//------------------------------// // Magic Man Has Swag // Story: The Magic Man in Equestria // by iDeltaVelocity //------------------------------// The Magic Man in Equestria Chapter 3 With a swift kick, Applejack forced the doors opened into Rarity’s Carousal Boutique. They finally had the magic man cornered. They developed a plan on the way here on how they would go about capturing him, which would end with Twilight encasing him with her magic to prevent his escape. And then afterwards, once they had him where they wanted him, they would force him to change everypony back to normal. They went inside, only to find the living room empty, save for some sheets of fabric laid about and a few bare mannequins set off to the side. “We got you outnumbered, Magic Man!” Applejack announced. There was really no doubt that she was ready and willing to have revenge. RD agreed. “Get your sorry butt out here!” she demanded. They heard Rarity call from upstairs, “Girls, is that you?” It was strange to hear that she was all right, since not too long ago they heard her screaming all the way from Sweet Apple Acres. “Yeah, it’s us,” Twilight responded, “Is everything alright, Rarity?” They heard her begin to descend down the stairs. “Of course, everything is alright. Why wouldn’t it—?” She entered the living room, but stopped once she saw what four of her friends had become. She was awestruck at seeing them. “W-What happened?” “There’s some crazy Magic Man hang’n ‘round this part of Equestria,” said Applejack, “He went and did this to us, and now we’re on a hunt’n for him so he can change us back.” Rarity put a hoof to her chin. “A Magic Man, huh? Well that can’t be true, entirely.” “Why not?” asked Applejack. Rarity responded, “Well because he’s upstairs right now. I was planning on introducing you all to him once I got Pinkie Pie.” Her answer had surprised the group, though it was more than enough of a resolve for Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy to charge upstairs to Rarity’s room. “What’s their problem?” the prim unicorn asked. “Magic Man did that to all of them,” said Twilight. Spike, who was still in the form of a ball, confirmed it. Rarity wasn’t sure she wanted to believe them. To her, Magic Man seemed like a nice fellow when she first met him. Sure, his outfit was raggedy, and that made her scream out of habit, but after she offered him a place to stay, it turned out he was one of the nicest guys she’d ever meet. Perhaps she would find a way to get the others see that, also. With Twilight and Spike, she headed upstairs to see that an argument had broken out. A barrier had been set up in front of the Magic Man, separating him from the trio of ponies he had recently mutated. Rarity cleared her throat. “Now girls, don't be hasty.” She broke them up, backing Applejack and Rainbow Dash/Fluttershy from her guest. If Magic Man truly did do this to them, then a proper way to get him to change them back would be through politeness, rather than mindless brutality. “Whatever happened between you two, I'm sure we all can handle it in the utmost civilised way.” Magic Man raised an eyebrow. “Civilised?” “When I agreed to take Magic Man in,” said Rarity, continuing to defend the magician, “he promised to help with some of my designs. Why, if I do say so myself, he's one of the nicest being that I've ever—” In a sudden flash, the alabaster unicorn was engulfed in the violet-blue smoke, the same that everyone in the room was all too familiar with. They heard Rarity cough as she emerged, staggering from the smoke. Her new appearance had left the ponies' mouths agape, and it left Spike petrified in shock. She opened her eyes to see them staring. “Why are you looking at me like that?” They were too nervous to say anything. Applejack was scratching the back of her apple head, trying not to look; Rainbow Dash was whistling and Fluttershy's and Twilight's eyes darted around the room; Spike was the only one still staring at her, albiet he was still in shock at her new appearance. Rarity was left confused, unknown to what held her friends back from saying something. “Here, honey,” Magic Man floated next to her, holding a mirror, “You might need this.” Grabbing the mirror with her magic, Rarity looked at herself, and upon seeing her reflection she screamed. Her makeup had exploded over her head, with lipstick smeared over her mouth and mixed in with the eyeliner over her eyes; her mane had literally been annihilated, like a student barber had taken to cutting hair with garden shears; and to top it off, she wasn't a pony anymore; the Magic Man had changed her into a rat/mannequin hybrid. Rarity’s face was red with anger. She glared daggers into Magic Man, who only floated above the floor with a cheeky grin on his green face. His hands placed on his hips, he gave a nod of approval at another job well-done. “Five in one day? Wow, that’s my new personal best,” he declared, giddy as the ponies confronted him, “Guess I owe myself five bucks.” Rarity growled. “You did this to me, you ruffian. Why?” “Well,” Magic Man started, “You called me nice. And I can’t have people thinking that, can I? I have a reputation to uphold, after all. But the main reason is that you, my pretty unicorn friend, were generous enough to give this homeless beggar a roof over his head. And now you get to partake in the wonderful life lesson that I plan to give everyone in this very strange land!” He said this all as if it was a good thing, considering that he had just gone and outright mutated another pony. Twilight’s horn glowed. She shot a blast of magic at the Magic Man, which was effortlessly redirected into the wall behind him, blasting a hole through to the outside. “Haha! Better luck next time, kiddies!” The Magic Man turned himself into a rocket and sped out of the building, but only but causing another hole in the wall. Twilight and her friends coughed, fanning away the smoke. Out of it, they noticed a note on the ground. Twilight picked it up. Dear ponies, Eat it! With love, Magic Man She crumpled the paper and threw it away. This Magic Man was becoming more of a pain than before. “How the hay do we go about catch’n this guy? He has just as much magic as Twilight does,” said Applejack. Twilight couldn’t lie to herself, but she silently agreed with her. Whatever abilities this Magic Man possessed, it was easily on par with hers. Maybe it matched Shining Armour’s, or Discord’s, or even the Princesses’! The realisation made their situation that much more difficult. Catching the Magic Man was no easy task, at least not conventionally. “I think I have a plan,” said Twilight. “Follow me.” With interest present in his eyes, Magic Man looked down at the very small creature in front of him. There was no doubt it had caught his attention. “I like you, kid,” he said, “You remind me of me when I was younger: clever, stunning, and a real ladies' man.” Gummy held the normally blank expression on his face. He blinked, his eyes staring off into different directions as he turned his back to the magician in front of him. Magic Man smiled at this little guy. He was a jerk, just like him. Outside, he heard his name called. He walked over towards the window to see a pink, poofy-maned pony standing in the street. Now what could she possibly want with him? Only one way to find out, he thought. After donning his clever disguise, he pushed open the window and flew from Sugarcube Corner onto the streets. Ponies passing by turned their attention to the stranger as he walked towards Pinkie Pie. “I've never seen you before,” the pink pony said. “I'm fairly new around here,” the Magic Man replied, using his beggar alias to fool her. From a nearby alley, Twilight waited for the right moment to strike. Pinkie Pie was a decoy, meant to keep Magic Man distracted long enough for her to ensnare him in her magic. She just had to stay out of sight. Pinkie was chatting nonstop with the Magic Man. He looked distracted, not taking his eyes off the pink-coated earth pony bouncing around him. She saw her chance. She galloped out of cover, horn glowing in preparation. The Magic Man still had his back turned. He hadn't noticed her, thankfully. She got close, ready to finally end it. At the last moment, however, Magic Man made his own move. He jumped, doing a backflip over Twilight. He threw off his disguse, laughing at the unicorn's failed attempt. “I could sense you coming from a mile away. Guess you'll have to try harder if you wanna catch me.” Twilight couldn't understand how he was able to sense her magic, yet she couldn't do the same. She looked over and noticed Pinkie Pie had been hit with the blue powder that Magic Man used on everyone else. When it subsided, Pinkie's body entirely had been turned into candy chocolate. Magic Man tipped his hat, bidding farewell to the ponies before vanishing. “Pinkie Pie, are you okay?” asked Twilight. When Pinkie saw her new body, she gasped. “I love it!” The ponies were witnessed the spectacle were in surprise at what happened. However, several ponies stepped up. “That was him, wasn't it? That was the Magic Man?” asked Bon-Bon. “You know him?” asked Twilight. “Know him?” Bon-Bon could some anger rising. She wished hadn't known him. “He cast some transformation spell on Lyra after she played him some music.” “He caught my coltfriend just last week,” a mare joined. Another told him what happened to his friend after he met the Magic Man. It seemed like Twilight's friends weren't the only ones caught by the magician, and it definitely seemed that he had been hanging around Ponyville much longer than she'd thought. Wherever the Magic Man was now, they needed to find him before he was able to get away.