I did put it behind the vector at first and everything worked perfectly but I have incredible problems with correct eye positioning and thus would like to not just reference but trace directly from the show picture. Now I either have to put the reference to less opacity so that I can see what I'm doing or the vector to less opacity. If I lower the opacity of the vector however it might screw up the already existing opacity. The opacity option in appearance does absolutely nothing and I have no idea what I'm doing wrong. I need help 
Try using outline mode on the vector. It will reduce it to just the lines, with no strokes or fills. That's what I use to get the positioning correct. Hold option, and click the little eyeball in the layers panel next to the layer you have your vector in to turn on outline mode.
Ohhh! Yes, that works very well! Thank you so much! Will post my next vector here so you can see what I created using this tutorial 
I already created a batpony but I'm not 100% ok with it. Next time I'll know the trick
I already created a batpony but I'm not 100% ok with it. Next time I'll know the trick