My Little Masquerade: Corruption

My Little Masquerade: Corruption

By Strawberry Jelly

Chapter 1: Grave Encounter

“Wow, looks like you've been busy reading, cupcake,”  A voice pulled Twilight's gaze from the pages of her book.  Standing in the entrance way was a white unicorn with a wide grin, purple tinted sunglasses, and a pose that just emphasized her obvious ego.

“What else was I supposed to do?  Wait for you to sacrifice me like you did with that poor stallion?!”  Twilight almost screamed at the mare, feeling the frustration of solitude and the fear of her fate start to overpower her.  She had been locked in a small studio apartment for weeks now, having found her only company in a strange stone-skinned creature with a personality mirroring its appearance.

“No, to save your life, actually,”  She laughed a little before stepping forward.  “... And by extension, have you save mine.”

“What?  You were in that audience, weren't you?  I doubt you need saving!”  Twilight hissed and lashed out verbally at the mare with a few less than polite words.

“Ouch, not really what I was expecting, but I guess I have to settle,”  Rather than angry, she seemed a little disappointed in how Twilight reacted.

“What do you want?”  Twilight shook her head and backed up against the wall behind her.  Despite the mare's – debatably - friendly demeanor, she felt her heart pound in uneasiness.  Despite her fear, she tried to focus her magic on anything and everything, only to have it fizzle the moment it threatened to surface.

“I doubt you'll find your magic all too useful, kid.  The entire room's warded to repel Quintessence,”  She explained, but it only proved to compound Twilight's initial fear.  “Now, while I had to argue with the Prince and the Primogen to gain the right to sire you...  I still think it'd be better if you had the option.  Tell me, do you want to die?  And before you answer, I must warn you that the alternative isn't going to be a walk in the park."

“I..  Of course I want to live!  What kind of question is that?”  Twilight half-shouted in a panic, still in shock from having her magic stripped from her.

“Then that's all I really need to hear,”  She grinned and stomped her hoof onto the ground.  “Now, you may feel a little case of not being able to move.”  With those words, Twilight felt her body stiffen to the point that she literally felt like she was made of wood.  She couldn't even attempt to argue as she watched the mare open her mouth to reveal four sharp fangs protruding outwards.

'WAIT!  I changed my mind!'  She screamed in her head for only a moment before an unbelievable rush of ecstasy was heralded by the prick at her neck.  Every doubt, every fear, and every idea that she had developed over her stay in her prison was washed away with the steady stream of blood that had escaped her body unnoticed.

Her bliss had proved to be fleeting when put against the larger scheme of things, though; namely as Twilight felt her body start to waver, her vision darken, and the air grow an uneasy cold.  With Twilight's very world beginning to falter with those fangs leaving her neck, she felt only the sweet sensation of warmth slowly trickle its way into her mouth from the fetlock of her assailant.  Despite having the last few years of her life flash before her eyes, she could still make out the mare's final words:  “Welcome to a world of darkness, kid.”

~*~*~

Twilight smiled contently as she opened her eyes, feeling better rested than she ever had in her life.  In fact, it almost felt like today wasn't like any other day for her; she knew that everything was going to be perfect.  She was going to wake up, brush her teeth and mane, go to the Canterlot Grant Library, start her shift, and have dozens of children come in to learn.  It was going to be just like her old teacher said it would be, and not the harsh reality of 'kids hate to learn nowadays'.

“If only I could sleep in, though,”  Twilight sighed and sat up on her unusually comfortable bed.

“Good morning,”  A voice called from the doorway and added her own afterthought,  “Did you sleep well, cupcake?”

Twilight's eyes widened in horror as she grabbed anything – no, everything – that she could with her magic and threw it full force at the mare...  Only to find herself left staring in shock at how the room's contents stayed perfectly in place.  “W-What's going on?!”

“Can't find your magic, I take it?”  She grinned and waved her hoof, igniting several candles throughout the relatively empty room.  “Trust me, magic's not going to answer your call anytime soon.”

“What?  But I-  How can you use magic if the room's warded?”  Twilight quickly stood up in a panicked flail, tossing her blankets aside with wide and horrified eyes.  The mare in front of her was the same mare from last night, and despite using her magic, her horn stayed inactive.

“Same way I gave you rigor mortis last night, kid,”  She commented.  “I'll get more into that in a moment, but how are you feeling now?”

“How am I feel-”  Twilight glared at the mare.  “I was imprisoned by a cult for weeks, assaulted by a bitey mad lady, and then had my magic taken away!  How do you think I feel?!”

“Better then you realize,”  She said flatly, to which Twilight only blinked a few times at before realizing just how right she was.  Apart from the psychological trauma of being stripped of what made her a unicorn, she had physically felt good – no, better than good; she felt absolutely amazing.

“But I...  Why can't I use magic, then?”

“Because you are pulling from the wrong place.  I know how it feels; you're trying to use your Quintessence, aren't you?”  Twilight opened her mouth to argue, but the ivory mare was more than spot on.  “Yeah, that's what I thought.  Try focusing on your vitae, – which is to say, your blood – instead.  It may feel different, but you'll find it serves its purpose all the same.”

Twilight decided it best not to question the only thing she had to go on and tried her best to focus on her blood.  Well, best as one could focus on something so strange anyway.  "... But it's actually... working."  She said in shock as one of the candles slowly levitated from the table beside her bed.

"See?  It's almost like I know what I'm talking about.  You really need to start trusting your sire, Cupcake."  She said with a soft laugh.  "Now, put the candle down.  You haven't even fed yet, and I can't afford having you slip into torpor for squandering what little vitae you have."

"Sire?  Fed?  Torpor?  What are you talking about?"  Twilight did as she was told and sat the candle back on the table, but she felt curiosity start to overcome her better judgement after learning that blood magic of all things was apparently real.  "How did I do that with my blood?!  Everyone knows that a unicorn's magic comes from Quintessence, so how is this actually working?"

"Wow, you really are as curious as that hunk of stone said,"  She laughed and waved a hoof.  "First thing's first though;  we need to get you a drink."

"A drink?  I do feel a little thirsty I guess..."  Twilight nodded, feeling an uneasy burning in her throat that she only started to notice after the shock started to die down.  The silence had only lead to more questions that hit twilight in the head like a tonne of bricks the moment she took comfort in the large chair in the next room.  "I never did get your name."

"What?  You-  Do you really not know?"  Her eyes widened enough to where Twilight could actually see the top of her eyes over the frams of her glasses.  "...  Vinyl Scratch? ...  DJ PON-3?"  She suggested, only getting a blank expression from Twilight.  "One of Canterlot's most popular Djs and musicians?"

"... Not really ringing any bells,"  Twilight stared blankly at Vinyl.

"Oh, for the love of..."  Vinyl visibly facehoofed at Twilight's ignorance.  "Nevermind then, I'm sure you had questions, right?"  She mentioned upon sitting down and levitating a wineglass over to the unicorn.

"Yes, I do believe so.  Firstly, what's going on?  Let's start with the questions I had earlier."  Twilight said.

"Ah yes.  Let us start with the whole sire business, I guess.  Basically a sire is someone who embraces a pony into their clan.  Kind of like a parent-child thing,"  Vinyl explained and took a drink from her glass.  "Normally, sires choose their childer with more care, but you're a special case, and me?  Well, I don't really care."

"Clan?  Like, a part of the cult?"  Twilight glared at Vinyl with a look that could peel paint off of the walls.  "What do you mean?"

"It's more complicated then that, kid.  Vampires hardly enjoy having ponies know about their existence, so the Prince had to decide what to do with you.  For lack of a better term, you were right fucked if that Tremere Blood Witch hadn't talked him down,"  Vinyl laughed a little.  "We'll get more into that later, though.  For now, I'm sure you have other questions."

"Vampire?  Oh please, what kind of foal do you take me for?"  Twilight growled and took a drink from her glass, feeling a strange rush of euphoria from the crimson liquid that sat inside it.  Her eyes widened in shock before she chugged the rest of the glass without inhibition.

"Why else would that blood taste so good to you?"  Vinyl retorted with a raised brow and a sly smirk.  "Now, before you go all panic-mode on me, it came from a blood bag.  Also, I would suggest you check your pulse if you really have that much trouble believing me."

Twilight looked down at the crimson liquid that sat at the bottom of the glass before uneasily dropping it from her hooves in shock.  It took her a moment to register what Vinyl had suggested, to which she slowly lifted a shaking hoof to her throat in hopes that she was wrong. "No... I can't really be-  This is completely mental!"

"Apparently not that mental, if it's actually happening,"  Vinyl idly replied and shook her head.  "Really though, I swear that you'll be fine.  Hell, I've been like this for centuries and you don't see me complaining...  Well, usually."

"But I'm...  Wait, I don't think I've really been breathing either, unless I'm about to talk..."  Twilight's panic showed through her faltering voice.  Leaping from her seat, she started to pace as had become habit for her when she was stressed, but she couldn't help but notice how clearheaded she seemed to be without the traditional hyperventilation that came with her anxiety attacks.  "I can't eat garlic or go swimming or even go into a church..."  She murmured with her ears pinned back against her head.

"... Really?"  Vinyl deadpanned at Twilight's reaction.  "That's really not how this whole vampire thing works, Cupcake.  Holy symbols don't really do anything, garlic will probably just smell worse when you use Auspex, and running water?  Do you seriously think that I don't bathe?  Also, don't worry about stakes either; they only really do anything if they catch you in the heart, but even then, it just paralyzes you instead."

"I...  I feel like there's a lot that I still don't understand about this,"  Twilight sighed and took her seat beside her sire once again.  "But, I'll listen..."  She commented and looked around the room for pen and paper, to which she ended up having to fetch with her teeth instead of magic.

"Notetaking?  Are you really doing this?"  Vinyl sighed and shook her head.

"Dead or alive, learning is learning, isn't it?"  Twilight remarked with an eager flare in her gaze.  "Now tell me EVERYTHING!"

"Well, at least she's willing to learn,"  Vinyl muttered to herself with a roll of her eyes before focusing back on her childe.  "Alright, I'm sure that you have figured out that I'm a vamire as well; what with having been sired by me.  Normally you would be welcomed by several others of our clan, but it's a dark, dark time for the Cappadocian.  Kid, you see, these are the final nights, and as one of two Cappadocians, you are going to have it especially hard in this unlife."

Twilight looked up from her notepad that she held in her hooves, dropping the pen from her mouth as she spoke.  "I'm going to assume that Cappadocian is the name of our clan, but why is it a dark time?  Why am I one of the last ones?"  She quietly cursed herself for dropping the pen;  it was hard enough to write without magic, let alone if she had to talk while doing it.  To top it all off, her notes had proven almost illegible in addition to her already growing frustration.

"Because we have enemies.  Twilight, and as such, the most important thing I can tell you is that if you're ever asked what clan you are from, say the Giovanni.  The Giovanni are one of our enemies, but I'll have to explain that later as well.  Basically, we are of the same blood, so most kindred – Kindred, which is our word for vampires – Anyway, most kindred won't be able to tell the difference.  That being said, only a Giovanni that is greener than you would probably fall for that lie."  Vinyl explained, pausing for a moment to let Twilight catch up on her notes.  "Now, there are several things that put all kindred right above ponies on the food chain, but each clan has a set of unique powers – which we call disciplines - that make them stand out.  As a Cappadocian, you'll find your strongest power in Mortis.  We had to develop it due to us losing our Quintessence in our unlife."

"But if it strips me of magic, then what was that whole blood thing that I did earlier?"  Twilight sat the pen down gently on the notepad this time, taking care to leave it somewhere easily accessible.

"I'm sure you noticed how different it felt.  Sure, you'll get used to it, but it really is just more of a facade versus real magic.  Over time you'll adjust and learn how to copy your spells with the vitae, but you'll have to learn to rely on your disciplines for anything else."  Vinyl's smile faded a little as she took another drink from her glass.

"So, my next question would be:  What did I do to deserve this?  I'm just a librarian, but what did that other pony want with me?  Why was I locked up for weeks because of this?  What's so special about me?"  She spoke quickly, halfway panicked from confusion, anger, and blatant curiosity.  "Also, how do we...  I mean, ponies, not even know about any of this?  Surely you can't stay hidden this long,"  Twilight's lips formed a wry frown as she contemplated the impossibilities of what was being told to her.  "Also, Mortis?  With 'Mort' being the root word, wouldn't it have something to do with death?"

"All good questions, kid.  Makes me feel like you will learn quickly; which is good, because that's just what we'll need you to do.  The reason that the kine do not know of us is because of something we call the 'Masquerade'.  Which, apart from being a fruity label, is a set of rules that basically equates to:  Keep vampire secrets secret."  Vinyl explained.  "As for what you did to deserve this, it's kind of hard to explain...  It involved politics, and it's really something for another night, but I'd hate to admit that the Tremere Regent saved you from frying.  Also, about the Mortis, though...  You're going to have fun learning about that."  Vinyl's grin turned wicked at that last sentence, sending a chill down Twilight's spine.

~*~*~

"Let me out!"  Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs, knowing that it was futile as she sat at the bottom of six feet of dirt, trapped in a tiny coffin that she could barely move in.  "Please, oh goddess, let me out!"  Her eyes watered as she kicked aimlessly at the wood box she had been trapped in.  Knowing that she wouldn't suffocate did little to ease the ever-growing claustrophobia that started to overwhelm her after only the first hour of being trapped throughout the night.he night.