Presto (Prologue)

There lives a pony who loves all things magic
Enchantments and spells are his passion
As a colt, he loved every Unicorn trick
And he loves them still as a Stallion

This pony I speak of has one simple problem
He is missing what most would think vital
But he turned that detail into his stardom
Now the masses applaud his arrival

With no wings and no horn this pony enthralls
Casting spells and taking to flight
He draws cheers from the crowd walking up and down walls
On stage he’s a brilliant sight

He does what no Unicorn could ever achieve
Their tricks are easily explained
Without a horn his magic becomes hard to believe
Something Unicorns just can’t obtain

One question stays prominent in everypony’s mind
It’s what makes the show so dramatic
The answer is something they all try to find
Just how does an Earth Pony do magic

This secret is one that he guards with a passion
Without it there would be no show
For the key to his wizardry lies in deception
A truth that nopony must know


This is the story of Presto...

            “You look kinda familiar, have we met before?” The stout tailor asked. The stallion in front of him was placing an order for a cape and top hat. Nothing too difficult, if not a bit on the flashy side. Though, truth be told, it would probably complement the pony’s light grey coat and jet black mane quite nicely.  

            “I can’t say that we have,” the customer replied, “Though you may have seen one of my posters around, I’m doing a magic show in town right now.”

            “Ah yes! Now I remember! You’re that Presto fella!” The tailor punctuated his recollection by bringing his hoof down on the counter with a firm THUMP. “A friend of mine saw one of your shows, says it was really something.” With that, the tailor leaned in closer, “But I set him straight, I said there’s no real mystery to all that. You see, I’m a smart one, I use my noodle and the way I figure it, you probably just have a unicorn hidden backstage doing all those tricks for ya”

            “Oh my, I’ve been found out!” Presto exclaimed, though a mischievous smile crept across his face.  Casually, he set one bit down on the counter. “I don’t suppose we could keep that little secret between us though?” Looking at the lone bit, the tailor let out a booming laugh “Is that supposed to be a bribe? I knew you couldn’t do magic, but I didn’t think you were dumb too!”

            “I suppose one bit is a little low...” Presto replied, “But I seem to have forgotten my wallet and that’s all I have with me.” He showed his empty hoof to the tailor as proof. “Oh well, I guess my show is ruined.” The grey stallion put his hoof over the bit as if to take it back, but then stopped suddenly. “What’s this?” Lifting his hoof, he revealed two bits where before there was only one. “I guess I had two bits all along!” Ignoring the larger stallion’s surprise he put his hoof over the two bits again to take them back “Still, two bits is hardly a bribe.” But as he was retrieving his coins, Presto let a look of curious concern pass over his face and he once again lifted his hoof. This time, there were four bits underneath. “Well that’s certainly strange isn’t it?” Looking around the empty shop he asked “You don’t have a unicorn in the backroom by any chance, do you?”

            “No... I’m all by myself here...” The tailor answered with a distinct sense of uncertainty in his tone. Presto rubbed his chin as he appeared to mull over the strange turn of events. “Hmm...” He then gave the four bits on the counter an experimental looking tap with his hoof and suddenly there were eight. “That really is strange, but maybe there’s enough here now to at least buy a hat.” Gesturing to a black bowler hat on a rack beside the counter he asked “May I have a look at that one?” The other stallion, who at this point was speechless, passed it to him. Presto flipped it over and back again examining it. Then, looking at the price tag he commented, “Eight bits, I guess I could afford this one.” Then, with a shake of his head he said “No no, I simply must have a top hat. I guess I’ll just have to return later” With that, he set the hat on top of the eight bits on the counter. But when the shopkeep picked it up to set it back on the rack, a flood of bits came spilling out from underneath.

            “How in the world! But how! Where!” The tailor exclaimed, looking around the shop to make sure there really weren’t any unicorns hiding. “How did you do that!?”

            Presto gave a look of mock surprise, “Me!? But I’m just a simple earth pony. It would be quite absurd to think I could make bits out of thin air” And with that, the mischievous grin returned to his face, this time accompanied by a knowing wink. “Though, I do believe there is enough here to cover my cape and top hat now.”

            “What? Oh yeah, that was, umm... thirty for the cape and fifty for the hat.” The larger stallion was still struggling to find his composure, but proceeded to count out the bits on the counter. “There are exactly eighty bits here...” Disbelief was prominent in his tone as he spoke.

            “Oh, good! We are all sorted then. Can you have it done by the end of the week? That’s when I’ll be leaving to bring my show to another town.” The clever grey pony had returned to a completely nonchalant demeanor.

            “Oh! Um, yeah I should be able to handle that.” The tailor seemed to regain a bit of his composure now that the topic was returning to his familiar business. “Stop by in a couple days, I should have them finished by then.”

            To that, Presto shook his head with an air disapproval, “Ah, but the thing is, I’m quite busy you see. I don’t suppose you could deliver them? I’ll throw in a free ticket to my show if you could be so inclined.”

            The tailor seemed quite pleased, and even a little excited with the proposal, “Of course! I would love to see you on stage!”

            “Wonderful! I’ll see you there,” The magician replied. As he was leaving, he stopped at the door, “Oh, and make sure not to lose your ticket”

            The tailor looked puzzled, “But you never gave me a ticket.”

            Presto let out a small chuckle “Did you lose it already? Are you sure you didn’t just put it in your pocket and forget about it? Why don’t you check?”

            The larger pony looked a bit annoyed by the accusation. “I didn’t forget, you never gave me a ticket! See? My pockets are...” Trailing off mid sentence, the tailor pulled a ticket out of his breast pocket.

            “Oh good, you found it. I’ll see you at the show then!” And with that, Presto went on his way.

            All the tailor could do was scratch his head as he watched the magician’s wand-and-top-hat cutie mark disappear behind the closing shop door.