The sun was setting over the Fountain Plaza, a wooden stage set in the corner of the square, rows of seats set before it just waiting for occupants. Though the stage was empty and dark, a sign sat before it proclaiming that the show would start shortly after nightfall.

Edmund enters the area with a spellbook in his hands, occasionally thumbing through the pages. He looks up at the sign, proclaiming that a magic show will begin soon. "How delightful!" the wizard mused to himself. Edmund was still pleased at the open practice of magic that the land offered.

The Sandman entered from the east a loaf of bread in his hands, Fritz had no knowledge of the fact that The Sand had knocked a loaf off of one of the shelves, its not like the police would do anything, all they do is give community service. He saw the sign and sat, wanting to finish his small but filling meal.

A flash of lightning shot across the clear sky above the Truce Fountain, followed by a crack of echoing thunder, lighting up the stage in the corner of the plaza. The stage didn't darken again, lamps placed all around it flickering to life as the extra light died down, leaving the crimson curtain along the back of the stage free of shadows.

Edmund was a bit taken by surprise with the display, but sat down and took a seat next to Sandman, closing his book and clapping. He leaned over with a friendly smile. "I don't suppose you know anything about the performer? With a title like The Great and Powerful I'm expecting an interesting show."

The Sandman glanced over to you he looked back at the stage, between bites he spoke, "She's a horse."

As the sun finished lowering over the horizon, another bolt of lightning crackled down out of the sky, striking center stage where a blue pony suddenly stood in a dashing pose, wearing a velvet starry hat and a matching cape, small sparkles glittering down in the lamplight "Ladies and Gentlemen! The Great and Powerful Trixie Has Arrived!"

In a flat tone, The Sandman continued. "Oh, and she has a horn." His bread was finished at this point, his attention fully on the mare.

There were a few citizens of Truce seated, but still not enough to fill the seats. Either way there was some clapping heard, including that of Edmund. While a bit surprised at the fact a blue unicorn would be performing it, it would provide an interesting look at the culture. Edmund remained silent, etiquitte dictating that he shouldn't talk during a performance.

The mare bowed somewhat at the clapping before striding forward to the front of the stage "For my f-" she stumbles over her words for a moment as though distracted, quickly regaining composure as though nothing untoward had happened "For Trixie's first trick, you are in for a treat as I make a full human appear from thin air!" she raised a hoof somewhat, and icicle forming from it before she lifted it higher, pointing straight at the fountain as the ice shattered "Trixie bids you to Appear!"

Mifune's mind started to cloud as thoughts trudged through it. 'Where am I? What happened? Where's Blackstar and Angela?' as the last question went through, he lost conciousness. It hadn't even occured to him that he was falling.

Edmund was kind of taken in shock by Trixie's performance. He looked to the side, muttering to himself. "I thought only you could do that." 'In an infinite universe, it is impossible to tell how unique you are, Evoker.' Edmund looked back at the horse and then to the falling man. This was most likely not going to end well. At least from his experience.

The Sand whispered, and as usual The Sandman listened, he looked to the fountain, and after a moment above it. 'Hmm, her sensory skills are impressive'.He thought to himself.

As the man splashed into the fountain, Trixie remained in her pose, hoof pointing at it for the moment before she trotted over, deciding he wasn't going to rise on his own "Pardon, Trixie must now make him disappear in a much more old fashioned way, until the real show can begin." she stood beside the fountain, ready to raise him out with her telekinesis, before deciding instead to show off. A few spirals of water lifted the man out from the fountain, gently settling him across Trixie's back before she carried him over to a seat "Trixie supposes he doesn't look too bad after all. So on with the show!" after making certain the man was comfortably settled telekinetically in a seat, she trotted back up to the stage.

The Sandman watched as the horse walked back onto the stage, "She has complete manipulation of water, and as such control over ice. You are a Rarity aren't you Trixie."

Edmund stood up and cassually walked over to the seat where the man was placed, wondering if he was okay. Trixie didn't seem like a skilled summoner, and most likely wasn't the cause. Even if she was, however, she didn't do a good job of making his travel pleasent. He cast a small area of silence spell between them as to not interrupt the show and be rude. "Are you okay? I don't believe the unicorn was doing you much good, unless you ARE part of the performance."

The man known as Mifune began to stir, his eyes opening before he blinked in confusion, "Performance? Wait, where am I?" His breath hitched. "Where's Angela." He near shouted the last question as he reached for his sword, which he realized wasn't there as he grasped nothing but the sheath.

Hastur walks into the area from the west, coming back to town for a bit of rest after hours of training. He notices the show going on, and his friend as the focus of the show. He decides to take a seat and rest, watching the performance with a smile.

Not having bothered to learn or remember the names of many other ponies, Trixie didn't catch the joke, simply smiling at the seeming boy "Thank you. Now then, with that interruption out of the way, Trixie can continue to amaze you." she drew a line of beads from her cloak, seemingly without any difticulty or influence upon them, building them into a staircase, stepping higher onto them as the lower rows of steps disassemble into beads to trail up to form more steps above her. "I wonder, how many of you are truly prepared to witness the splendor of Trixie Lulamoon?" a dark cloud raises around the mare before igniting into a brilliant array of colorful sparks, lighting her up from every side in a splendid array of colors.

The Sandman realized his words were louder than he intended, oh well, he supposed. he looked over to see that his friend had gone to speak with the fallen man. "What could his intent be', he wondered.

Aly didn't even need the fireworks and lightning to be drawn to the fountain tonight, the scent of a crowd was in the air! She approached as she cased the crowd, muttering quietly to herself as she assessed her chances of being seen "Hmm, few kids, they're usually lookin at everythin, that one looks like 'nother wiz'rd, ther-Ah hell." she noticed Hastur without much problem, giving a quiet sigh before finding herself a seat and all but reclining in it "May 's well 'njoy the show, su'pose."

Mifune sat frozen for a moment. His whole world had been about that little girl, the last thing he remembered was he and Blackstar clashing swords. "Swords... My swords are gone." he realized again. "Who are you."

Hastur applauds his friend's tricks, smiling. He feels a sense of joy as he hears the small crowd around him ooh and aah at her magic. 'Well, the adoration of the townsfolk should help to keep her from getting angry... which is good for us all,' he thinks to himself.

The steps falter and begin to fall to the ground like a waterfall of glass beads hitting the stage and rolling away, leaving her suspended in midair before she began to walk on the air, casually beginning to trot as a trail of sparkles began to float behind her, leaving glowing sparkling magenta hoofprints in midair as she galloped over the crowd. Trixie soon spiraled inward to landing with ease, continuing her trot before turning and launching an icicle through the air, which then explodes in the midst of the stage, the glow of the hoofprints ceasing and turning them into a light rain of sparkles.

"Edmund of Gloucester. Ignore the titles, they are unimportant here. I'm a mage. And you are...?" Edmund didn't want to intimidate the man, so he did not display any more of his magic. Instead, he waited patiently for a response, trying to be helpful.

Mifune looked down at his lap, "Mifune. I'm a samurai, what happened to me?"

Aly had to admit, she was a little impressed at that "Huh... never seen a flyin horse wit'out wings before..." she clapped with the rest of the crowd, looking around again to see if anyone in particular posed a decent chance of being a good mark.

Hastur applauded again, whistling to himself. "Huh... that's a bit new." He found the men ignoring the show to be... odd, and a tad rude for ignoring the work Trixie was putting into it. However, he didn't pay them too much mind.

Trixie stood up on her rear hooves and gave a low bow "Thank you." she stood back up, not lowering back to her forehooves "Trixie will now dazzle your senses with more amazing feats." a ball rolled from nowhere in particular down her arm, before igniting as she threw it into the air, seeming to blow a breath up at the ball before a column of flame surrounded it. The ball fell through the short lived burst to land on her hoof, rolling down across her shoulders, leaving her untouched, to launch from her other hoof back into the air, a glass ball rolling along under her foreleg to launch up after it as she went back down on all fours, trotting to the front of the stage as the spheres collided, exploding in a larger plume of black and green.

Edmund had read a bit about the warriors of eastern lands, but never met one up close. Their curved swords were perfect for decapitation, their power behind each attack nearly unmatched. Many weaponmasters at the castle were unable to reproduce the curved blades from the books. "I'm afraid I can't quite explain what happened, but I can tell you your old life is unfortunately behind you. Do you know where your sword is? I'm very interested in seeing a trained samurai."

Taking advantage of the situation, Aly decides a change in seating is in order, positioning herself near the two who appeared to be talking wordlessly, a sure sign of not only magic, but distraction, licking her lips in excitement.

Mifune looked back at the man, "Behind me?" hsi breath ceased for a moment, his world having crashed momentarily. "Angela..." his face went to his hands.

Hastur smiled and watched the show quietly, keeping a bit of an eye on the two not paying attention to the show. He noticed one seemed distraught, and decided to offer some form of help to him after the show.

As Trixie reached the front of the stage, she smiled and prepared to call on a volunteer to help with her next trick, stopping in the midst of starting to ask as she also noticed the man talking to the other man she rescued "Sir, you seem somewhat distracted from the show." she paused a moment to wait for a response "Excuse Trixie a moment?" as heads of the audience began to turn to look at the pair, Trixie tossed a few beads at the fancy clothed man.

Edmund was caught a bit off guard by the bead that him in the face and the field was disrupted. He noticed the pony beckoning towards him and he felt immediate guilt for becoming distracted. He smiled apologetically and approached the satge. "I would be honored to help, Trixie."

Aly sat up a bit and looked in 'surprise at the rudeness' of the people in front of her. Not really shocked, but it was better than being a gawking deer in the headlights with half the crowd looking in her general direction.

Trixie smiled at her new assistant as she moved back a bit to make way for him, a small vial travelling out from beneath her cloak, which fluttered in the nonexistant breeze "Firstly, Trixie would enjoy it if you would make certain this was an absolutely average, run of the mill, every day glass vial."

The Sandman smirked, "As much as I'd love to see our beloved Earl make a fool of himself on stage, I have pressing business to attend to." The Sandman headed east towards the docks, silver in hand.

Edmund grabbed the vile and held it gently in his hands. Using a technique he had tested multiple times, he channeled some unfocused magical energy through the vial, seeing if it would trigger a magical effect or glow as a catalyst. When it remained still, Edmund offered the vial back to Trixie. "The vial isn't magical from what I can tell, but I am no expert I must confess."

Trixie nodded slowly and smiled "Ah, always nice to meet a fellow artist'de'arcana." droplets condensed slowly inside the bottom of the glass vial, seemingly beginning to fill it with cool clear water from nowhere as she walked around the earl "And there are no visible cracks or mechanisms? You can overturn it by the way."

"Likewise," Edmund responded to her comment on his studies. He observed the crystal vial slowly with his eye, trying to see what he could detect. He wasn't able to find anything worth noting in it, runes, cracks, or other such edgings. However, water was slowly filling it.

Hastur titlted his head, curious as to how this vial will be part of the trick.

Trixie watched carefully as the vial was turned upsidedown, not a drop so much as trailing down the inside edge of the glass, the water clouding and turning a deep purple under the lamplight, still continuing to fill as though it were upright, with the liquid also beginning to leak and drip down seemingly through the glass itself "And yet still nothing, to your eyes, appears to have changed?"

Trixie gave a small laugh as the glow seemed to turn the water white after a moment, the glass starting to turn cold in the magician's hands, the water within turning to clear ice as its glow faded "That, my dear assistant, was supposed to be Trixie's secret." she gave somewhat of a lighthearted wink to the man "But, go ahead and keep the glass, Trixie always provides some keepsake for voluteers. Besides, the next trick looks far better from your seat."

Edmund bowed politely to Trixie and went back to his seat, noting that Sandman had left before they really had much of a catching up. A shame. Still, Edmund was very interested in seeing the final trick, and perhaps would be able to chat with the magician afterwards.

Mifune lifted his head what little tears he had shed were gone now. The man was right, whatever he had in his old life was... gone. he had to accept that, so he'd work like hell to make a new one here, for Angela. "you, Where can I find a sword?" His voice was flat, he had found his resolve.

Hastur noticed the distraught man had spoken up, and asked for a sword. At this, he rose from his seat and moved to where Edmund had been sitting previously. He opened his backpack and dug around in it for a moment, before pulling out a simple katana. He held it out to the man beside him. "Think you can use this one? I don't use blades, this was more of a trophy. But, it should be workable enough as a weapon."

Trixie watched Edmund took to his seat before giving a nod, "Ladies and Gentlemen, it has been a pleasure to perform for you today." lying out a simple brass bowl before her, she sat down "So, Trixie has one final bit of magic for you to end this show."

A snake soon began to rise from the bowl, made entirely of water, seeming to flick its tongue out at Trixie as it circled and coiled around her, taking a ball of some sort into its mouth that appeared in her hoof as she held it out, lifting her into the air with it as it circled up away from the stage, the snake floating in midair for a moment before hissing up at the sky, spitting the ball from its mouth.

The ball began to spark as it rose, bursting into a nova on its way, and then another higher up, and yet another, before the glowing ball began to descend back down toward the snake, which still had its mouth held wide open, sinking into its mouth the ball instantly burst in a brilliant flash, tearing the snake apart to send a small spatter of rainfall all around the stage. The showmare no longer in sight.

Mifune looked up to the giant of a man, he took the blade giving it a good swing, scaring a few people in the crowd, "It'll do. Now then. We weren't properly introduced." he looks down a lone strand of straw poking between the bricks of the square. Mifune plucks it putting it in his mouth. He hefts the blade over his shoulder with one hand, the other points to himself with his thumb, "My is name Mifune, I'm the Sword God."

Edmund clapped at the performance. Whether true magic or an illusion, such a spectical was well worth watching in his eyes. He grabbed his book from an adjacent chair and held it under his arm before continuing his applause. When it began to die down, Edmund turned to chat with the samurai from before, who had begun a conversation with a Giganto. "Sword god, are we? Quite a different introduction than what I got," Edmund spoke it as a light jest.

Hastur smiles and kowtows. "Pleasure to meet you, Mifune. I'm Hastur. I'm not the god of anything... technically." he clears his throat a bit. "Anyway, I take it you're new to the Cleft. And, from the way you were acting earlier, that you had a life before this, and miss it already. I'm not saying that I can help you get back to it, but, if you need anything, there's a manor in Shrike where I stay. I'd be more than happy to help ya with anything ya need. Sparring, especially."

Aly was already long gone from the show, after the giganto had moved up she had moved away fairly quickly, currently moving down the mainstreet looking to break into somewhere instead... after all, a girl's gotta eat.

Mifune looked up then back to the two, he would walk his path, The Path Of The Warrior. He looked back to the two, "Do you two know of any place I can stay, I dont think the money my previous employers had given me will be of much value here."

Hastur nodded. "Well, there is an inn to the south. Shouldn't be too much for the night. There's also... well, there's the manro I stay at, with the organization I'm part of. I'm sure you could stay there. Hell, you oculd probably even join us. We're always glad to have new faces around the manor. It's in Shrike, so we'll have to take the ferry, but I can pay for it no problem."

Trixie gave a wide yawn as she trotted out from behind the stage, most of the audience had already cleared out, having probably gotten wet when the snake exploded, but the night was still warm enough for it to not be much of a bother. The mare trotted slowly over toward the small group that included her giganto friend "Trixie thinks it's about time to head home anyways."

Trixie gave a wide yawn as she trotted out from behind the stage, most of the audience had already cleared out, having probably gotten wet when the snake exploded, but the night was still warm enough for it to not be much of a bother. The mare trotted slowly over toward the small group that included her giganto friend "Trixie thinks it's about time to head home anyways."

Mifune thought about it for a moment. "We'll see. For now Im off to find a sword, err, 40 swords." he began walking away only to turn back to speak to Edmund, "Hey Edmund. Thanks." He continued north afterwards, his resolve carrying him, lighting his path.

Hastur shrugs. "Hope he's alright." he turns to his equestrian friend and smiles. "I think it's time we headed home, Trixie. Do you need me to carry you? You seem worn out."

Trixie lied down on a few chairs, resting partially on her side with a smile "Oh Luna, yes. Trixie is certain that's the best idea you have come up with all day long."

Hastur smirked and picked up the pony, tucking her away in his arms. He turns to the other man in the group. "I think I heard your name was Edmund, yes? Well, though we didn't talk much, I hope to see you another time, sir. Stay safe." he nodded to Edmund and walked towards the docks, carrying Trixie carefully in his arms.

Edmund nodded to the two as the left. With that, he opened his book again. Perhaps he could try to memorize another spell theory before bed. That would be a nice accomplishment.