The magi urges you inside, and "John" carries you into what you have come to accept as an examination room . Not that it looks all that much like a doctor's examination room. There are no chairs of course and the examination table is replaced by a circle on the floor. And there are other differences too. But you know it serves much the same purpose. "John" places you in the center of the circle, He then steps back and sits down as cups of coffee float to you. Casually, you wonder how. The magi is something of a show-off and he could be floating them himself or he could have made servants invisible, or ... There is something odd about this, but you can't quite put your finger on it as you sip.
Finally the cup float away as gracefully as they arrived and the magi turns to you, "Now John, how did you get yourself in this mess?"
"What are you saying?" "John" protests, "I am John."
"Oh?" the magi "asks", "then perhaps you can tell me my name." You open your mouth to blurt it out, but the magi holds up a hand, "Peace. Allow him to struggle." A bit angry you sit back, and allow the magi to keep charge.
"John" looks frantically around the room and you see his eyes light up as he fixates on the decorations that feature a new moon, "Halil!".
"Very good" the magi answers, "You are clever to spot those decorations. Clever, but not wise. A magi's true name is power over him and must be hidden, not displayed as a lesser man might. None know my true namet, not even John, who knows that my lesser true name is not Halil, but..." He now gestures to you...
"Omar" you almost shout.
"You see?" Omar turns back to "John", "It is hopeless. I knew you for a fraud from the moment you said you were a sentimental fool." Again he holds up a hand, "Oh I agree. John is indeed a sentimental fool, of the highest order." This time his hand rises to stifle your protest. "But he would have been babbling nonsense about how she needed curing and how even pony girls have rights. He would never have admitted he was a fool, despite all the evidence to the contrary, including his presence here.
"Of course, my powers confirmed the situation as soon as you entered. I may have less enemies than most, but there are those who would show me no mercy if they could get within my defenses. So I am aware of all illusions and transformations as soon as they enter. And so I know you and John for what you are, and are not. So come, tell me the tale, both of you."
You are the first to speak, but soon it is spilling out of both of you. Omar sits back and listens gravely. At times, he interrupts with questions, some of which make no sense to you or "John". You assume they would make sense to another magi. But at length the tale is told and Omar pulls his beard, "A common enough case, tho quite rare too. Some magi miscast a transformation spell, and now the spell bedevils people who have no connection to the magi or those he was concerned about. Now what to do about it..?"
"You can't do anything." "John" protests, "There is only one way to reverse the spell and..."
"Actually there are several," Omar corrects, "The easiest would be to kill you... "
"NO!" your protest comes a second before "John"'s, "I will not be a party to murder. And you can't kill a man you have supped with, and..." [That was what was odd. Offering a drink of expensive coffee to a mere pony girl just wasn't done, unless one knew the pony girl was more than just a pony girl.]
"Quite the fool, isn't he?" Omar asks "John", "Such a simple way to solve the problem and it is rejected out of hand." Omar laughs, "Well, that is not my concern. I will be paid all the more for the complex solutions."
"But..." "John" tries to object.
"No." Omar shushes him, "You have nothing to say about this. It is only by John's mercy that you live at all. Whatever happens, you will get no less than you deserve, and knowing this crazy fool as I do, I am sure you will come out of this far better than you deserve."
You start to protest this claim of being a crazy fool, but you remember a number of your decisions that did not turn out as well as you had hoped, and which Omar had warned you about in advance. You could point to several others that had turned out well, but better to let the matter drop.
Instead, you recall that this is all a very detailed computer game, and you are scheduled to leave soon, and collect some big prizes. Of course, you will suffer some penalties due to this pony girl condition, but you can just leave. Or can you? You aren't sure how much those penalties will be. If they want to cheat you, they may be able to take everything away from you. Or maybe it will be just petty cash. But maybe...