My Little Masquerade

Special thanks to Rhanite for letting me use his picture for the Cover Art, and Lithl, for giving me the advice that helped write this story in the first place, as well as helping to point out the horrible mistakes the original draft had.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic belongs to Lauren Faust and Hasbro.
Vampire the Masquerade belongs to White Wolf.

(Seriously, go read Lithl’s My Little Exalt, it’s way better than my stuff)

Chapter 2
Magia, Pietra, e la Morte

Over the course of the next few weeks, Photo Finish relentlessly drilled as much information as she could into Twilight about how to be a vampire without ending up dead. She taught Twilight the laws of Kindred society, about the different clans, her natural powers, and most importantly, Thaumaturgy.

Twilight quickly devoured all knowledge given to her on blood magic, and once again exceeded Photo’s expectations when it came to using mystical art. However, while skilled in Thaumaturgy, Twilight seemed to have some difficulty with some of her other new abilities.

“No, Twilight, try again!” an exasperated Photo ordered of Twilight. “He’s only a ghoul, you should be able to Dominate his mind wiz ease.”

“I’m tryi-,” Twilight began to say, the stern look on Photo’s face made her think better of talking back. “Yes, Regent.” Twilight looked the straight into the eyes of the stallion in front of her and said, “Run!” The stallion did not move, choosing to stay put, as he was instructed by Photo to do so.

Oddly enough, instead of looking disappointed or confused, Twilight appeared to look relieved that the stallion ignored her. Unfortunately for her, Photo also noticed this.

“Twilight,” said Photo.

“Yes, Regent?” asked Twilight, hoping she wouldn’t be scolded again.

“Would you please explain why isn’t zis working?” asked Photo, while looking directly into Twilight eyes.

Twilight tried to keep her mouth shut, but Photo’s power forced her to speak the truth. She replied, “Because I feel guilty. Ghouls are already pretty much controlled like addicts by Kindred by having vampiric blood forced down their throats. It didn’t feel right to take even more control away from one!” Twilight clamped her hooves over her mouth, looking horrified.

“Twilight, as I’ve already told you,” said Photo, looking more annoyed than angry, “zese lessons are meant to teach you to do what you must to survive. Zinking like zat will just get you killed.”

Before Photo could continue her lecture on doing necessary evils for the hundredth time, a frantic pounding rattled the door of the training room. “REGENT! We have a serious problem!” came from the other side of the door.

Photo stormed over to the door, yanked it opened and yelled, “What could be so important zat you DARE interrupt ze training of my childe!”

The frightened looking mare Photo had scared senseless spluttered out, “W-we h-had a b-break-in! One of the artifacts has been stolen!”

“WHAT! Which one?” demanded a furious Photo.

“T-the A-Alicorn’s Amulet,” squeaked the terrified mare.

Photo stood there for a moment, looking livid, before she said, “Bring me ze one responsible for guarding ze artifacts! I want to know exactly how zis happened.”

“Y-yes, Regent” the mare said, before running off as quickly as possible.

Photo trotted back into the room and ordered the ghoul to leave. She closed the door, leaving herself alone with Twilight. “Twilight,” she said, sounding both angry and exhausted, “I’m putting your training in Dominate on hold for now. You may have some trouble wiz zat discipline, but zat’s not important right now. You’ve had no trouble wiz ze basics of Auspex, correct?”

Twilight nodded, choosing not to say anything, lest she accidentally become the subject of Photo’s wrath.

“Good, you’ll need it for it for your first official assignment.” Before Photo could continue, a knocking came from the door again, followed by a small, purple lizard-like creature walking in.

“Sentinel Spike, Guardian of the Tremere vaults, reporting to you as requested, Regent,” said the small creature as it kneeled before Photo. The creature wore an expression of shame upon its face.

“Gargoyle, explain what happened in ze vaults. How did an intruder steal one of ze artifacts under your watch,” demanded Photo.

“As I was guarding the vault, I saw somepony run past and turn a corner. I pursued them to force them to explain their presence in the vault. When I turned the corner, however, all I found was a dead-end. I returned to the vault, only to find it was blocked off by a brick wall,” said Spike.

“A wall in front of ze vaults?” asked a clearly skeptical Photo.

“Yes, Regent, a wall,” answered Spike, “I attempted to break the wall down, but I just fell straight through, and landed inside the wide-open vault. When I looked up, I saw a blue unicorn mare rush past me. I would have pursued, but I was more concerned with the security of the artifacts. At first, it did not appear that anything was missing, but when I went to see where she had been, I was horrified to find that my hand passed through the Alicorn’s Amulet, as if it were not there at all. Unfortunately, by then the intruder had already escaped, so I sounded the alarm and inspected to see if any of the other artifacts had been stolen; only the amulet was missing.”

Instead of saying anything, Photo responded to this story by raising her hoof and swinging it to her side. Spike flew across the room as if thrown, and slammed hard into the wall she was pointing at. “DO. YOU. KNOW. WHAT. YOUR. STUPIDITY. HAS. DONE!” screamed Photo, slamming Spike against the floor, walls, or ceiling with each word, ending her tirade with a final by slamming Spike face first into the floor right in front of her.

“Regent, don’t you think he’s had enough?” asked Twilight, fearing for the small creature’s safety.

“No, no I don’t, but I don’t have time for zis right now,” said Photo, glaring at Spike with disdain. “Gargoyle, you will have one chance to redeem your failure. If you do not succeed, you will wish I had destroyed you.”

Spike stood back up, not showing any form of injury, and replied, “Understood, Regent. What would you have of me?”

“You are to assist my childe in locating ze zief and retrieving ze amulet,” said Photo, gesturing to a shocked looking Twilight.

“W-What?! Why me? Shouldn’t somepony more qualified or experienced be tracking down the possibly dangerous pony?” asked Twilight, who was clearly confused by this.

“Twilight, I can’t afford to send multiple Kindred running around Canterlot, it would look suspicious. We can’t let it be known to ze ozer clans zat we had a break-in, or we will look weak,” explained Photo. “Besides, zis will be good experience for you. You can’t spend ze rest of your unlife in ze Chantry.”

“But, but, but,” stammered Twilight, before bowing her head and saying, “Yes, Regent,” resigning herself to her fate.

“Don’t be like zat, just see zis as an opportunity to make some contacts in ze city”, said Photo. “Now, you remember ze ritual I taught you zat lets us send messages back and forz?” asked Photo. Upon seeing Twilight nod her head, she proclaimed, “Good, good, now when you discover anyzing, send ze information to me at once.”

“But where am I supposed to start my search?” asked Twilight, not wishing to be punished for failing before she had even begun.

“I recommend Pony Joe’s; many Kindred like to frequent ze diner, if only to find fresh blood. Now hurry, ze longer you wait, ze harder it will be to find zis intruder.” She gestured to the door, which Twilight and Spike took as an opportunity to leave Photo’s presence as soon as they could.

As Twilight and Spike reached the entrance of the Chantry, Twilight stuck her hoof out in front of Spike and said “Wait, wait, wait! What are ponies going to say when they see a dragon walking around?”

Spike merely chuckled and said, “Don’t worry about it. If ponies start asking questions, just tell them I’m your assistant or something.”

After a moment to think that over, Twilight responded with “That’s… a good idea.” Without any other concerns, the two walked out of the Chantry, and down the night’s empty streets.

Since Twilight had been unconscious when she was first brought to the Chantry and had not been allowed outside since she arrived, she was surprised at just how beautiful the building was from the outside. While just a front, the Chantry appeared to be a large marble cathedral, with stained glass windows and gargoyles atop its spires. Twilight silently wondered just how many of those gargoyles were actually alive.

The two wordlessly strolled down the street until Spike decided to break the silence. “I didn’t know that Kindred could project illusions like the ones the intruder did, are you any good at those?” asked Spike.

Twilight gave him a curious look before saying, “What do the Tremere have to do with illusions? I know a little Thaumaturgy, but I’ve never heard of anyone creating mirages like the one you saw.” After another moment, she asked, “Why do you think I would be able to create illusions?”

“Well, Kindred are supposed to be super-strong, and fast, and control ponies’ minds, and all sorts of strange powers. I just figured that was one of them. I wouldn’t know, Gargoyles like myself are more construct than Kindred,” Spike said, shrugging his shoulders.

Twilight shook her head and replied, “Kindred Disciplines vary from clan to clan. Some have Potence, some have Fortitude, some have Dominate, etc.”

“Um… in Equestrian?” asked Spike, who had confusion written all over his face.

“Well, you know that about the different clans at least right?” asked Twilight, wondering how he could not know such a basic fact. She had only been recently embraced and even she knew that.

“I know that I work for the Tremere, and that we gargoyles are the elite servants of the Tremere. That’s all I was really told, I had to pick up everything else through observation,” explained Spike, not quite meeting Twilight’s gaze.

Frowning at the gargoyle’s lack of knowledge, Twilight decided to launch into professor mode. “The Tremere are only one of thirteen clans. While many clans do share similar abilities, or Disciplines, and can learn another clan’s Disciplines with a teacher and effort, each clan only has three natural Disciplines. The natural Disciplines of the Tremere are Thaumaturgy, Dominate, and Auspex.”

“Okay, I think I got it, but what exactly does Au-something do?” asked Spike.

“In layman’s term, I naturally have access to Blood Magic, mind control, and supernatural perception,” explained Twilight. “I’m surprised you don’t know, seeing as you obviously have Fortitude.” At Spike’s blank stare, she sighed and deadpanned, “Supernatural Toughness. Didn’t you find the fact that you weren’t hurt by Photo throwing you around the room a little odd?”

“Oh, I just figured I had tough scales. Wait, does that mean I actually have Kindred abilities?” asked a hopeful sounding Spike.

“Well, I suppose that means you do,” said Twilight. Before the conversation could continue though, they arrived just outside of Pony Joe’s. Twilight hoped that somepony inside would have some information on the thief.

As the two entered the eatery, Twilight quickly looked around, noting that even though it was about two in the morning, there were about half a dozen ponies within. The pair each took a barstool and waited for the barpony to take their order.

The amber unicorn behind the bar turned to both of them and asked, “Welcome to Pony Joe’s, I’m Joe, how may I help you?”

“Well, Mr. Joe, we happen to be looking for somepony. You wouldn’t happen to have seen a blue unicorn mare in here lately would you?” asked Twilight, hoping she didn’t sound like some sort of stalker.

“Please, call me Joe. As for the pony you’re looking for, I don’t know, we get a lot of strange ponies in here. Maybe if you ordered something, it would refresh my memory?” asked a smirking Joe.

Twilight shot Joe a dirty look before saying, “Fine, we’ll both have a doughnut.”

After Joe had given them a doughnut each and Twilight grudgingly gave him a few bits, Joe said, “I haven’t seen her, but I know that one,” he pointed to a corner of the bar, “Is also looking for a blue unicorn mare. Try asking her.” The pony Joe indicated was an orange earth pony mare with blond hair and a Stetson, who was sitting in a corner of the diner and looked to be intently reading over some files.

Without so much as a thank you, Twilight strode away from the barpony and towards the booth with the orange mare. “Hello,” said Twilight.

“Howdy,” said the mare, not even bothering to look up at Twilight.

“So, I hear you’ve been looking for a blue unicorn mare,” said Twilight, hoping to get the mare’s attention.

The earth pony looked up at Twilight intently and said, “Yeah, what’s it to ya?”

“Well I’m also looking for a mare matching that description,” said Twilight.

“WHAT!? What do you know about her?!” demanded the mare, who practically jumped out of the booth and into Twilight’s face.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Twilight quickly said, waving her hooves front of her. “Like I said, I’m looking for her. I heard you were too, and was hoping that you knew anything that would help.”

The mare stepped back, realizing that the few customers of the diner were now staring at them. “Maybe we should discuss this in a more private location,” she said, gathering up her files off the table. Before they were put away, Twilight noticed that one of the files had some odd pictures, such as one with a pony’s skull, and another with a unicorn galloping rather quickly.

“Yeah, I agree with you there. After you,” said Twilight, choosing to let the mare lead the way out of the diner.

As they walked, Spike, who Twilight had momentarily forgotten about, whispered into her ear, “She’s Kindred. Be careful around her.”

“I know,” Twilight stated, “Anypony with any training in Auspex would never mistake a Kindred for a mortal pony, nothing living has an aura that pale. But how did you know?”

“I may have let the thief get past me, but I’m not oblivious enough to not be able to tell the living from the dead. I didn’t manage to become the guardian of the artifacts for nothing,” explained a smug sounding Spike.

The strange trio walked out of the diner and down a nearby alley. “Before we get down ta business, Ah’d like to know who Ah’m speaking to. Ah’m Applejack,” the mare said, turning around to face Twilight.

“Twilight Sparkle,” said Twilight, “So, why do you need to find this unicorn?”

“Ah’m not at liberty ta say. What about y’all? Judging by your scaly friend there, you’re a Tremere, and yes, Ah can tell the difference between a baby dragon and a gargoyle. So why is the Tremere clan so interested in this mare? She one a’ yours or something?” asked Applejack.

“I’m not allowed to say why I need to find her, but I can assure you she’s not Tremere,” said Twilight, trying to diffuse any potential inter-clan conflicts. “Say, what clan are you, anyway?”

“Ye can’t tell?” asked Applejack, “Y’all must be newly embraced. Every Kindred older than a few months knows that the Apples are the main branch of the Giovanni family.”

“Okay… Don’t you mean the Giovanni Clan? I know that’s one of the independent clans, but what do mortal families have to do with anything?” questioned Twilight.

“Wow, you are green. Everypony knows that all members of Clan Giovanni come from the same family,” said Applejack proudly. Luckily, she did not notice the look of confusion on Twilight’s face.

Choosing to figure out more on Clan Giovanni later, Twilight asked, “So, about this mare, I take it we’ve both been told by someone higher up in our clans not to mention her. Am I right?” Applejack nodded, acknowledging her guess as accurate. “But, since we both need to find her, how about we just say why we need to find her, and keep quiet about telling each other, agreed?”

Applejack thought about this for a moment before saying, “Agreed, Ah don’t like it, but you’re the only lead Ah got.”

“Twilight,” said Spike, worry in his voice, “Are you sure this is a good idea? If Photo finds out, she just might kill us both!”

“No, but it’s the only lead we have, and honestly we didn’t have much to go on in the first place,” Twilight answered before turning back to Applejack.

“Well, several nights ago, a blue unicorn mare broke into the Giovanni family mansion in uptown Canterlot and stole a skull from one o’ the vaults where we keep our supplies needed for our rituals.”

“Rituals?” asked Twilight, “Like Blood Magic?”

“Well, not exactly like the freaky stuff your clan is capable of, but Ah’ll have you know that the Giovanni has the finest necromancers in the world,” said Applejack, once again speaking about her family with pride.

‘Right, she’s a necromancer, and she thinks I’m freaky,’ thought Twilight. “Well, except what was stolen, that sounds exactly like what happened at the Tremere Chantry tonight. Instead of a skull, it was an amulet. Before you ask, I don’t know anything about it other than that it’s an amulet.”

“So, if Ah’ve got this straight, both Giovanni and Tremere were both broken into by some mysterious unicorn. What Ah don’t get is, how did she get in both o’ our facilities without being caught?” wondered Applejack aloud.

“As far as I can tell, she can create illusions,” chimed in Spike, remembering how he was fooled.

“Illusions!?” exclaimed Applejack, “Well that explains that, but that’ll only make it tougher to track her down. So, Ah take it your clan is trying to kill her too?”

“Actually, my main mission is to retrieve the amulet. Next to that, I think that my sire was more mad there was a thief than actually caring who the thief was.”

Applejack looked thoughtful for a moment before choosing her next words very carefully. “Well, since Ah’ve been told to find and kill this thief, and y’all ‘ve been told to find this amulet o’ yours, how about we both work together to find her,” proposed Applejack. “Y’all help me find her, Ah help y’all get your fancy trinket, win-win.”

‘Well, Photo did tell me to make some contacts,’ thought Twilight. “Sure, I can’t think why not. So, partners?” asked Twilight, extending her hoof.

“Partners,” said Applejack, vigorously hoofshaking Twilight’s to solidify the deal Unfortunately for Twilight, she failed to realize that Twilight was barely holding in a scream of pain due to how strong the hoofshake was. “Now, let’s find us a thief!”