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// And So It Begins... 
// Story: A Bit For Your Thoughts? 
// by Kihano 
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???? POV

When the morning light struck my face, I somehow felt that Celestia knew that I was here. After all, how the bloody hell can the damn sun rays get past the makeshift curtains of my tent and hit me directly in my right eye. Lightly cursing Celestia and her sun, I got up groggily from my bed and yawned, rather loudly at that, as I went to prepare myself for my eventual departure to Ponyville. 

Heading outside, I went to the nearby stream where I washed my face and rinsed my mouth, gargling it a little, before spitting it out on the grass next to me. I got up from my kneeling position and went back inside to change into my travel wear. 

Moments Later

I stared at my reflection, giving my outfit another once over, making sure that I looked somewhat presentable to the public. It wasn't anything extravagant really, a leaf green cotton vest worn over, a black long sleeved shirt, brown cargo shorts, that had several pockets and ended somewhere below my knees, a pair of brown boots, when if scrutinized closely seemed to slightly glow green, and a dark brown hooded cloak. A rucksack that hung from my left shoulder and ended at my right hip, and a purple armlet on my right arm finished up my apparel.

I nodded at my appearance, satisfied, and spun around to face the exit, making sure that my cloak dramatically swished through the air as I walked out. Once I stood outside, I looked at the tiny tent and quietly mused at the wonders that is magic and sorcery. I focused a certain energy around my hand and snapped my fingers. Almost instantly, a green glow surrounded the tent, where it quickly wrapped itself up into a roll, and flew over to me, or more specifically, my rucksack, which also glowed green and allowed a small opening where the rolled-up tent squeezed into.

With the packing finished, I looked across the, now bare, clearing and closed my eyes, focusing intently. With the image and location pictured in my mind, I felt a strange pull towards that direction and teleported.





3rd POV

Zecora sighed to herself dejectedly, as she pawed on the ground, the golden rings around her hoof clinking against each other as she did. She looked around the surrounding area, her eyes concealed within the hood of the dusty cloak she wore. The streets which were once filled with bustling ponies and shops were all gone. The moment she had entered the town, ponies and shops, left and right, started disappearing into their houses or closing their shops and then rushing away in terror, no doubt in prejudiced fear to seeing one that is not a pony.

Depressed at another day of being treated like an outcast by ponies, She began to make her way back to her home, in the Everfree Forest. 

'Maybe I should consider moving to someplace else?' She thought to herself. 'Appleloosa seems like a ni-.'

That train of thought was immediately halted, as her body went into a state of momentary shock. The reason? A store, if the 'Open' sign that hung on its door was any indication. She had been going in and out of Ponyville for the past month, by now practically knowing the paths by heart, and she was quite sure that there was never a store in this lot, nor was there a building in the first place. However all that didn't matter. What did matter though was the fact that there was an open shop, after what seemed like weeks of searching and wishful thinking.  Shaking her head to physically throw away the shock, she searched the structure of the store for it's name. She found it to be on the tip of the shop's roof in the form of a red flag with golden text. 

The Secret Shop.

'The Secret Shop?' She mouthed with confusion and incredulity. "Why would somepony name their store 'The Secret Shop' when it was out in the open?"

Regardless of this, She made her way into this odd store, the doorbell jingling when the door hit them as she opened it. What she saw before her, was nothing short of breathtaking. 

Somehow, the outer structure of the building itself seemed so small but the moment she entered, It was enormous. The interior looked nothing like one would expect a typical store would be. No, this one seemed more like a mixture of a shop, a museum, a library and a tower, considering that the ceiling of the shop seemed to stretch all the way up into the heavens. She looked around some more to find several objects in display, some inside glass containers, some displayed openly. She walked around the 'store', still in awe, when she felt something draw her attention. No, not draw, more like pull her towards it. It was an odd looking scepter, well considering the store she supposed it had to be odd. It's main body was that of a solid gold color with brown wraps coiled around it's handle, obviously for comfort. It had intricate markings on its tip which was shaped like a trident or a claw, but what really drew her interest was the blue crystal perched on it. 

Now that she was close to it, the pulling urge seemed to decrease but with this came a new feeling. Power. Power so intense that she could practically feel it roll off the scepter, and enter her very being. Intoxicating her with strength she had never felt before.

"YeSsSs... GiVe In... TaKe Me WiThIn YoUr GrAsP..."

Her eyes glazed over as she felt her hoof rise up towards the glass container that held the scepter, with thoughts of wielding it clearly resound within her mind. 

"YeSsSs... YESSSSSS!!!"

But she stopped, a hoof almost barely touching the glass. She stared at the staff in fear, which was clearly not just an ordinary staff. The whispers in her mind seemed to get louder the moment she had regained conscious control of her actions, a headache now accompanying the mysterious voice.

"NOOOOOO!!! TAKE ME!!! TAKE ME AND DESTROY ALL THOSE WHO OPPOSE YOU!!! TAKE ME!!!"

The whispers soon ascended to demonic shouts of anger further worsening her headaches, as she shook her head furiously in an attempt to dissuade the voices. With frightened eyes and the voices still resounding within her mind, she backed away from the staff in horror, her legs shaking uncontrollably with every step she took. She would've continued to backpedal had she not felt something bump into her rear. Almost immediately, the voices in her mind, the intense feeling of fear as well as the headache, suddenly vanished as if they were never there in the first place, leaving only exhaustion in it's wake.

Now that she could think clearly, she noted that the shadow that loomed over her from behind was not a shape of a pony, n.or was it a shape of any structure she was familiar with. Hesitating for a brief moment, she looked up and gazed into the grinning visage of a creature she had never before seen in her life. Looking back onto this memory, she idly noted that it looked similar to an ape. 

"Hello~." It spoke in a, slightly deep, masculine and jovial tune.

The situation proved to be too much for her as she felt the shock and exhaustion finally catch up to her. Tipping over to the side slightly, her eyes slowly closed and she felt gravity take its course. She briefly wondered why she didn't feel herself hit the floor, before darkness took over her

???? POV

I blinked at the unconscious cloaked zebra in my arms, and couldn't help but chuckle slightly to myself.

'Wow, first day here in Ponyville and this happens,' I thought to myself as I stood up from my previous knelt position and carried the zebra into one of the various guest rooms scattered about my shop. Things are only about to get more interesting from this point.