The Magic Man in Equestria
Chapter 4
Princess Celestia and Princess Luna could only cringe, with a staggering mix of shock and confusion, at the sight beheld in front of them. They had expected, when Twilight told them that something had happened to her friends, to bear witness to something similar to the time Discord corrupted them. What they saw, instead, was something far beyond expectations.
“And who did this to you again?” asked Celestia.
Rainbow Dash replied, “He calls himself a Magic Man. He’s been doing this to ponies all across Ponyville.”
Luna closed her eyes. Her horn glowed as she focused her energy in attempt and track the culprit responsible. “It doesn’t seem that I can locate him.”
“I’ve tried that, also,” said Twilight, “and the weird thing is that he’s able to sense our magic. And it doesn’t seem native to Equestria, either.”
“I’m afraid I have to agree,” said Luna, “Transformation spells that can turn a pony into something like… this are well beyond even our abilities.”
“What do you suppose we do?” asked Rarity. She was more than ready to get her hooves on the Magic Man for doing this to her. The last thing she expected, after she showed such generosity, was to be mutated.
“The first thing we need to do,” Celestia announced, “is locate this Magic Man as soon as possible—”
“I’m way ahead of you, honey!” They turned towards the source of the voice to see the Magic Man plastered on one of the stained-glass window pictures.
The window bared a painting of Twilight and her friends using the Elements of Harmony against Discord. The Martian was lying atop of Twilight’s head, eating a bag of popcorn. “It’s so wonderful to see you all here together!”
“How’d you know we were coming here?” said Twilight.
Magic Man finished the last of the popcorn and threw the bag away. “I think the term is called ‘following’. You seven are just so much fun that I’ve decided that to hitch ride in hopes of finding equally fun ponies in this Kingdom. You can see that I was pleased with the results.”
Celestia looked up at the green man with a threatening glare, but it did not seem to faze him. “Are you the one they call Magic Man?”
The magician jumped from the picture and floated down in front of the Princesses. A huge, goofy grin was plastered on his face as he glanced over at his most recent victims. “Why, yes I am. This is wonderful, isn’t it? It’s fantastic to know that my reputation is beginning to grow around these parts.”
“We were told that you’ve been mutating ponies around Ponyville.”
“Ponyville? Is that what you call that nowhere town?” The Magic Man’s laughter that followed earned a few glares from the equines in front of him. “And yes, while my magic’s been lingering in that town, I’ve been to other places, as well. And I must say to you, Princess-” He pointed at Celestia and Luna, “This place, Canterlot is something else. I’ve seen a lot of snooty, uptight, and arrogant ponies who have been bringing tears to my eyes all day. Of course, there have been the occasional generous and kind equines that I’ve ran into on the way here.”
“Generous and kind?” Applejack gulped. “Oh boy…”
A guard ran into the throne room. “Princess, we have a situation. We have a large number of mutants amassing at the castle entrance.” He stopped when he caught sight of the several creatures in front of him. “Apparently, some of them have also found a way into the castle, as well.”
Princess Celestia looked back at the Martian. “I demand that you change them back, Magic Man.”
“Sorry, Queeny, that’s not how this works.” Magic Man floated. “For you see, my glorious lesson has yet to be learned by anyone I’ve met. But I’ll strike a deal with you: I’ll reverse my magic and change everyone back, but only if one of you can figure out that is.”
Luna, lout of anger and frustration, shot a bolt of lightning at him. If he wouldn’t go through with this peaceful, they’d have to use force. She was taken back when Magic Man opened a portal, letting her attack pass through harmlessly.
The Martian laughed. “Sorry, hun-” he pointed a finger at his butt, “-don’t touch what you can’t afford!” With a last laugh directed at the clueless ponies, the Magic Man teleported out of the throne room.
It’s been a few weeks since Discord’s reformation. Of course, even though he was no longer causing random acts of chaos across Equestria, it was still fun knowing that he could still play pranks and maintain the amount necessary for keeping the natural balance in the Kingdom. He was the still the Spirit of Disharmony; doing it was literally one of his main reasons for living.
Though, now, today had been a slow day. There wasn’t much to do, except take a walk around the castle, and there was no fun in that. As he passed an intersection, he found himself crashing into a few Royal Guards. “What’s the rush?” he asked in annoyance. He teleported himself off the ground and looked down at the armoured ponies in front of him.
“We’re searching for someone,” said one of the Guards.
“And who might that be?”
“He’s calls himself a Magic Man, whatever that means. He’s been mutating ponies all across Equestria, apparently for fun, and we’ve been—” He lost Discord when he mentioned that ponies had been mutated for fun. Hearing this type of news had given the Draconniquis an opportunity to make most out of today.
“I see. And what might this ‘Magic Man’ look like?”
“For starters, he’s not a pony. He’s green and he wears ragged clothing—”
“He’s basically a giant pickle,” a younger Guard commented.
“Interesting…” Discord rubbed his beard. This could have been the perfect chance for him to have fun today. All he’d need to do was find this Magic Man, wherever he might have been. Although, it wouldn’t be too difficult for him to locate another magical being in Equestria, especially one that’s causing chaos. “All right, I’ll help you find this Magic Man.”
His proposal had drawn some questionable looks from the guards. “Really? You’d really do that?”
“What? You don’t think I can help?” His question was met with silence. “Just go back on guard duty. I’ll find this Magic Man myself.”