covered by a warm blanket. The strength, the courage, the durability, the speed and the most of all, the power of lightning returning into her. It was a welcome sensation. She felt like her body was drinking in the power like water. It almost surprised her how natural it felt. She blocked out everything around her and let the energy slowly fill her up.
Shazam returned to the throne room where he found the Phantom Stranger looking over Cheese Sandwich who was still lying unresponsively.
"How is our guest?" He asked the apparition.
"No change." Came the response. "How is our champion?"
"She is at the top floor, recovering." The Stranger was surprised by this answer.
"You took her to the top of the Rock? You were not willing to let even me in there. It is one of the few places I am unable to access."
"For good reason." The wizard replied. "It is not like I do not trust you, my friend, but the secrets Rock of Eternity are mine to guard. And now, hers as well. That is why she is allowed in there." The Stranger took no offense at that explanation and turned his gaze back towards the stallion.
"His body is recovering, albeit at a very slow rate but it is the demon inside him that worries me. It may have been incapacitated but it's presence is still very strong. Not only that, but I can feel the demonic influence radiating from his body. Very strongly. I suggest you take a look at it."
The wizard walked over to Cheese and raised his staff over his unresponsive body. The staff glowed white and eminated a low, humming voice from itself as it scanned the stallion. The wizard's expression shifted from concern to worry and eventually fear as he realised that the Stranger was right. The demon inside him was severely weakened but it still had enough strength to send out a signal, which Shazam could quickly decript as a call to it's siblings. The Stranger noticed his friend's expression and he didn't like it.
"What is it?" The wizard never got a chance to answer. Suddenly, a dark red flash appeared in the middle of the room, making both supernatural ponies jump in surprise. They turned to see a red orb of demonic energy appear out of nowhere and beginning to grow in size. Eventually, it grew bigger than the two of them and that's when they realised what it was supposed to be.
The silhouettes of six creatures appeared inside the orb and they stepped out of it, revealing three ponies, two dragons and a griffin. All of them had glowing, red eyes with their pupils impossibly wide, confirming the wizard's worst fear.
"We're too late! The awakening is complete!" The host of Envy, Doctor Caballeron grinned wickedly.
"I'm glad to see your perceptiveness didn't fade with age, old stallion." It's grin quickly disappeared though when it realised the wizard was alone. "Say, where are the rest of those damnable wizards? I would hate it if they missed the destruction of one of their own." Despite being outnumbered and severely weakened, Shazam wasn't intimated in the slightest. He gathered all of his remaining power into his staff and slammed it into the ground in front of himself.
"Do not defile the memories of my fellow wizards by speaking their names, you foul creature!" He roared as electricity shot up from the ground around him. The demon frowned in disappointment.
"So their age finally caught up with them. A pity. We were looking forward to slowly squeezing the life out of them. Oh, well. We'll just have to settle for you. And on the bright side, there will be no creature to stop us this time!"
'Don't count on that!' The wizard thought and attempted to take Envy by surprise by unleashing a blast of lightning at it's host. The sudden attack had the desired effect. Envy couldn't react in time and Caballeron's body flew back several meters. But before the wizard could continue his attack, he was tackled to the ground by the hosts of Wrath and Gluttony, Gilda and Sludge.
"Can I devour him?" Gluttony asked, making his dragon host lick his lips hungrily. "It's been ages since I've had a decent meal."
"Not yet, you fool!" Wrath snapped at him through Gilda. "First, he's going to witness how we corrupt his precious world that he and his peers gave everything to defend." The demon snarled before plunging the claws of it's host into the wizard's flesh, making him cry out in pain. "You think that hurt?" Wrath snarled. "Wait until I have grinded every bone in your body to dust. Then my brother here can have whatever is left of you." As they kept torturing the unfortunate unicorn, Envy got back on Caballeron's hooves and recovered the wizard's dropped staff.
"You see, old stallion? With the other wizards by your side, you may have been a match for us. But on your own, you are nothing!" It shouted before breaking the staff in two. The staff released one final burst of lightning as the magic faded from it, reducing it to an ordinary piece of wood.
Meanwhile, Pride and Greed in Flam and Flim's bodies went to check on Cheese Sandwich.
"This is the host of our sister?" Pride asked with disdain. "She really lowered her standards."
"I'll say." Greed added, clearly sharing it's brother's low opinions on the stallion. "But she is clearly not well. I can sense her inside this pathetic creature but she is faint and weak."
"This must be the wizard's scheme." Pride deduced, anger rising inside it's being. "He must have planned to hunt us down one by one."
"No creature can hurt my siblings but me." Wrath added before gashing some more wounds onto the unicorn's body. "You just prolonged your suffering, you old fool! Pick that stallion up and let's go!"
The Phantom Stranger could only watch in horror as the corrupted creatures tortured his friend. While he was in no danger of being discovered by them as he was only visible to the creature's he allowed to see him, the evil plot he just discovered still made him tremble. The wizard was now powerless against the demons raiding the cave.
There was only one creature who could stop these monsters now, but she was in a place that was unreachable even for him. He had only one hope. When Envy broke the wizard's staff, he saw it losing all of it's magic. Since the room at the top of the Rock was locked down by it, perhaps the magic guarding the room also faded away.
The Stranger didn't waste his time and immediately left the throne room throughout his ethereal gateway. He let out a sigh of relief escaped his mouth when he found that his theory was correct. With the destruction of the wizard's staff, he could break through the magical barrier guarding the room and entered it.
Inside, he saw Captain MareVel still leaning against the top of the rock and absorbing it's power. The Stranger didn't know if Pinkie absorbed enough power to fully restore her strength, but they had no more time. Whatever strength Pinkie regained from the Rock, it had to be enough.
"Pinkie Pie! You are needed in the throne room immediately!" Pinkie stopped working working the regeneration process and turned towards the phantom stallion.
"Why?!" She asked in alarm. "What's wrong?!"
"The Rock of Eternity is under siege!" The Stranger told her frantically. "The Sins have all awakened and captured Shazam! Only you can stop them now!" Pinkie recoiled in horror. The time has come. Her confrontation with the Seven Deadly Sins was finally at hoof. She wasn't quite sure if she was ready, but in that moment, she didn't care. The wizard, the stallion that trusted her with divine power and to take down the greatest threat ponykind had ever seen was in trouble and he needed her. Not to mention Cheese Sandwich who was still recovering from her attack on the demon inside him. There was no time for hesitation. Before the Stranger could do anything, Pinkie dashed past him, burst through the magically sealed door and sped down the stairs towards the throne room at speed that Merry Breeze himself would have been impressed by.
In the throne room, the Sins were about to make their exit back to the world of ponies with Garble and Sludge carrying the two unconscious ponies under their arms. But before they could summon the same portal that they used to enter, they were stopped by the most unlikely of interlopers. Captain MareVel sped into the room so fast that the movements of the corrupted creatures were playing in slow motion to her. The two dragons barely noticed their captives being snatched out of their grasp and by the time they noticed they were missing, the hero already placed them to safety around the Rock. Obviously, the Sins weren't amused.
"What the..." Sloth exclaimed as he noticed the host of Lust was gone. Gluttony was similarly displeased.
"My snack is gone!" The demon raged through Sludge. "When I catch the one responsible for this, I will eat them alive!"
"You and your bottomless pit of a stomach, you worthless moron!" Wrath snapped. "Can't you see we have bigger concerns right now?! We have been..." Before the demon could finish, it's griffin host was hit in the face by a red blur that ended up sending her crashing against the two dragons. The other three hosts looked up in surprise but didn't have time to react as they were also struck by the unseen assailant and before they realised what was going on, the six creatures found themselves in a pile on top of each other.
The demons groaned in pain as they recovered and got back up. They looked around in an attempt to find their attacker who didn't make them wait. In a flash of lightning, Captain MareVel herself stood in front of them in all of her glory, floating in the air with grace with electricity sparkling around her body and staring down at them with contempt. The Sins stared back in both anger and confusion.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Wrath demanded. "Who are you?!" Pinkie opened her mouth to answer, but she was beaten to it.
"She has the wizard's power!" Greed called out. "She's reeking with it!"
"I sense it too!" Pride said. "It's the same power he used to trap us but stronger! Much stronger! How did he manage to create this creature?"
"Who cares?!" Greed growled. "If her power really is that great, then I must have it!" The demon slowly made Flim's body crawl out of the pile and was about to pounce on the mare, but she quickly fired a lightning bolt at the unicorn's body, sending it crashing against a wall.
"Idiot!" Wrath snapped at it's impulsive brother. "This mare wields not just the power of one wizard but all of them! We will all have to unite if we want to defeat her!"
Pinkie fired another wave of lightning from both of her hooves and her horn, but she didn't have the element of surprise this time and Gluttony knew exactly what to do. The demon made it's dragon host open his mouth and literally devoured all the lightning, much to Pinkie's surprise. Sludge licked his lips and rubbed his belly.
"Delicious! If your divine power tastes so good, I can't wait to get a taste of you!" Sludge dashed up to Pinkie Pie at a speed that defied his weight and was about to sink his teeth into the alicorn who only managed to escape due to her own super speed.
'Well, so much for the power of Zephyr Hooves. Let's see if I fare better with the strength of Hoof Acres.' Pinkie thought as she slammed her hoof into the dragon's jaws. Sludge backed away from the impact and the demon inside him became so enraged that it made the dragon blindly spit fire at the mare. The fire did nothing to hurt her, so she managed to easily counter and knock the dragon back.
Before she could end the fight for good, she was tackled to the ground by Gilda. Her increased strength made it possible for her to penetrate her alicorn body but the stamina of Air Last made the pain bearable enough for her to grab the griffin's forelegs and electrocute her before headbutting her in the face with enough strength to send the griffin crashing against the wall. She was about to get up, but she never got the chance.
"Enjoying a good lay, eh?" Sloth spoke through Garble. "I can sure relate to that." He then threw himself on top of the pony and pinned her to the ground with his weight. Pinkie struggled to get the dragon off of herself until her hindlegs were grabbed by Flim while Flam grabbed her forelegs.
"Say goodbye to your powers, whelp!" Greed taunted, but before they could drain Pinkie's magic, the mare released lightning from her horn, blasting the unicorn away.
"I'd rather say goodbye to you!" She quipped before pointing her hoof at the other brother and giving him a taste of lightning as well. Finally, she put both her hooves on the dragon lying on her and electrocuted him as well until he lost enough grip for her to throw him off as well.
The Sins were still not quite done. They quickly recovered and regrouped, advancing on Pinkie menacingly. She didn't back down and summoned another wave lightning, firing it at the corrupted creatures. While it made them stumble back, they did not fall. They tried to make their way through the lightning and slowly but surely, they were getting closer to her.
Pinkie saw that she won't be able to keep this up for much longer. She looked around to find something to use against her opponents and saw one of the stone columns next to her. She quickly flew behind the column and placed her hooves on it.
'Let's hope this isn't the support beam of the entire room.' She thought before pushing it forward and slamming it onto the demon hosts. Meanwhile, Envy witnessed the thrashing it's brothers were receiving from this superpowered pony and was beginning to grow nervous.
'This mare is more formidable than we thought.' The demon observed. 'The beating she gave my siblings is something I certainly don't envy. I think it's best if we make a tactical retreat.' It then forced Caballeron's body to summon the portal they entered through and once it's siblings recovered again, it signaled them. "It's time to leave!"
"Forget it!" Pride bellowed back. "I'm not running away from a fight!"
"Swallow your pride or I will make Gluttony swallow it for you!" Wrath snapped at it's brother before motioning for the others to head for the portal. Pride was clearly not happy about it but even it didn't dare to defy Wrath so it obeyed.
"What about Lust?" Greed asked. "She's still trapped here. We cannot make our return complete without her."
"Once we regained our full strength, we will come back for her." Envy replied. "Now come! We are not ready to face a foe of this magnitude." The Sins made their way towards the portal and jumped through it before it closed as Pinkie watched in slight surprise.
"Um... did I win?" She wondered out loud, still not sure what just happened. She then heard a set of hooves slowly dragging itself through the dust of the cave's floor. Pinkie turned to see none other than the wizard, Shazam stumbling towards her. She quickly ran to his side.
"Are you alright?" She asked as she held him. The stallion coughed.
"Just... get me to my throne." He replied weakly. "That will... help me recover." Pinkie did as he asked and carried the old unicorn to his throne. The wizard let out a sigh as he was placed in the chair and felt the rejuvenating energy of the Rock of Eternity flow through him. As Pinkie watched, she heard a voice coming from her left.
"To answer your question, you did not win." Pinkie jumped and she wasn't at all surprised when she turned to see the Phantom Stranger standing next to her.
"Seriously, don't you ever get tired of this?!" She demanded. "Because I really am!"
"I apologise but we don not have time for pleasantries."
"He is right." The wizard added once he was strong enough to get off his throne. "You did not defeat the Sins. They were your equals in every way. And had they the seventh Sin by their side, they would have no doubt overwhelmed you."
"Speaking of which, where exactly did you hide your friend?" The Stranger wondered. In response, Pinkie sped off and returned with the still unconscious Cheese Sandwich on her back.
"Is he recovered enough to extract Lust from him now?" The wizard shared a worried glance with the Stranger before turning back to Pinkie.
"Unfortunately, I cannot tell. When the demon destroyed my staff, my connection to the Rock's magic was lost. I can no longer sense it inside him." Pinkie's face fell at the news, but what the wizard said next worried her even more.
"But I am afraid we can wait no longer. When the Sins attacked, I felt that they were not at their most powerful. They may have found new hosts but to regain their full power, they have to return to the place where we sealed them." Pinkie's eyes widened and the Stranger frowned.
"Then we have no time left." The phantom spoke before turning to the mare. "You will have to follow them, Pinkie. You are our only hope."
"First, she will have to extract the demon from him." The wizard said. "We cannot afford it getting loose and joining it's siblings in battle. The power of seven demons against the might of six godly heroes would not put the odds in our favor." Pinkie looked unsure about this.
"But... you said you can't tell if he's ready for that. So... If I do that, I could kill him." The wizard placed a hoof on her shoulder and gave her a sympathetic look.
"I know. But it is a chance we will have to make. We have to act as fast as we can." He then raised the orb he carved and gave it to her. "All of Ponykind's fate depends on this. You must not hesitate."
Pinkie looked at the orb in her hooves and then at Cheese. For a moment, she saw more in this one stallion than all of Ponykind combined. He was a good friend for a long time and as a fellow party planner - one of the best, in fact - he had always been a special friend to her. And since she learned that the stallion had harbored feelings for her, she has been wondering if he could be something more. So it was not an easy decision to make.
And yet, it was obvious to Pinkie what she had to do. Being a hero meant that you will have to make very hard decisions. Not for yourself, but for the sake of others. And if this risky move would help her prevent the darkness that was to come, then she would have to make it. And deep down she knew that as a fellow party pony, whose purpose in life was to ensure the happiness of others, Cheese would have wanted her to do this too.
With a heavy heart, she raised the orb between herself and Cheese and uttered the magic word.
"Shazam."
CRACK!
The lightning bolt that struck this time not only transformed Pinkie back to an Earth Pony, but also sent electricity into the orb which eventually found it's way into Cheese Sandwich's body as well. The sparks continued to dance around the two ponies for seconds before they died down. The electricity inside Cheese left his body and flew into the orb, making the carvings on it glow with blue light. When the light faded, only the carving that represented Lust remained glowing. The demon was now trapped inside the orb. With the task done, Pinkie went to check on her friend.
"How is he?" She asked the wizard who went to check the stallion's body for lifesigns.
"His vital signs are stable for now, but it is too early to tell if that will stay this way." The unicorn replied. "If he makes it through the night, he should be fine." Pinkie went over to Cheese and caressed his face with a soft, concerned look. But no matter how concerned she was for her friend, there were more pressing concerns to deal with.
"I suggest you change back and take your friend home and then head straight to the Sins' prison." The wizard said. "I will give you it's exact location, but sadly that is all I can do now."
"Are her powers restored?" The Stranger asked. The wizard shook his head with a frown.
"Not even close, but it will have to do. It saddens me to send you into battle so ill-prepared." The wizard told Pinkie as he put a hoof on her shoulder in comfort. But Pinkie wasn't distraught. She turned to smile at the two stallions, which greatly surprised them.
"Don't worry! I have a plan. Courage, strength, speed, power and stamina served me well until now. But there's one more ability that I haven't been using to it's fullest." Pinkie explained before she looked back at Cheese and her face hardened with determination. "This battle will be won by wisdom!"
In the cave that served as the prison of the Seven Deadly Sins, the six remaining demons were fuming. Pride felt itself wounded being forced to retreat from just one mare. Greed wanted to take the mare's divine powers for itself while Gluttony wanted to consume the mare herself and both felt robbed of the opportunity. Sloth felt tired of this whole thing and just wanted to lie down already.
But none of their anger could be compared to Wrath's. The demon truly lived up to it's name. Not only did it make it's griffin host pace around the room while shouting profanities at the at the top of her lung, it also made her punch and kick into the walls and columns while yelling about all the terrible things it will unleash upon this mare when it meets her again.
The only one who didn't seem distressed was Envy. In fact, the amused smirk on the face of it's host, Doctor Caballeron implied that it was actually enjoying it's brothers' tantrum. It would have even laughed at it if it didn't want to draw the fury of Wrath onto itself. Still, as entertaining as this sight was, it was time to get to work. There was one more step to be taken before their return would be complete.
"Now, now brother!" It tried to calm Wrath down as it's host approached the griffin and put a hoof on her shoulder. "I understand your anger about our adversary, but please do not let it draw your attention from our goal." He then motioned to the statues lined up at the end of the room.
"These statues that served as our prisons for millennia still hold most of our power. Once we regained them, we will be strong enough to destroy that mare and any other creature who stands in our way." Usually, Wrath always reacted with anger when touched or spoken to by one of it's siblings. But this time, despite it's aggressive mindset, it actually saw the truth in Envy's words. Pleased that it managed to appease it's brother, Envy stood in front of the other hosts.
"We have waited long enough for this moment. Let's not wait any longer! Once we are whole again, we won't need these puny creatures as hosts anymore! We will go back to the Rock of Eternity, destroy that weak, old worm of a wizard and that worthless little mare she chose as her champion, take the Rock's power for ourselves! We will be the most powerful creatures in the world!"
Envy's speech quickly dissipated the other demons' sour disposition. They approached the statues, placed their hooves and claws on the ones that represented them and began to drain the red demonic energy that the walls held from them. Envy was about to do the same, but he was interrupted by a loud banging sound coming from the gates that sealed the room.
"Who dares to interrupt our rejuvenation?!" Pride demanded.
"Whoever it is, they are about to meet a violent and painful end." Wrath replied. It was about to walk away from the statue and confront whoever was foolish enough to enter the Sins' chamber, but Envy stopped it.
"No, brother! You mustn't abandon your place by your prison once the process started! I will go and deal with the intruder." Wrath clearly didn't want to heed this command, but it eventually nodded and turned back to the statue while Envy went to the gate. Slamming the gate open, he saw a pink earth pony mare with puffy pink mane staring at it with a defiant look. While Envy had never seen her before, it immediately felt the familiar energy inside her. The same energy it felt inside the mare the Sins fought at the Rock of Eternity.
"It is you." Envy spoke. "The wizard's champion." The two ponies kept staring at each other for a few moments until Envy burst out in uncontrollable laughter. "If this is the best the pathetic old fool could find to put against us, this world is ours already!" But Pinkie wasn't phased by the demon's taunts. She merely smirked in response.
"And yet, I have something you envy." The demon just laughed even harder.
"You?! What could you possibly have to envy?!"
"The same thing I used to mop the floor with your friends back at the Rock." Pinkie replied. "The power of six gods!" Envy got tired of Pinkie's ramblings and began approaching her to put an end to it for good.
"Not for long, wench!" The demon snarled. As it got closer, Pinkie backed away until she drew Caballeron far enough that the gate closed behind him. "Soon our powers will be restored. And then we'll take yours as well. We will take over your sad, pathetic little world and corrupt everything you've ever known." Pinkie backed away until she reached the bottom of the staircase leading down from the cave's entrance.
"In fact..." Envy smirked. "I think I might delay the restoration of my own powers and take yours first. I will have to thank the wizard for choosing a champion who was stupid enough to confront me in her depowered state. With my power and those of six gods, it will be my brothers' turn to envy me." Pinkie had to restrain herself from smiling. She had the demon right where she wanted it.
When Envy placed Caballeron's hooves on Pinkie's shoulders, she quickly reached up and pulled the orb out of her mane. Envy looked at the orb and saw the carvings around it depicting it and it's brothers and how the carving the depicted Lust was glowing with blue light. The demon quickly realised what Pinkie was playing at, but it was too late. The mare turned it's own sin against it.
"Allow me to give you a taste. Savour it because it's all you'll ever get. SHAZAM!"
CRACK!
Envy screamed along with Caballeron as the lightning purged the body of it's host and trapped the entity inside the orb. Caballeron backed away and fell on the ground, panting heavily as he regained full control of his body and his mind cleared from the demon's influence. Pinkie, now standing tall as Captain MareVel held the orb in her hoof and smiled at it.
"I sure don't envy you now." She quipped before putting the orb away and running to check on Caballeron. "Are you okay?" She asked as she helped the stallion to his hooves. Caballeron didn't answer. He simply sighed and hanged his head in shame.
"No. No, I'm not." He replied, sounding like he was on the verge of tears. "I can't believe I fell for those things lies. It took advantage of my envy towards my rival just to gain me as a host for it's plans." Caballeron finally looked up at Pinkie and the utterly devastated look he gave her made her forget about all the evils he committed against her and her friends. All she saw was a broken pony regretting his actions.
"I have done terrible things for it." Pinkie put a hoof on his shoulder.
"It's not your fault. You weren't yourself." She consoled. "You are free now." Caballeron obviously didn't share her optimism.
I may be free from the demon itself but I'll never be free of what I've done. If you truly wish to free me from it's influence, then please, kill me!" Pinkie's eyes widened in shock at the request.
"That is not how I do things. There's always a better way. There has to be something you can do to redeem yourself." Caballeron's eyes suddenly widened in realisation as he remembered something.
"The explosives! Did you see a cart at the entrance of the cave?" He asked, finally raising his hopes.
"As a matter of fact, I have!" Pinkie answered. "Does it belong to you?" Caballeron nodded.
"We came for the statues that contained the Sins. We brought all kinds of equipment we could need for exploring a cave. Including explosives if we needed to blow our way in or out." He then looked at the gate of the Sins' chamber. "I was so narrow minded. All I cared about was my own personal gain when I looked for these artifacts. Daring Do was right. These things are dangerous. They need to be destroyed." Pinkie raised an eyebrow.
'Daring Do? Surely he doesn't mean...' But before she could finish that train of thought, Caballeron turned back to her.
"I want to help. I saw what you did back at the wizard's cave. If you can occupy the rest of the Sins, I can set up the explosives and blow this place to Tartarus."
"The wizard said the Sins' powers are still inside their prisons." Pinkie said. "That could work. But I don't think I should risk your life."
"My life is no longer worth saving." Caballeron lamented, looking down, but Pinkie was having none of it.
"Every life is worth saving!" Pinkie cut back. The stallion flinched but didn't back down.
"Please, allow me to make amends!" Before Pinkie could reply, the two heard a loud bang from beyond the gates. They both immediately realised what it was.
"The process is almost complete!" Pinkie exclaimed in horror. Caballeron narrowed his eyes.
"Then let's not waste anymore time by arguing! Get in there and interrupt it! I will get the explosives!" Before Pinkie could respond, he was already halfway up the staircase. And deep down, she knew he was right. They had to be stopped by any means.
She flew up into the air and launched herself at the gates, breaking through them and landing in middle of the chamber. The remaining five Sins turned around to see the alicorn superhero glaring up at them, but they didn't panic.
"You are late, champion!" Pride said, spitting the last word with sarcasm. "Our powers are nearly restored. Soon we will free our sister and overwhelm both you and your whole world!"
"I don't think so!" Pinkie replied, helding up the orb that now contained two of the Sins. "Your envious brother is now in here as well! And you will soon join them! Now it is the power of six against the power of five!"
"It matters not!" Greed cut back. "Our full power surpasses all of your gods'!" This boast gave Pinkie an opening to continue with her plan.
"Is that so?" She asked with fake curiosity. "Then why do I hear the longing in your voice for my power?" Greed looked down at Pinkie and the mare saw on Flim's features that she had him hooked. "Your greed is never satisfied, is it? Your own power would never be enough for you. So come on! Take mine!" She challenged. Flim started to move forward towards her but the demon in him still had some restraint. Pinkie then turned to Sludge who was eyeing her hungrily.
"What is it, Gluttony?" Pinkie asked teasingly. "Are you hungry, big boy? Do you think I look tasty? Well then come on and take a bite!" The hungry demon had much less restraint than it's brother and was about to leap at the mare, but a loud shout stopped it.
"STOP! Wrath screamed at it's brothers though Gilda. "DON'T YOU SEE WHAT SHE'S TRYING TO DO! IF YOU MOVE AWAY FROM YOUR STAUTES, THE DRAINING WILL BE STOPPED!" The two creatures immediately jumped back in their place at their brother's command. Pinkie saw that Wrath was clearly the dominant demon of the pack. It's siblings were all afraid of it and they weren't going to defy it. But tjat also made it the most ideal target for Pinkie's plan. If she managed to get the better of Wrath, the rest of the Sins would be thrown into disarray.
'Remove the head and the body becomes useless.' Pinkie thought to herself with a smirk.
"What's wrong, Wrath? Afraid your brothers are able to make decisions for themselves without you? That they do not need you?" The griffin that Wrath inhabited turned to glare at Pinkie, but the Earth Pony turned alicorn wasn't deterred. "Touched a nerve didn't I? Yes, you are just giving this tough guy act to keep your brothers in line because you are afraid they will realise they don't really need you? You are not a powerful world conquering demon! You are just a bully! A spineless coward!" The griffin remained still, but her expression showed that the demon was losing the battle to keep it's cool. Pinkie lit the fuse, the bomb was about to explode.
"MISERABLE WRETCH!" Wrath roared at Pinkie. "INSIGNIFICANT SPECK OF FECULENT SCUM! HOW DARE YOU?!"
That did the trick. Wrath flew straight at Pinkie and began blindly clawing and punching the mare's body, but Pinkie effortlessly managed block every strike at super speed. When she felt that Gilda's body was finally tiring out, she grabbed the griffin, flew up with her and slammed her into the ceiling. She then summoned a lightning bolt that smashed her hard into the ground, before dropping down on top of her and slamming her hindlegs onto her back.
"Was that an impressive display of power, demons?" She yelled at Greed and Gluttony. "Do you want a piece of it? Then come and take it!" The two demons could no longer contain themselves and with Wrath incapacitated, they no longer had to. They jumped straight at Pinkie with the intention of swallowing her whole and taking her power, but they would achieve none. At the last moment, Pinkie moved out of the way and the two hosts crashed into each other, landing on top of Gilda.
When she looked up at the two remaining Sins, she saw from the corner of her eyes there Caballeron was already inside the chamber and was setting up the explosives around the statues. Sloth and Pride were so focused on her that they didn't even notice him, but as long as they were there, he won't be able to get to theirs. They needed to be moved out of his way quickly.
Pinkie flew at the two creatures and slammed them into the wall by their throats. She then unleashed two waves of electricity into their bodies until she saw the connection between them and the statues severing. She then threw them on top of the pile of the other hosts and flew over them, holding the orb in her forelegs and raising it over her head.
"SHAZAM!"
CRACK!
The lighting that struck the orb, Pinkie and the corrupted creatures was the biggest one she ever summoned. It kept flowing through her body as well as the creatures beneath her for several seconds as it purified them and transported them into the orb where they would reside for the rest of eternity.
Meanwhile, Caballeron finally finished setting up the explosives around the statues. He just finished setting up the last one when he felt something hitting his head from above. Looking up, he saw that the magical lightning the pink alicorn summoned finally pushed the cave to it's limits. It was collapsing! Caballeron panicked as he reached for the detonator. The cave collapsing won't be enough. The statues had to be destroyed! He managed to snatch the detonator from under a falling rock just in time, but before he could press it, another rock fell right on his hindlegs.
Pinkie didn't need super senses to hear the blood curdling scream let out by Caballeron as the stallion became trapped under the piece of rock that fell on him. But it was only then that she realised what she caused. She looked up and saw another piece of the ceiling that was now descending towards her and the purified demon hosts and she instinctively cried out again.
"Shazam!"
CRACK!
Pinkie caught the falling rock and tossed it aside before putting Flim, Flam, Garble and Gilda on her back and grabbing Sludge between her forelegs. But Caballeron was still trapped. Pinkie turned towards the stallion and saw that he stopped struggling under the debris. He looked back at her and gave her a somber stare.
"Go!" He cried out to her, having clearly resigned himself to his fate. Pinkie was shocked. Abandoning a helpless stallion to his death didn't feel like a very heroic thing to do but with the other creatures she had to hold, she didn't see any way she could save him. Caballeron saw her hesitation so he cried out louder. "GO!" Pinkie still didn't want to leave him, but when another piece of the ceiling came down towards the stallion and he started reaching for the detonator in his hoof, she gave in and bolted out of the chamber.
The explosion behind her shook the entire cavern as she headed for the exit at the top of the stairs. She only hoped the falling rocks wouldn't end up hitting her. She could take it no problem but the creatures she was carrying couldn't and one death on her watch was already more than she liked to handle. But she managed to dodge all of the descending boulders until she finally reached safety, just in time before the entrance caved in as well.
She turned back and kept watching in both awe and terror as cracks began to form all around the mountain and more and more of it began to come crashing down into the ground. Once the entire mountain was reduced to a pile of rocks on top of each other, Pinkie saw a red cloud of demonic energy emerge from beneath the remains towards the sky before exploding and dissipating into nothingness. It was over. The Sins were defeated.
Back at the Rock of Eternity, the wizard, Shazam sat on his throne, absorbing the Rock's power to restore his health after the Sins' attack while the Phantom Stranger stood by, observing the process with concern and intrigue. They both anticipated the return of their champion, hoping for her victory, but still fearing for her life.
The complete silence of the cave was interrupted by a deafening lightning blast, drawing the attention of both stallions to the center of the room. Once the light faded, they saw Captain MareVel standing there, looking at them with an unreadable expression.
For a moment, they became worried about what she might say, but when she held up the orb the wizard made to trap the Sins in with blue light glowing all over it, they knew she was successful. The wizard slowly stood up as he was still rather weak, but he had the strength to walk over to Pinkie and take the orb from her.
"My sincerest congratulations to you, my champion! You have saved Ponykind from a fate worse than extinction!" The wizard told Pinkie before placing the orb on an altar next to the seven thrones. "Here, I can ensure that no mortal will ever awaken these monsters again." He said before turning back to the mare. "My friend had chosen wisely. You are indeed the perfect pony to wield this power and be Ponykind's defender." Pinkie beamed at the praises but what the Stranger asked next instantly made her face fell.
"What of the creatures corrupted by the Sins? Are they freed?" The mare frowned as he remembered Caballeron's sacrifice, not sure how they would take it.
"I delivered them to the nearest hospital. I don't know what they were more spooked by, two dragons or an alicorn carrying them there. I tried my best explaining what happened to them. They were a little skeptical about the whole demonic possession thing but thankfully, some unicorn doctors did confirm the presence of dark magic inside them so none of them will be legally prosecuted."
"Good news indeed." The wizard acknowledged. "But you only mentioned the two dragons. What of the other three?" Pinkie sighed.
"The two unicorns and the griffin will be fine, but the Earth Pony who hosted Envy..." Her head fell before she finished it. "He didn't make it." She then proceeded to tell them how Caballeron helped her to destroy the Sins' chamber and how he stayed behind to finish the job. The two stallions shared her sorrow over the news.
"That is unfortunate." The wizard admitted, hanging his head in respect for the fallen stallion. "But take solace in the fact that his death was not in vain."
"I just wish I could have a saved him as well." Pinkie said, wiping her eye.
"He made his choice, Pinkie Pie." The wizard consoled her. "You are not any less of a hero for it. You did everything you could."
"That leaves only one question." The Stranger said. "What of your friend who we treated here? Has he recovered?"
"Who? Cheese Sandwich? Why, he..." Pinkie started before her eyes went wide. "Oh, no! I forgot to check on him! SHAZAM!"
CRACK!
After Pinkie disappeared in a flash of lightning, the wizard and the Stranger shared an amused glance.
"Clearly, the Wisdom of Starswirl doesn't come with superequine memory." The Stranger quipped.
Though she was back to her earth pony form, Pinkie Pie was running through Ponyville so fast that one could assume she was Merry Breeze himself. And while she didn't have the stamina of Air Last at the moment, she refused to stop until she reached the house of Cheese Sandwich.
When she reached the door, she tried to open it but she found that it was locked. Pinkie smacked her head in embarrassment. How could she forget that the last time she was here, she flew in the window as Captain MareVel to place Cheese in her bed before heading off to the Sins' Chamber.
But she won't be able to transform now. There were too many ponies on the streets who could see her. Fortunately, she didn't need to. She had a little magic of her own. She ran off and came back with her party cannon, aiming the barrel at the open window before lightning the fuse and climbing into it while giggling. A concerned earth pony mare happened to pass by and gave her confused look.
"Do I want to know?" Pinkie gave her a bright smile.
"Just bringing Cheese Sandwich a surprise breakfast!" The mare just shrugged and walked off.
Pinkie's cannon shot her through the window and she landed right on Cheese's bed, on top off the stallion. All of Pinkie's worries about the stallion's well being evaporated when he sat straight up and looked looked straight into her eyes with a gasp.
"Good morning, Cheesel Weasel!" She cheered. "Your favourite pony in the world is here!" Cheese sighed as he got over his shock.
"You know, that's a sight I always wanted to see." He said, looking up at Pinkie sitting on top him in bed. Pinkie blushed, remembering the secret the demon shared with her during their fight.
"Why didn't you tell me before, Cheese?" She asked, sounding calmer and more serious than he ever heard her before.
"I tried to! Hundreds of times!" Cheese told her, releasing all of his pent up frustration over her cluelessness. "But you never seemed to get the hint! It was always either in one ear and out the other or you interrupting me before I could finish!" He looked down in shame as he finished. "But I guess it doesn't matter now. You probably want nothing to do with me after what I've done." Pinkie immediately wrapped her hooves around Cheese's neck and pulled him into an embrace. The stallion finally broke and began crying into the mare's shoulder.
"It wasn't your fault." Pinkie comforted him, rubbing his back. "If anything, it's mine. My cluelessness left you vulnerable to that demon. If I took the hint earlier, none of this would have happened." Cheese pulled out of the embrace to look at her.
"I don't want you to feel like you are obligated to be with me just for that!" Pinkie took Cheese's hooves into her own and smiled.
"I don't feel obligated to it, Cheese. I admit, I never thought of the two of us that way but that doesn't mean I'm not willing to give us a chance, so..." She paused as she teasingly rolled her eyes. "Would you like to join me for breakfast at Sugarcube Corner?"
Cheese's eyes widened at the question. His dream was finally becoming a reality and he was about to say yes but something inside him stopped him. His excited look faded away and he cast his gaze down making Pinkie frown.
"What's wrong?" Cheese looked back at her and sighed.
"Pinkie, I can't." Pinke raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean you can't?"
"Pinkie, I just tried to kill you last night! I know you say it's not my fault and maybe one day I'll learn to see it this way too, but right now, I don't feel like I deserve to be with you!" Pinkie felt like she was punched in the gut. The rejection hurt her more than she expected.
"I... I..." She stammered, not sure what to say next, but she realised that there was nothing she could say. "I'm sorry, Cheese! It was too early. I let myself get carried away. Let's just forget this happened!" She said, backing away towards the door. She was about to leave, but Cheese stopped her.
"However..." Pinkie turned to look back at him. "I would love breakfast at Sugarcube Corner. I'm famished!" He told her on his usual joyful tone as be got out of . "Just because we're not dating, doesn't mean we can't enjoy a meal together! What do you say?" Pinkie stared at him blankly. His sudden cheerfulness surprised her, but not in a bad way. In the end, she realised he was right. They could still enjoy a nice breakfast as friends. And who knows? Maybe in due time, Cheese will be able to get past his possession and see himself as the great stallion Pinkie always knew he was. But for now, the whole day was ahead of them. Pinkie flashed him a happy smile.
"You betcha!" Cheese returned the smile and lead Pinkie downstairs.
"I'm buying! After you saved me and probably all of Equestria from demonic possession, it's the least I can do!"
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Excellent job on this latest chapter/the final chapter of this particular story. Again, the exchanges, characterizations, action, general wrap-up and future story set-up are all wonderfully done. Definitely appreciated Pinkie sharing her power to help Cheese's healing. And, yeah, I could see where the Sins would think to go to the Dragonlands for the final two hosts (and, in Garble's "defense", travelling from Manehattan to the Dragonlands AND dodging Batmare BEFORE making the trip WOULD take it out of somebody [since he IS also playing the role of Croc]). Also really loved the fights with the Sins, especially the tricks used in the fight where the Sins were finally beaten. And Caballeron sacrificed himself to finish the job (though possibly setting up his eventual return as the analogue to Hawkman). Also loved the final scene where both Pinkie and Cheese apologized (Cheese for the attack, Pinkie for being so oblivious as to make Cheese vulnerable).
REALLY looking forward to the rest of the series.
11591419
As always, thank you for the comment!
I'm sorry, but at what point did I imply that Garble played the role of Croc. Croc is a rogue dragon who couldn't handle his Greed that manifested in his craving for food. He's probably gonna be an OC and more of an animal acting on instincts than an intelligent being.
As for Caballeron, the idea to kill him off came in the last minute. I know I said he might get a role, but I thought it would have more impact if he sacrificed himself to destroy the Sins. Not that this rules the former out. After all, no one stays dead in comics. Except Bruce Wayne's parents, Uncle Ben and Gwen Stacy. But the possibilities are now much limited. He might come back during the Blackest Night even I'm planning for Green Lantern Vol. 2.
Stay tuned for more!
11591435
Yeah. I see your point concerning Croc. And I'll definitely freely admit that I misread that part much earlier on. Thanks for the correction.
This pony provided by the Ministry of Redundancy Ministry.
11591609
Fixed it. Thanks for pointing it out.
11592283
As always, thank you for the comment!
I see where you're coming from and Twilight will feel the same. She actually briefly retires until she realises that Trixie and the Joker are one and the same and since her mistake created this monster, it is her responsibility to stop it. I thought it fits because in the comics, Batman sees the creation of the Joker as one of his biggest mistakes.
Stay tuned for more!
11592294
I... get that, but don't agree with it. Twilight can't be trusted not to make a mistake again.
Rooting for Trix here... and I'm not a big Trix fan lol.
I'm loving the story keep up the good work!
11597627
Thank you very much!
11598633
Debatable. Magic working on him isn't the same as weak to. But it's your story so you do you.
Yeah that part with Apple Bloom scared the crap out of me. I thought AJ was gonna see like a tumor or something.
11591435
You're forgetting the "Flashpoint Paradox" story arc--at least his dad came back.
As for the host of envy, the comics book rule has always been: "if you don't see the body, that person's not really dead."
This does seem like a good place to break from Pinkie/Shazam's intro with her achieving a decent victory against her enemies. I am looking forward toward more Shazam and everyone else's development and eventual teaming up, but I saw that the next chapters are dealing with Rainbow/Flash, so I'm eager to see how that goes.
This is very hard to put into written words without swearing. I don’t know if it’s a hot take but I don’t like Cap Marvel and Shazam so this one was a chore to read I’m sorry but I will tear it apart. Because the concept of character doesn’t work on writing standpoint. When you have wisdom of a God you should not keep acting like prepubescent moron yet in any incarnation he still does!!! Then again I only watched first movie and his appearances in Justice league unlimited an Young Justice so maybe somewhere in comics Cap not written like that but I gave up on him long ago just like DC.
You said yourself you can’t write Pinkie and it shows will not hold it against you, to write her and not make her annoying is a talent this is why I respect show writers this much. This story became too cheesy even by mlp or comics standards, we could argue its pinkie pie crossed with the most goofiest superhero but nah imo you can still write it not like Saturday morning cartoon. Especially the second chapter where it’s shown to us how she resists the sins in our face twice and this is a mistake. Writer should not repeat himself twice so early in story. Either make it so Phantom sees her in sugar cube coner and skip party or skip sugar cube coner scenes except for twins introduction and go straight for him finding Pinkie at the party.
Also why Is Phantom Stranger here, does he interact with Shazam and Cap in comics regularly and I have no clue because I never read them?
Another criticism is Richcorp scene, I think it’s a fan service filler and serves no purpose for story of either Filthy or the Sins. It doesn’t have any world building and Sins strength Showcased later again in a fight with dragons so unlike Fluttershy little adventure in Mannehatan this scene was unnecessary in my opinion.
Sorry again for sounding like a snobby critic. The review of Rainbow speedster I will provide whenever you finished. Don’t want to judge half a story.
11632461
Well, you can't win all the time, can you?
I had no idea what other hero Pinkie could work as. Some suggested plastic man but that character is way too goofy for my taste and Captain Marvel can actually work if he is written with the required wisdom.
I said I can't write Pinkie and I own that up, BUT I will defend the scene with RichCorp and the dragon lands, I used those scenes to actually move the plot along with the Sins looking for hosts. If Envy didn't take Caballeron to RichCorp, he wouldn't have found Flim and Flam and he actually found two dragons to complete the collection.
Anyway, I appreciate your honesty about this volume. I hope you will enjoy the next one more.
Great chapter but again fraut with wrong word usage. Alot of "on" when you mean "in" etc
An enjoyable issue. Pinks is probably my second to last Mane 6 so I had low expectations for this one. Thankfully, the villains here were pretty decent, though I would've liked a more climactic battle for their end.
Caballeron dying was a good choice since it was his fault all of this came about.
Kind of a weird choice with the whole 'You'll lose your power if you save Cheese", but then it didn't really end up mattering much.
This chapter made me appreciate how delusional some heroes are though. Like how many ponies died in Batmare? Pinkie really getting sad over not saving one? Good luck with that.
And next we get to my most harshest issues. Rainbow, who I think is the worst of the Mane 6, and Rarity im assuming after who I really have the highest expectations for.
Well, see you in RD's arc.
11671883
As always, thank you for the comment!
Yeah, I do feel like the final fights in these Volumes tend to be lackluster. I guess I put so much effort into the buildup in the final issue that when I reach the final fight, I run out of steam. Perhaps saving the fights for a separate chapter would have been better.
Funny you should mention how the next volume will be the hardest to get through because personally, I enjoyed writing that one the most and I think it turned out to be the best so far. I'll hope you'll feel similar once you get to it.
Until then...