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                         Insanity                          
                 -by Lord Sylus of Night-                  
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              Chapter I - Reborn in Darkness               
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Chapter I - Reborn in Darkness
        The room was dark and Dracula’s eyes were just starting to adjust to the darkness. Dracula stood up and stretched out his legs, he never had so much power coursing through his veins before. He thought to himself,
Worse things have happened. Why am I here?
        He looked around as everything was now adjusted and he could see in the dark. All he can see through the thick wall of blackness is a beacon of light. Like a moth to a flame he wanders over to it. Dracula made sure to step carefully, for he knew what lurked beyond the shadows. His steps echoed as he walked closer to the light. When he stepped into the light and found a stool with a note on it and it read in bright red lettering,
To the North Star,
I don’t know why you are here but I know you are here to stop me. I can’t be stopped now, not even you can stop me. You are not the only one who wields the power in the dark, you just want to keep your sanity. But why fight it when you can embrace it.
Life is a party,
Pinkamena Diane Pie
He did not know who this Pinkamena was and he didn’t know why he was here. He as well did not know how he got here but he needed answers and he knew just the pony to talk to. But he needed to know where he was and how to get out first. He looked around and he found himself in a basement of some sort. There were cardboard boxes strewn around the place. Some were open that revealed some of them had pile of books in them.
        He knew where he was now. Only one pony would have piles of books in their basement. Dracula looked more and found the exit. A wooden stairwell leading up into the building above him. Dracula walked up the stairs and opened the door. He found himself in Golden Oak Library in a hallway leading right into the the main entrance. Normally he would expect to see Twilight organizing the books, but he looked all over Golden Oak and did not find her. This worried him. Finally he found Spike who was laying in his bed with different pictures around his bed.
        Dracula walked gingerly over to Spike and said trying not to startle him,”Spike...hey Spike, Where’s Twilight?”
        As he approached him he saw his eyes were swollen and also noticed the pictures were various ones with Spike and Twilight at different ages. But one particular one caught his eyes, it was a portrait of Twilight sitting on a bench reading book with a smile on her face. Sorrow filled his eyes as he looked back over at Spike and he repeated.”Spike where is Twilight.”
        Spike looked up at him with big eyes and he sniffled as he said,”She’s gone.”
        Thoughts began to swirl within his mind and too many to focus on. He has not felt like this since his lonely a thousand year existence. His depression began to set in and it hurt him. No amount of mortal wounds can come to grip with the real pain of losing somepony or someponies that you truly loved. But an emotion rose in his core that he never wanted to feel. Revenge.
        He has lived a long existence with that feeling and when he saw Twilight that feeling had faded into nothing. But somehow it remained dormant inside of his soul, and it longed to escape. He will now become the monster he kept inside of him for so long. And he knew exactly how to quench his thirst for vengeance. He focused back on the present and looked back down at Spike who was looking at him in horror and Dracula said,”I will come back Spike. With Twilight.”
“Where are you going?”Spike shouted as he went to leave downstairs. Dracula stopped and he said,”I’m going to fight a shadow.”
        He then went downstairs and left Golden Oak Library. It was raining and he stepped out onto the mud. He looked around Ponyville and saw that it was different. The buildings were the same, the same ponies. But the feeling was not the same. Like all the happiness was gone and replaced with sadness. There were less amount of ponies on the streets, and they all bore the same looks on their faces. Sadness. Fear. Sorrow. All these looks on different ponies. Dracula approached one and he said,”What is wrong?”
        The pony looked at him with sorrowful eyes and said,”I’m surprised you don’t know. Consider yourself lucky. All that I can tell you is I lost somepony by another.”
        Dracula did not understand. There was a murderer on the loose. He then heard a sound in an alley and looked at it. He rushed into it and found nothing but the sound of rain falling from the sky. Then he heard the sound of two pair of hooves rushing towards him. From out of the fog he saw a mint green pony galloping towards him. Right behind her was Pinkie Pie, but she did not look the same. He saw a monster before him, her mane and tail were not wild and crazy but straight and not cared for. In her eyes was the look of a sadist, in one of her hooves was a knife of somesort. It looked like bone and was sharp enough to pierce through armor. She smiled as she noticed Dracula and stopped in her tracks.
        The mint green unicorn hid behind Dracula breathing heavily from the fear and from running. Dracula looked back at Pinkie and she started laughing crazily. Her voice echoed through the alley and said,”One kill is good enough for today. We will see each other real soon.”
        She slowly backed away in the fog and disappeared from sight. He knew that she was right, they would meet again soon. Dracula looked back at the mint green unicorn mare and said,”Are you okay?”
        She nodded her head and Dracula continued,”What is your name?”
        She shuddered and said,”My name is...my name is Lyra Heartstrings.”
        Dracula noted the name. Lyra Heartstrings. He knew her as a bookworm of Ponyville as well. Dracula would see her walk into the library and hang out with Twilight from time to time. She is fascinated particularly in humans as her study. He always saw her with another pony but he could not recall the name. He as well saw them with a filly, also could not recall the name. But beside the point, something was on her mind and she knew things he did not about this new Pinkie Pie.
        He looked in her eyes and said,”My name is Dracula.”
        Her eyes lit up a bit and she said straightening her neck and said,”It’s so nice to finally meet Twilight’s coltfriend. I have seen you around but never actually met you.”
        Dracula smiled slightly and said,”Yeah. It is my pleasure to finally meet you. Let’s talk over a nice cup of coffee.”
        She nodded and they went to a new place called Stellarbucks. They got coffee and sat in a booth next to a window near the entrance. They both used their magic to hold their coffee. Dracula had ordered regular, Lyra ordered mint flavored. Dracula shifted his seating and said,”So, what has been going around Ponyville? It doesn’t feel the same.”
        Lyra quit drinking her coffee and looked ominously at the drink as she said,”That’s because our main source of happiness is gone.”
“What do you mean?”Dracula asked before he took a sip of his coffee. Lyra sighed heavily and said,”Three months ago Pinkie had gone missing, we all thought she was playing one big hide and seek game. But we later figured out that she had visited her family at their rock farm. Apparently, her father and mother had died to murderers. That’s as much as I can tell you for that part of the story, beyond that I don’t know what happened to her but all I know is that she changed.”
        She took a pause in what she said next, taking a drink of her coffee and finally she set it down on the table and looked at Dracula right in his eyes and said,”Around a month after that ponies had started going missing, one of them Pinkie Pie. For weeks we lived in a state of nothingness, no flow of any kind. Desperately waiting for Pinkie to return and reassure us all. Weeks go by and word of a murderer began to spread. Fluttershy gone, Scootaloo gone, Mr. and Mrs. Cakes gone, even Daisy gone. Bon Bon, Tootsie Flute, and I had done as Rarity did and locked ourselves in our house. We only left when we needed the necessities. Food, water, clothing.
“But more recently we figured out that our method was void. One month ago rumors began to spread that Pinkie Pie was the killer. Bon Bon and I dismissed this as just a rumor and that those ponies were paranoid. It happened one night, Pinkie Pie had came to our house. Me and Bon Bon were so excited that we wanted to invite all of our friends over and have a party. But Pinkie refused.
“This bothered us. Normally Pinkie would be the first to suggest a party. She said she wanted this to be a private party. No one could know that she was back in town. Pinkie Pie asked us if she could make us her favorite cupcakes and we nodded and she proceeded to the kitchen. I gave Bon Bon a look of worry and she gave me one as well. We knew something was wrong but we didn’t know what. We had been some of her best friends since we were fillies. After about a half an hour she came out with three cupcakes. She gave me one and she gave the other to Bon Bon.
“She then said she wanted to see Tootsie. We called her in and Pinkie gave the third to Tootsie. We all ate our cupcakes and we asked what we were supposed to do. She answered with a smile of a crazy pony,”Now you all take a nap.” The rest was black.
“We woke up several hours later chained and pinned to a stone wall. In front of me was Bon Bon and off to my right was Tootsie. And if you don’t mind I don’t want to get into details about what happens next because it...it...it is too horrible to find words.”
        Lyra starts weeping again and buries her face in her hooves. Dracula gets up and sits next to her in the booth and says,”You don’t have to get into great detail about it. But what happened after that?”
        Lyra sniffled and looked at Dracula who gave her an honest and a loving look. They had met no more than a few minutes ago and he was treating her like a true friend. Lyra straightened herself and continued,”Let’s just say she did horrible things to us. She killed Tootsie and almost killed Bon Bon when I figured out a way to escape. Me and Bon Bon ran for hours and thought the horror was all over. But it wasn’t. She caught up with us and wished to finally get rid of us. She killed Bon Bon and was going to kill me. But you stopped her and saved my life and for that I must thank you.”
        Dracula looks away for a moment and then looks back and says,”What have you heard about Twilight?”
        Lyra shudders again but she continues,”Twilight was the first to investigate the disappearances. She would come to us and tell us she is getting closer. Eventually, she stopped coming and we assumed the worst. But we heard Pinkie mention her name to Scootaloo.”
“Scootaloo? I thought you said she died?”Dracula asked.
        Lyra shook her head and said,”No, I said she disappeared. I said that because Scootaloo is Pinkie’s assistant in these sadistic murders. Do not ask me why because I don’t know.”
        Lyra looks Dracula in the eyes and says,”Well now you know what I know. What are you going to do this information?”
        Lyra saw a look of anger and rage in his eyes as he says,”I am going to stop her. Somepony has to. I don’t expect you to help me because of the trauma but you are welcome to help me track her down. But for now I need more answers and I think I know just the pony.”
        Dracula finishes his coffee and gets up to leave and he turns to meet Lyra’s golden eyes and says,”Are you coming?”
        Lyra averts her gaze from Dracula and she continues to drink her coffee. Dracula sighs in disappointment and leaves the coffee shop. As he steps out on the dirt street in the rain he heard the door open and looked back when he heard Lyra’s voice say,”Wait! I’m coming with you.”
        Dracula gave her a look and she said,”You want to seek vengeance and so do I. We need each other so we can keep each other sane.”
        Dracula nodded in agreement and Lyra asked,”Where are we going?”
        Dracula answers,”We are going to talk to the pony who created darkness. Princess Luna.”