Prologue
Those eyes. Eyes full of controlling evil, eyes of a homocidal, obsessed mad-pony. Was Puppet Master even a pony? Nobody was sure, not even Marie Annette. The unicorn must have been old as time itself, or at least close to it. He was tall, slender, with a long and flowing silver mane. His horn was as black as midnight velvet, as was his fur. The string puppet controller that marked his flank was chilling, as was his eyes. Yes. Those eyes. They were evil and possessive, burning a bone-chilling blue. The color of frozen corpses, the color of blood before it hit the oxygen. Celestia and Luna had tried to kill him, long ago, but to no avail. You can't kill the Puppet Master, you can't kill a god. Or at least, in his mind, in his little world he was a god. He was a god over the small, white earth pony he kept captive. He was god over Marie Annette.
He had kidnapped her when she was just a filly, too perfect to be mucking herself out there in the world. She was the perfect doll in his eyes, and one day, almost a decade after he had taken her, he decided he wanted her. He needed her to be his, he would never kidnap a male doll to put her with. No, she was his, and always will be. She didn't protest, either, for she believed he loved her. She still believes that, but it's not true, no. Puppet Master cannot love, he can only control. Oh, here he comes now, to let Marie Annette out of her display case. He's smiling, he must be close to putting his plan into action. He told her to get out of the case, she obeyed. Her eyes had lost life so long ago, now they were nothing more than a pale blue, devoid of any will of her own. Her purpose, as far as she was concerned, was to be her master's doll, do whatever he wishes, and be perfect.
Her pink mane bounced as she elegantly stepped out of the case, curled into tiny ringlets. Her pure, porcelain white flank was marked only by the picture of a pale pink bow. White pearls pierced her perfectly still ears, a dusty pink blush across her cheeks that were brushed by over-sized eyelashes when she blinked, which was rarely. She was wearing a frilly white dress, with a light purple corset and mesh. Around her hooves were thin white wires, a decoration Puppet Master thought fitting. She looked up at her master, and he smiled down at her as he slowly stripped her down, wouldn't want to ruin the expensive dress, now would he? He carefully laid it down on a table, and with his telepathic magic he grabbed the strings around her hooves and put her into position. He told her to moan, but not to much, not to loud, he wanted it to be soft and sweet, like her. He slipped into her, and she stayed as still as possible, which was very still as he was still restraining her. She moaned, voice soft, quiet, and closed her eyes as Puppet Master commanded. He fucked her like one would fuck a sex doll, which in his mind he was, just a prettier one. His white hair fell on around her as he pounded himself into her, grunting and grinning with wild abandon. He pulled out, cumming all over her porcelain white body.
He grabbed a silk cloth and gently wiped it all off, dabbing it to make sure he didn't mess up her fur. He redressed her and recurled her hair using his horn, and commanded her to go back to the doll house behind the mansion. She did as she was told, but in the back of her mind, she could hear a small, valiant voice, similar to her own but belonging to someone else. It yelled at her, shouted with desperation. But alas, she could not hear the words, so she simply sat down in a fancy, cushioned chair and sipped a small cup of tea. Tea, cookies, cakes, and occasionally vegetables was all she ever ate or drank. She sometimes wondered if she had ever had meat in her life, she had seen Puppet Master eating it, but she never asked for any. No, that would be out of line. She glanced out the window as the magical field around the doll house was reactivated, and she was trapped until Puppet Master either wanted to play again, or display her. She stared and stared at the teddy bear on the chair opposite her, and long ago, when she was a teen, something compelled her to put an x of black tape on the teddy bears cheek. It was still there, but she doesn't know why.
The ivory white pony bounded down the street of Ponyville toward Sugar Cube Corner. Her dark, dusty pink mane in wild curls and flapping behind her. Her ears were adorned with a taper gauges and two golden hoops on each. Her blue eyes focused on the door, and just before she rammed into it, she stopped in her tracks, grabbed the handle, swung it open, and spun in. She plopped on the floor in front of the bright pink pony, Pinkie Pie, panting. Her cutie mark was an x of black tape, fitting for someone with the name Taper.
"6 minutes and 45 seconds! A new record! Yippety doo!" Pinkie Pie clicked the stopwatch clapped for her new friend, who had just ran all the way from Sugar Cube Corner to the Everfree Forest and back. "You're gettin' pretty fast huh there Tapes? Why're you tryin to get so fast again huh? Rainbow Dashie might get jelly!" Pinkie Pie got in Tapers face, who was used to it right now.
"Gotta run fast to catch him, catch him to get Marie Annette." Taper panted.
"Say, who's him and who's Mary Annettie again?" Pinkie inquired, forgetting that whenever posed with the question, Taper never answered.
"Nobody of real concern. How about we throw a party to celebrate my new record?" Taper knew the only way to get Pinkie to drop the question for the time being was to bring up a party, and it always worked. Pinkie clapped her hooves.
"What a great idea! OhmycelestiaI'llhavetogetinvitationsmadeandthedecorationsand..." Pinkie rambled on before bolting out the door, hopping down the street at inpony speeds. Taper rubbed her temple as Mrs. Cake patted her shoulder and offered her a petit four that she politely declined.
"Sorry Mrs. Cake, I think I'll go down to the cafe to get a daisy sandwich or something. Thanks for the offer, though." Taper smiled.
"No problem deary, you come back any time now okay?" Taper waved at Mr. and Mrs. Cake as she left out the door and trotted toward the cafe. She passed Rainbow Dash who decided to stand in her way.
"Hey Taper, hear you're trying to become the fastest pony in Ponyville?" Rainbow asked in a stern voice, putting her face in Tapers.
"Look RD, I'll never be as fast as you, definitely not as fast a flyer, I don't even have wings! I'm just practicing for... a little chase I'll hopefully have to make soon. It's a kinda personal thing. I'm not after your title, I swear." Taper smirked. Rainbow looked wary, but then smiled and nodded.
"Sure Taper, tell me if ya need any training! I mean, it's not like you could ever beat my record, anyway." Rainbow laughed and flied off. As Taper sat down to eat her sandwich, Twilight walked up and sat down across from her.
"Taper...I think I might know where /he/ is." A daisy fell out of Tapers mouth, and her gaze hardened.
"How?" She asked.
"I've been working with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and they've used their magical energies to help me track him. Meet me outside the library at midnight, and we'll talk more." Twilight got up and left, and Taper threw the rest of her sandwich away, with only one or two bites being left. It was time, and she had to be ready.
She had to take down Puppet Master.