Immaterial Puppets ~ 106 Days

Remember to have breakfast before lunch!

The caped pony grabed Magister by the hoof and threw him viciously, to the other side of the room. Magister crashed into a closed door, making splinters scatter everywhere.

"Sorry about that, Magister doesn't know what he's saying most of the time." said the pony who was now rubbing her forehoof from the throw.

Our heroes just stood there, staring at where Magister has made contact with the now-smashed entryway. They all made the conclusion to not anger this pony.

Twilight shook her head and turned toward the caped mare.

"It's okay. We know somepony who acts somewhat like that jester." said Twilight. "I'm Twilight Sparkle. This is Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. We came to explore the manor out here to search for anything left by the Puppet Master who lived here."

"In other words, you are here for his puppets?" repiled the pony. The three nodded their heads. The sounds of wood clanking is heard where Magister was thrown.

"Can I ask what for? I am a busy mare." murmured the pony who was now taping her bottom hoof, leaning on the wall.

Twilight beckoned Rainbow forward. She hesitated at first, but she sighed and said,"I need to borrow one so I can enter the Puppet Festival competition and win this year."

The pony tapped her mask. "Pupper Festival? That's the first time I have heard of such thing. Can we discuss this over a meal? I'm in the mood for lunch." invited the pony.

"Oh no thanks. We just wanted to leave soon as possible." whispered Fluttershy who was partly hiding behind Twilight. They all nodded in agreement. They both took a step to the door.

"Where do you think your going?"

Magister appeared behind the ponies, jumping up from nowhere. "I have things planed for you in this bright and sunny day! Why it's still just morning! We'll have plenty of wonderous thing do to! Come!"

Magister tighly grappled the ponies and dragged them away towards a door. Voices of protest left the door as they all went down the hall.

"Hmm... Puppet Festival eh? It must from the town near here. Ponyville was it?" the pony said to herself as she walked over to the door. "...Oh? What's this?" Right next to the door, was a green puppet.

Somewhere in Ponyviile

If one would look out from a window, they would see a bunch of decorations for the Puppet Festival. Nothing out of the ordanary really. The main plot is happening at the manor. Why are we even here?

It was then Pinkie Pie who came into our view and began to decorate the place. Rarity followed behind her, keeping her distance.

Everything was covered with streamers and strings everywhere. Ponies hurried away from Pinkie's path of decoration from being decorated themselves.

"Pinkie Pie, can you please slow down? We still have a full day." said Rarity. She was then covered with decoration of all sizes and shapes. Pinkie Pie stood in front of her.

"Don't be like that Rarity! Everypony loves decorations! So that's why we need to finish down here, so we can go to over there for decorations!" replied Pinkie Pie. She then continued her decorating frenzy, jumping everywhere she can reach.

Rarity slowly removed everything off her complete body and continued following. She sighed and showing her sign of stress. Pinkie has been always been like this when the Puppet Festival is near. Well, so has every other event, but this is more than usual. She seems more excited. Jumpy. More hyper.

Rarity just ignore it and focused her attention behind her.

"Spike! Hurry up darling, we are going to lose Pinkie in this pace!" yelled Rarity.

Spike was pulling huge crates behind his back with a rope. He was sweating buckets of body fluids and was on the verge of collasping. The only thing that kept him going was Rarity herself.

"C-can I take, a break?" croaked Spike as he fell on the dirt road, breathing intensely.

"Why yes you can!" said Rarity. Spike breathed a sigh of relief.

"After you pull the next set of crates after the ones you are pulling.." continued Rarity. Spike just stood there with a blank look on his face, and then fainted on the spot.

"Spike? I know we have a lot of time, but please get up. It's not time to relax yet." Spike didn't respond, he was in his own happy world.

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie fell on top of Spike.

"I'm done!" shouted Pinkie.

Back at the Manor

"Can I ask a question?"

"Why yes! Go ahead."

"Well, can I ask why are we are tied to a bunch of chairs?"

Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy are trying to shake off the ropes that are currently wraped tightly around them on study, wooden chairs. In front of them is a long, empty table. Magister is just busy walking around the room, adjusting the chairs in the room in different angles.

"You all had the appearance of escaping from my company so I had to take extra measures. If it makes you feel better, I didn't use iron cables." replied Magister who finally sat down on a chair. "I'm out of cables anyway. Also struggling will be uneffective so save your energy."

Magister hold up his hoof to his eyes. "Now have this question, what do you think of this place? Be true to your words." said Magister. Twilight turned her head to her friends, who gave her worried looks.

"Um... old?"

"Dusty?"

"In need of repair?"

Magister chuckled. "Indeed it fits with those words, but if that is reality, then why come? Because of hidden objects of value? Or maybe you lost something here from a distant past?" Magister leaned forward.

"Or better yet, you seek something more?" Magister tapped his hoof repeately on the table, making a steady beat.

"Can I ask why you and your partner are in this manor?" asked Twilight.

"Oh I can't answer that! It's too early in our plans to announce that openly." bluntly answered Magister."However, I'll let this piece of infomation enter your heads, the Puppet Master's life is a lie."

"Wha-what?" stuttered Rainbow Dash. "His life is a lie? What does that suppose to mean? He doesn't exist?"

"He does exist, I can inform you that. Why don't you ask his former teacher? She will know what I mean." suggested Magister. He leaned back on his chair.

"Do you mean Princess Celestia?" asked Twilight. She began to feel more uneasy. Does the princess know something?

"I wish I can tell you, it's so so early. Just wait, you'll love it."

Before Twilight could ask even further, the door to the room opened. The masked pony from before entered the room with closing the door behind her. She sat on the chair nearest to her and relaxed.

"Magister, what did I tell you about tying our guests to chairs?" demanded the pony. "I remember! 'If we have anypony enter this manor, rope them up with iron cables.' Am I right?" stated Magister.

"Correct. Yet, you didn't and tied them with regular rope." The pony sighed.

"Wait, what is wrong with ordanary rope?" asked Fluttershy nervously.

"Iron is better. Plus, we can strangle ponies without a struggle." they both answered back.

Now guess who is extremely worried.

"Also Iron Cables is good for the following; tieing heavy objects, linking rocks, lining up apples, and more! Buy them in your nearest Magister's Goods List today just for 10 bits!" advertised Magister who is showing a poster of his iron cables.

The pony ignored Magister and walked over to Fluttershy.

"I believe you dropped this." The pony reached into her cape and brought out the green puppet pony.

"Oh, um, thank you." whispered Fluttershy. She relaxed a little bit. The pony placed the puppet on the table gently and then began to clear her throat.

"I forgot to introduce myself eariler. I'm Maske, Puppet Magic Expert." she greeted. "Most likely my name should strike fear into your hearts all over Equestia."

"Well I never heard of you!" said Rainbow Dash.

"Well, of course not. I just gave this name myself." boasted Maske. "I have just came back to Equestia from up north after about four years, maybe more. Not many ponies should remember me."

Maske looked up at a clock near the fireplace. "Why, look at the time. I haven't eatten breakfast yet. I guess I'll have lunch and breakfast together," Maske clapped her hoofs together to make an echoing sound around the room. Moments past when a door opened. What came out, was a puppet holding a platter.

Back at Ponyville

        "Knock knock. knock knock. knock knock, knock knock, knock knock. knock knock," repeated Pinkie as she knocked on the door to Twilight's house. Rarity was behind her and so was Spike.

"Uh, you know I do have the key right?" pointed out Spike with a keyring on his finger hanging. Pinkie Pie stopped knocking. "Oh whoops!" Pinkie backed away from the door.

Spike rolled his eyes and unlocked the door. Inside was a crate with books scattered around it.

"Huh. It looks like there was a new shipment today." Spike noticed. He began to pick up books and made a small pile. "I don't think Twilight is here right now, she would be already have her head in these books if she was."

Pinkie glanced at one of the covers and her eyes lit up. "Ooh! Puppets! I like puppets!" Rarity glanced at Pinkie's direction and floated the book on eye level for a better look.

"Pecullar Puppets?, I never knew Twilight would be interested with those boring wood puppets," Rarity eyed a pony puppet on the table laying down. "I mean, if they had the right accessories they would look a bit lively. Is this for the upcoming Puppet Festival?"

Spike looked up. "Why, yes! Since this is Twilight's first Puppet Festival, she got curious and ordered books to learn more about them, the puppets I mean," explained Spike. He slowly picked up a stack and moved it the pile.

Pinkie giggled and said, "Silly Twilight, puppets are to have all sorts of fun! There was this one time where one of my sisters made this small pony and made it do tricks like this!" Pinkie then did all sorts of backfilps and dance moves all around the library.

Rarity chuckled at the sight when she noticed a piece of paper right next to the puppet. Rarity used her magic to get a closer look and found out it was a note. It read:

Out to Puppet Manor with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. Spike, organize the books in proper condition when I get back.

-Twilight Sparkle

"Puppet Manor? Isn't that the old, dusty, house just outside of Ponyville?" Pinkie Pie asked behind Rarity. She stopped bouncing all over the place. "I believe so, I heard a bunch of dreadful rumors about that place. They say an entire family who used to lived there all burned to ashes and their ghosts haunt the place to this very day, yet that doesn't make any sense why the manor is still standing," Rarity informed.

"I just wonder why Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy went along too, Fluttershy will fly away from everything dark and spooky and Rainbow Dash is too busy... Oh," Rarity remembered this year's prize was knew very well what Rainbow Dash was up to.

"Rainbow Dash still doesn't have a puppet ready? I have mine done already!" exclamined Pinkie as a sock puppet of a white and gold version of Pinkie Pie appeared on her left hoof.

While Rarity commented on how that utterly ridiculous it looks, Spike notice something odd about the last book in the crate. It was more worn out than the other books, the leather was a faded maroon and nearly torn on both sides.

Spike picked it up gently and carefully opened it.

"Huh? I-It's blank!" Spike piped up. Both ponies changed their view at Spike. "What do you mean? Twilight doesn't buy empty books." Rarity said.

"No really! It's really blank!" Spike said as he flipped each page. It was completely white.

Puppet Manor, Same Place, Different Time

             If you were the great Twilight Sparkle right now, you would be bouncing around a bunch of magically animated puppets. Everypony were let free of their ropes after Maske found out ponies can't really drink eat when tied against a chair (unless you are a unicorn that is).

Twilight who has already eaten earlier, ignored the food and quickly oberserved the puppets up close. The puppets were in the shape of ponies of different sizes, all of them looked male.

Magister somehow got a hold of a viola and began playing with magic moving the bow back and forth in different strokes. Maske was facing away from everypony as she ate her breakfast of eggs.

"This is amazing! It's like they're living ponies!" Twilight said excitedly.

"Many years of training has led me to controling one small puppet to many puppets," said Maske. "These are only my servants, just wait until you see my whole collection."

Rainbow Dash zoomed in to Maske with an eager look. "Really? Can I look?" said Rainbow.

Maske just patted on her mane. "Sorry, it's off limits." Rainbow's eager face instantly vanished. Maske clapped her hoofs and the puppets exited the room.

"Now please stay here while I get something," Maske said as she walked over to the nearest door. "Come Magister!"

Magister stopped playing and threw his viola into the fire as he went with Maske.

Twilight, Rainbow, and Fluttershy were the only ones in the room.

"Hey, let's find the collection she was talking about!" declared Rainbow Dash. Twilight gave her a glaring look.

"You know that we can't do that! She's been nice to us, even though she is a bit strange." Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "From the sound of it, she might have a bunch of puppets and wouldn't even notice if one was missing for a day."

"Didn't she told us to stay here though?" asked Fluttershy. Twilight nodded. "Why should we betray her trust just for some compitition?"

"Hello? She lives in a old, spooky, house with puppets walking all around! She must be planning on doing something with us!" said Rainbow. She opened a door and beckend them to follow. Twilight sighed and followed with Fluttershy on tow. The last sound left was the door slaming shut.