//------------------------------// // Seeing the Mask // Story: Acceptance // by Riddle-Me-Think //------------------------------// I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Edited by: Gambit Prawn Masquerade’s eyes opened slowly before squeezing them back closed from the light filtering in. With a shake of his head and stretching something akin to a cat, he woke himself and headed for the kitchen. With a swipe of his magic, another helpless orange was brought up in his grasp and peeled. Another flick of his head brought up a notepad and a quill so he cold leave a note for Twilight. He also made sure to bring a bag of bits with, just in case. Placing the note on the table that Twilight used every morning, he headed for the door and made the first right turn away from the Golden Oaks Library. It wasn’t a few minutes later that Twilight woke up and got ready per usual and brought her food out to the table where the note sat and read. To: Twilight Sparkle I will be out and about for a time, so don’t worry your pretty little mind where I am. I will be back after an hour or two from my walk and possible lunch, so don’t worry about feeding me anything while I’m out. Nodding at that, she continued on with her meal while pulling a book from the shelves, as Spike slowly made his way down the stairs. He gave a short yawn and stretch before heading to the kitchen and, grabbing a bowl of oats for himself, proceeding to eat. They both sat in silence, with Spike going over choirs of the day while Twilight continued to read her book, Fundamentals of mineral based Potions. A set of knocks echoed from the door about ten minutes later, getting a less sleepy dragon to get up and greet whoever was at the door. Bringing it open, he found two mares of ivory and ebony colors looking down at him with curious eyes. Those same eyes went from curious to joyful as they both cooed in unison, “You're so adorable!” For a moment, he didn’t know how to respond to that rather random outburst before they asked, “This is Twilight's wonderful Library home, yes?” Excitement rolling off them. He dumbly nodded before they both seemed to rush past him and straight to a surprised Twilight who hadn't seen them for the last two days since their first meeting, “Friend Twilight of Apple Clan, we are so grateful for telling us where to find this grand place!” Tuning around and walking back to the strange duo, Spike watched as Twilight nod at them and swallow her food a bit before replying. “I‘m glad the two of you could make it. Are you ready to get started?” She got up from her seat, leaving her book where it was for later. The twins gave enthusiastic nods and followed closely as Twilight began to show sections of the library to them. Spike sat back down into his seat and chow down on his food while the mares walked around chatted about books in general. “We enjoy the Romance novels every now and then, but also books of Daring Doo.” “Then you're lucky!” Twilight smiled, “I‘m currently stocked with all current books on that series, so you can continue where you left off.” The two mares seemed to get a little giddy at the idea and asked, “What of the romance series, Under the Stars?” When the lavender mare shook her head no, they both gave an overly dramatic gasp, “You must read it!” Ebony told her, “It is an epitome of how romance should be done!” Ivory followed up. Despite this, Twilight only shook her head with a small smile but nodded anyways, “I‘ll be sure to take a look at it if I ever see it.” Both twins nodded in a 'you better' fashion while being led on through the rest of books in stock. However, during the end of the walkthrough, both Gem Clan members stopped in their tracks. “And over here are the more popular story rhymes and songs ponies share during long trips. I think you‘ll like this part as you do much traveling, right?” Twilight didn’t get a response from the two and looked back and asked, “Girls?” Not far away stood both Ebony and Ivory Gem, looking in what could be seen as shock at the small corner Masquerade used for his work space. Looking at both them , Twilight carefully asked, “Are you two alright?” Seemingly broken out of their trance, they looked back at Twilight and asked somewhat quietly, “You know cousin Masquerade?” Cousin? was Twilights thought at those words. I didn’t have a clue he had any cousins. “I‘m not sure… Are we talking about the same Pony here?” Looking at one another, both twins said, “Smart, analytical, polite.”, “Black coat, green magic, bright green eyes,” they named off together. The scholarly Unicorn slowly nodded saying, “I didn’t realize he had any relative besides his mother he talked about…” Seeing some concern on their faces she asked, “Is something wrong?” The two Gems looked to the other in a silent conversation, unsure as to what to say for a moment. Taking a deep breath they said, “We have become aware of certain family matters that have put us on edge, but don’t know the complete story.” Looking around her work and living space, Twilight offered, “Masquerade should be back in an hour or so. If you like, you can stay around and ask him yourself.” She watched them look at the other, then once again go into a form of silent conversation before nodding. Trying to lighten the situation she said, “I know this nice adventure book with some elements of romance, interested?” Giving the lavender Unicorn a gracious smiles they softly said, “Thank you, friend Twilight Sparkle, we would appreciate it.” One case of Daffodils, a small cake, a package of tea and a thank you card latter, Masquerade walked through the streets with a pleased smile on his face. Things worked out nicely during his walk and he had gotten the things for his little thank you dinner he planned to do for Twinkles. He still had to figure a way to get Twilight out of the house, and get Spike to let him do dinner for them all… And also avoid them from catching on to his plans. With a slight groan, he thought, If only I was just doing what I use to do, then I wouldn’t have such trouble. Then again, his old job took too much time and left little time for family in moments of peace. His eye somewhat twitched as he once again shook his head away from his family. He didn’t want to think about it at the moment. Reaching the Library and thinking about tonight's surprise he had planned, he opened the door and called with a wide grin, “Oooh Twinkles, I‘m home!” Inside, the twins heard his voice and all but rocketed to the door, leaving the flipping pages of the book they were reading. “Cousin Masquerade of Malek Clan!” they exclaimed with joy and launched themselves to the surprised stallion. Despite being caught off guard at the sudden appearance of his relatives, he sparked his magic and caught them mid flight before they collided with him. “Ivory, Ebony?” ie questioned as they held their hooves out towards him, “What are you doing here?” It wasn’t meant to be offensive in any way, just curious. But looking at them, he could plainly see the concern in their eyes despite the joyful faces they held. “We have not heard from you in nearly a month,” Ivory said, still stretching her hooves ahead to reach him. “You usually write every time we send a letter, but not gotten one.” Ebony pitched in next. “You didn’t tell us what was happening,” Ivory popped in. “Or come visit us!” Ebony ended for them both. Behind them and near the stairs, Twilight peeked at them curiously. Originally she had gone up to retrieve a book for some reference before Masquerade came in and started this little drama-like scene. She could actually hear some form of desperation from the two Gem Clan members' voices as they stretched their hooves out to their cousin. Masquerade seemed lost as to what to do, holding a number of things in his magic, including his relatives, all at once. Looking around, he set his things down and walked in, closing the door before sitting both mares down gently. Moving up to them slowly and heaving a sigh, he sat before them in contemplation. The two sisters looked on with trepidation at his actions, apparently concerned for their unicorn relatives actions. They gently asked, “Masquerade, what is wrong?” In a normal setting, he would have set his things aside and then let them resume tackling him to the ground. But this was different from the normally playful demeanor he would show them. Looking back up at them, he gave a ghost of a smile and scooted closer to give them both a hug with each forelimb. “Sorry you two, I‘m just having some issues.” His voice sounded tired with those words as he held them close. “I‘m just trying to get my head on straight.” Both Gems added their own forelegs into the hug and held the stallion closer. “You can tell us.” Ebony softly said while her double nodded. “Please, tell use what has happened?” He remained quiet before letting off a sigh and breaking away from them saying, “I had an argument with Mother.” Those words seem to all but smack them, as the ivory sister asked, “What happened with you and Auntie of the Malek Clan?” the ebony sister followed up with, “And what of the current clan head, older cousin Eml?” Masquerade seemed to sink further at those questions and answered, “I know you are concerned, and I appreciate it, I do.” Putting a hoof on each of their shoulders he went on, “And I‘ll be sure to explain everything to you and the rest of the Gem Clan, as it‘s your right to know abut this. Just not here and now, please?” The three sat there for a time before the sisters both nodded, “Alright, cousin Masquerade, we will respect your secrets for now. But you will tell us later at Gem Clan's camp-site, right?” Masquerade nodded, telling them, “It affects all the Clans, no matter how you look at it, but now‘s not the time or place.” He darted his eyes to where Twilight thought she was hidden, “It‘s an affair only for our Clans to work out.” Hearing that, Twilight slowly moved away from them, hoping he really didn’t notice her. The two Pegasus sisters only nodded quietly and agreed with him, “We understand, and are sorry for springing this out. When friend Twilight Sparkle was showing us around, we had noticed your things and…” “Hush now, I understand,” he said softly, deciding to give the two another hug, “Just know I‘m happy you're looking out for me during my time of unrest.” They both smiled and hugged back, nuzzling into the comforting embrace. Pulling away he huffed in a lighter tone, “Now if the two of you don’t mind, I have a few things to do.” And he magiked up his things from the floor and headed right to the kitchen calling, “Be sure Twilight knows I‘m cooking for tonight!” Looking to the other sister for a moment and shrugging at his instructions, they faced around and headed back to their abandoned book that was no doubt still on the floor. Not too far off was Twilight, reading at her own stand and briefly looking back at them before turning back to her own book. The two only brushed this off and went right to their book, laying next to one another and flipping back to the page they were on last. As an after-thought, they said, “Cousin Masquerade told us to inform you that he would be making the meal tonight.” Turning a page and reading the same sentence as they did. The studious unicorn just nodded mutely while flipping her own page, thinking over what she had heard. Flipping another page, she felt slightly ashamed for eavesdropping on their talk. She wanted to help Masquerade with whatever he was going through, but he just wouldn’t talk about it. That probably doesn’t justify it though, she glumly thought while reading the last line and flipping the next page. But still, Masquerade of the Malek Clan? She knew he didn’t tell her much about his family, but finding out he was part of a clan, another clan she didn’t know about and had ties with this Gem Clan that knows the Apple Clan… Just how much do I really know about him? Do I really know him? Getting up and walking past the two Pegasi that laid in their spot, Twilight asked, “Are either of you thirsty?” Shake of their heads simultaneously, the sisters said, “No thank you Twilight Sparkle.” Ivory told, “But we are gracious you asked.” Ebony finished as they went back to their book. Nodding to the two of them, she could not shake the feeling there was something more to their overly synchronized actions. It was slightly scary to see two ponies work in such sync without any notable tells. Walking into the kitchen, she found who she was looking for. Near the counter stood Masquerade, cutting away at an apple and peeling an orange soon after. Dumping both in a salad bowl, he tossed it a bit and quickly added some shredded cheese. She tracked the bowl as it was set next to a cake, one that was a royal purple with indigo trimming and lined with daffodils. In the center of the cake, it read, Thank you Twilight! “I got that for you, ya know.” Masquerade said rather suddenly, making Twilight jump at being noticed. He looked at her unblinking and continued, “You‘ve done a lot for me this past week, and thought I needed to thank you properly for it.” Going over to the sink where he cleaned the knife he was using. Shifting her weight from one hoof to the other, she quietly said, “I didn’t do much…” still feeling guilty over spying on him. Despite her tamed demeanor he told her, “No, letting me stay in your home and use it as I worked has helped a lot, even if I was a pain to deal with.” She blushed a bit at his praise, as he continued, “Why, I can't think of another mare so devoted in helping somepony like that.” He seemed to grin and her blush was even more pronounced as she kicked her hoof lightly on the floor. “I could be better.” She said a bit sadly to herself before lifting her head asking, “Why is it you don’t want me to help with what you're going through?” He studied her for a moment in thought before saying, “Before I answer that, can I ask where Spike is?” Unsure why he would ask such a question, she only said, “The Crusaders stopped by earlier and asked if he could help with something, so I don’t expect him to be back for a while.” Gesturing out into the open floor library, she asked, “Why?” Thinking for a moment, he shrugged and sat down and told her simply, “I know you were eavesdropping Twilight,” and noted her nervous step back. “I won't call you out on it, but there is a reason I stay quiet on the matter.” Curiosity somewhat taking hold, she saw this as her chance to get some answers and asked, “Why? What is so important that you need to keep quiet on it?” Leaning to one side and looking past her, he could see both Gem sisters tilting their heads and ears towards them and called, “I‘m going to tell her a bit, she might as well know.” Twilight looked back quickly at them as they turned to her and him. Holding eye contact for a second, they nodded and went back to their book and let their cousin do the talking. Walking past her and gesturing with his head, Masquerade began to lead Twilight up the set of stairs and towards her room saying, “I‘d rather do this somewhere private. You never know who‘s listening in.” Twilight somewhat hung her head from that and asked, “Is it because you're part of this Clan Malek?” A slow nod followed that, as if he was reluctant to say it out loud. “Yes, but there's more to it then that,” he told her, opening the door to her room and entering in with Twilight close behind. Once the door was closed he turned back to her and sat down. Taking that as her own signal, she sat as well, waiting for him to start. After a moment of considering what to say, he said, “The only reason I’m even telling you some of this is because, I feel I can trust you for one. For two, you have the right to know, as you are most likely going to get involved somehow. And three…” He slowly dragged off as if he was rethinking how to say it, “Three, would be that it might help you see some things.” Shaking his head, the darkly colored stallion just started from there, “As you know, Ivory and Ebony are from the Gem Clan.” At the lavender mares nod he continued, “And as you now know, I‘m part of the Malek Clan.” Tapping his chest, he continued, “What you don’t know, is there are more clans: the Veron Clan, the Willed Clan and the Lue Clan. All part of today’s society, but unseen by all.” Choosing this time to ask, Twilight said, “I know clans are normal in Equstria, but why do you say these ones are hidden?” She pointed a hoof at her door, “The Gem‘s are apparently known, so why aren’t yours or the others?” He stayed quiet at her question, but chose to answered the best he could, “Because our clans are more different then you may think.” Looking around the room for a moment, he called on his magic to pull a blanks sheet of paper and a quill. Setting it between themselves and began to draw five circles with different designs, “These clans know of one another and have been around before the Celestial Sisters' reign.” The first circle had a finely cut crystal gem in its drawn in its center, “The Gem Clan, you already know. They are traders and somewhat nomads that live off the land in a sense.” The next circle he drew had a round buckle shield in it made with three sections and held by a metal rim and tri shaped center, “The Willed Clan, is the warrior clan, and often defended the others from outside harm.” The third drawing had multiple points going downwards in the circle, as if striking the ground repeatedly, “The Veron Clan, are the clan of Thieves, protecting us from unseen threats, or ones that could not be struck with the sword.” A fourth circle joined in, this time being drawn in with multiple rectangle blocks that formed a tower that reached up, “The Lue Clan is our most diverse of the clans, being creative workers that know how to build and create tools and buildings of all kinds.” Looking up at Twilight with a playful smile he commented, “I‘m sure I could find a few around here as one of Pineville’s construction teams. Those block heads love to build and fix things.” That got the mare to smile a little at the slightly lighten mood before he continued on by drawing one last circle that held the makings of a crown in it. “The last clan is my own, the Malek Clan, or known by the others as Clan of the Kings, as good leaders often sprung up from my clan.” Putting down the quill and looking up to Twilight who was looking over each circle, he said, “I won't be telling you about their history, who they were and what not.” This got the curious unicorn to snap her head up in surprise, “It‘s mostly clan secrets at the moment, but I will tell you what I can, so ask away.” Twilight sat in thought about her first inquiry about this and also think about what he was possibly tell her. I have so many questions, but I don’t want to stumble around. Tapping her chin she settled on, “Could you tell me how they began, or an idea what they were like?” Masquerade let out a small huff and ran through his head what he could and couldn’t tell. “Alright, I‘ll give you the most basic of it.” Deciding the setting wasn’t right for this, he used his magic to close the blinds and cast the room into shadows. From there he began to weave his next spell, and creating eerie green images of ponies, “Before the rule of the two sisters, there were three groups of Pony Tribes as you know.” One of the smoky images walked forwards, leaving wisps of green smoke in its wake, “The Earth Ponies, workers of the earth and caretakers of the fields.” The next image of a quickly moving Pegasus, flying over the ground bound pony with aerial stunts, “The Pegasi Ponies, watchers of the skies and proud weather manipulators.” Then a third image appeared, smoke twisting and turning into a sphere before imploding to show a unicorn next to the Earth’s right and under the Pegasus’s left wing, “And the Unicorn Ponies, elegant users of magic and nobility to all around them.” “When divided, they brought about a winter that never ended, but once they were united, incur a strength unlike any other.” The images showed Windigos flying around the three before being dispersed by the unity shinning from the three pony tribes. “It was right before, or around this time my clan, The Malek Clan, was born with the others.” Shifting the scene to a single Earth Pony with broad chest and great strength, he told Twilight, “A Pony by the name of Anarchy Breaker, gathered followers together to form his clan. Years passed before his wife bore him five foals.” On the piece of paper where he drew the circles, Twilight watched as the clan symbol for Malek glowed with his green magic before a smoky copy of it floated up and faced her. “The first foal he named Malek Eyes, for he was the first born son and would have his inheritance of his clan.” And an image of an earthen stallion was placed above the circle, holding a regal pose. Another image was copied from the Willed clan and brought up to be displayed proudly and was narrated, “The second born was named Willed Winds, for she had shown her will to be what most mares did not become during those times, a Warrior through an’ through.” This time, a pegasus mare was shown over the circle, flying in as if to attack. “The third born was named Gem Caller.” The image for the Gem Clan was brought up, given a slight sparkle for extra effect. “For he was a tradesmen, who had discovered the arts of crystal growing with a few others.” Above the clan circle was placed an earthen stallion that had a number of crystals growing around him. The forth circle to rise up was the Veron Clan's, bellowing more smoke than its siblings, “The fourth was named Veron Vertigo and was known for his tricks and spying on others to protect his family.” Above was shown a pegasus stallion that had a cloak around him, hanging low as if to hide. “The fifth born was named Lue Little, for she was smaller than all when birthed.” The Lue Clans symbol then followed its siblings above, holding a more ridged and solid structures than the others, “But when growing to adulthood like her siblings, she had shown imagination, creativity and spirit.” Another pony mare was shown, but unlike the others, was smaller in size and was unicorn as well. When she was shown, Twilight watched in interest as unlike the others, Lue Little moved. Her head bowed to her left, then brought it back up to make a house. Then she bowed to her head to the right, raising it like before to make a plume of spell incantations. With each image complete, Masquerade continued with his little lesson, knowing that this was maybe helping him in explaining some things. Twilight was smart, so she was maybe discarding less important questions for betters ones. “When Anarchy finally died at a much younger age anticipated, Malek was given the clan as his own. But he saw how the clan had grown in size, and knew he was not truly wise enough to watch over it.” Moving his head around to rearrange the images into each sibling on there Clan circle’s and surrounding Malek with a number of Ponies, he continued, “So, to solve this, he called on his siblings to help.” “To Willed Winds, he charged with their few warriors, to protect from the threats of creatures of all sorts.” Ponies soon moved from Malek and joined Willed, and she brought out a sword that they all soon brought out as well and rallied. “To Gem Caller, he gave charge of their riches and ponies who kept watch over it, while trading.” A small number of ponies soon left Malek again and went to Gem, who brought out a abacus, and was followed by the others once more, as they looked to be now working on numbers. “To Veron Vertigo, he gave charge of their scouts, to keep an eye on their fellows if ever in danger.” A good number of pegasi left Malek and joined up with Veron, who took flight and looked about. This was once again followed by the others, keeping vigil over the others. “And to Lue Little, he charged with what little ponies he could, asking her to help them make homes and learn new ways of living.” This time, an even smaller number of Ponies left Malek and joined up with Lue. Despite having less than the others, the image of Lue rejoiced and cast a spell, building a home with what few she was given charge of. “This is how our Clans began a thousand or more years ago. But now, they are all but forgotten.” All the Ponies and their followers blew away in a nonexistent wind, leaving only the circles behind, “The clans still remain, but now hide for fear of what might happen if ever discovered. What they fear, I cannot say.” Masquerade said sadly, getting a somewhat confused but sympathetic look from Twilight. But when he rose his head, she saw eyes of determination as he stated, not told, “Not until I find a solution, then we will no longer have to fear being seen out of the shadows we hide in.” The room lapsed into silence as Masquerades illusions dropped away slowly, and left the two ponies in a somewhat awkward silence. “I would ask why your clan, as well as the others want to hide, but I have a feeling you can't tell me.” Twilight said, to which the stallion nodded. “I‘m afraid not.” He admitted, “The only reason I tell you about this is mostly because I get the feeling you're going to involve yourself one way or another.” Giving a slightly hard stare she stated, “You bet your flank I am,” and poked him with her hoof, “I know we haven’t seen each other for years, but you’re a friend. My friend when I didn’t really have any as a filly.” With a shake of her head she told him, “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for my friends if they need me.” With a smirk, the black unicorn could not hold back a chuckle. “I suppose not,” he said still remembering being dragged through the halls of that school they went to. “But still, you have the floor.” Nodding absently, she thought once more about her next question. “What are you trying to avoid?” That question almost made Masquerade tense up a bit, but he held the urge back and calmly said, “As you know, clans can lose touch with one another, and this can cause tension to build now and then.” Casting another illusion to show his Malek’s Clan circle and the Veron’s Clan circle, he explained, “The Malek and Veron Clans had dispute a few decades back, and caused some very bad blood between us.” A jagged and somewhat bloody looking line was made between them, getting the point through, “Because of this, our clans have been somewhat at odds, or distrusting of the other. We have mended some of that damage, but it still lingers some.” Twilight didn’t need him to fill the gaps, “They see you as a target, right?” Tapping his hoof on the floor and nodding, he began to weave another illusion that showed a very detailed phantom of the pony he was thinking of, “This is my Cousin Libel, part of the Veron Clan.” The grey coated pegasus stallion with oil like mane had a left green eye and a right blue eye. His stance and even smirk sent a chill down her spine as Masquerade told, “He is the first heir to the Veron Clan, and holds a grudge on me for…some reason or another.” Looking to her he stated, “If you ever see him and he asks about me, find your brother. I know he made guard last I heard, so you‘ll be safer around him.” “I can take care of myself!” Twilight defended and lightly glaring at him. “I don’t mean anything by it Twilight.” He shook his head, “If it came down to it, you would win in a frontal confrontation hooves down.” He then gave a much harder look, “But he doesn’t let ponies know he‘s their, and doesn’t even work alone when fighting those stronger than himself. He will stalk you, knock you out, blind you and bind you if he feels it gets the job done.” Twilight reeled back from his words and felt appalled at what he told her. Foalnapping didn’t really happen. Knowing a pony that would go to that extreme, to harm his own cousin for that matter, disturbed her. “What about the rest of his clan? Don’t they, you know, discourage that?” The shaking of his head made Twilight pale a bit as she thought as to why that would be. That was until she remembered, “How bad was this incident that happened?” “Very bad. A leader of a group that was part of the Malek Clan was to do a task and had a force of fifty strong. Ten from each clan to deal with a threat that I‘m not allowed to talk about.” Taking away Libels image and replacing it with smoky pony images, he showed her them moving on a few hydras, “The leader from our clan was brash and new to his task, ignorant of what it was to be a proper leader.” He moved one pony with a sword forwards, sending all into a frontal attack with a group of pegasi charging head first, “He sent the Veron members in first, thinking they would be a good distraction while the others performed a sneak attack.” While the Veron Ponies flew over the Hydras, the others split up and began flanking maneuvers. “But, as you know, Hydras have more than one head. With three, there was no way the Veron could harass them for a proper distraction.” Twilight watched as the Veron Clan would move in and back out of danger from the multiple heads. In another part of the illusion, she would see the apparent leader telling them to go back into the fray while he put the others into place. “By the time the others were set, the Verons were too tired to continue with the attack, getting all but two killed.” It was then the smoky soldiers attacked from all sides, but the Verons that had been fighting the entire time moved slowly and would get attacked by the Hydras, or hit by friendly fire. It ended with the Hydras falling, but at the coast of losing eight Verons while the others remained alright. “It‘s believed that one Malek had a grudge of his own on one of the fliers there, and was proven true when asked why nearly all Veron members were dead as one of the two fliers was who he hated.” The Malek Unicorn heaved a heavy sigh as he made an image of two Ponies, one was a earthen that almost looked exactly like Masquerade; the other was a ragged pegasus with a rusty colored coat and brown mane. Masquerade looked sadly at the image as if deep in thought, “The Malek member was removed and exiled from the clan after that. He was told that he must change his ways of the fool, and show a mind of a king we are named after, if he wished to return.” Looking down he went on, “But the damage had been done, as some of the Verons best, including an heir, was lost during the fiasco.” Holding up a hoof, Twilight asked, “Are these heirs really important enough to warrant a few decades of bad blood? And what about Celestia during all of this, surely the clans would ask for help?” “A clan can only have three heirs born, no more no less, so it‘s a huge deal. And again, we have been trying to stay hidden, bringing Celestia in would make things complicated.” But in his head, Masquerade thought, but I somewhat agree: all this hiding away is going to destroy us. He moved his hoof through the image, turning it into wisps of green smoke that all but dissipated away, “Heirs are important, and it’s a partial reason why the Veron Clan would not make a move to stop Libel from killing me.” Patting his chest he told her, “The exiled Malek soon came back and was reaccepted into the clan, all the while the Veron called for his blood. This was ignored. Though, through the generations I was born into an almost exact copy of him. For those that remember, they knew he was a second heir…just like me.” It was all Twilight needed to understand, “So, because you look like him, and have a similar outcome like him…” “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, an heir for an heir.” Masquerade nodded, “Now you know why I was reluctant to tell you any of this. For you to know, or bring me home puts you at risk.” The lavender mare looked at him with concern but he finished, “But when I saw how determined you were in helping me… Well, lets just say I‘ll stay if you're willing to play it safe.” Twilight nodded for a moment in thought and processed what she now knew. A society of clans that was older than Equestria’s creation, clans with disagreements because of ones stupid reasons, and all hidden away from Celestias eyes. She wanted to tell her, but she had another question before she did that. “What about that argument that you mention with your Mother?” This garnered a groan from Masquerade as he slumped in his place. She considered retracting her question, but he went on saying, “Mother was made the Malek Clan head ten years back. I can't tell you everything, but she stepped down as Clan head and passed it to my older sister, Eml. Mother had an idea to help all clans, but I disagreed with it, telling her it would be our folly.” Tapping his hoof a few times he finally said, “The clans were gathered a few days later and put it to a vote with the Clan Ruler, who acts as a king or queen.” Lighting his horn again and drawing the different clan circles with a thrown in the center of them he continued, “The Clans of Malek, Willed and Veron all agreed to the idea, while members of the Lue and Gem disagreed and told they would be no part of it.” And removed the two clans from the group. “Not all the Lue and Gem Clans know what is happening yet, but will soon enough. I‘m one of the few that left his clan to not be part of it, and try to find a way to change the situation.” “What did they decide?” Twilight asked, but only got silence once more as he said with a monotone voice, “I would love to tell you Twilight, but I‘ve dug you into a deep hole as it is. If I tell you this, I would be bound by code to remove you from the equation, and I don’t want that.” When he looked back up to her, Twilight felt actual fear grip her. His expressive eyes that she could read most of the time showed her irritation and pain and fear. He was scared, but is he scared for me, irritated I asked, and why does he look so hurt? Masquerade, what are you trying to hide me from? Swallowing down that bit of fear she felt from his daunting look, she said firmly, “Mask, please, tell me?” She could see he wanted to look away, not to say anything, “Please Mask, I‘m your friend…” “Even if I might say Equestrias days are numbered?” That monotone voice and unexpressive face shook her to her core. She wasn’t used to a pony being so devoid of emotion like he was right now. With a gulp, she told him, “You wont know unless you take the risk.” She watched his eyes as they all but picked her apart as if searching for her lies, looking for any reason to doubt her or see if she wasn’t being sincere in her words. This side of him scared her, and didn’t remind her of the colt she knew as a filly. With his eyes scanning as they did, she felt vulnerable in the sense he was finding out all her secrets and laying them out on a table to examine like a lab experiment. When he was done looking her over and thinking to himself, he looked to her eyes —windows into the soul they called them— and he could see her fear. She was scared of his actions, nervous at how he was picking apart her person… yet determine to see this through. Secrets are kept for a reason, and by decree of the current Clan Ruler, all that know what is planed must be removed. He remembered before taking in a deep breath knowing what he must do.