The Nightmare slithered to the edge of town, now satisfied with the ponies' fears. already it had gained considerable strength, and now sought to sow it's seeds of chaos throughout the land once more. However, morning was due soon, so it would need to find a cave sleep in. Luckily, a house would do as well. The Nightmare happened to find a nice house to "borrow" while it waited for the night to come, and a window was open. The evil shadow slid inside, making no noise whatsoever, and found a closet to hide in. With that situation taken care of, The Nightmare closed it's eyes, but it did not sleep. It merely waited.

Celestia yawned as the time came for her to raise the sun. However, she felt a slight disturbance, like the day did not want to come. However, she still raised the sun like usual, and went down for breakfast. As she ate, Luna came in, looking extremely tired.
"Luna, what happened? you look like you haven't slept in days!" exclaimed Celestia, concerned for her sister's well-being.
"It's nothing, sister, just... *Yawn* ... Just something keeping me awake. No big deal." To Celestia, it WAS a big deal. Something was keeping her sister from getting any sleep, and she needed to find out what. Suddenly, that question was answered as a guard ran in, panting.
"Princesses!!! There's a... *pant* ... There's something you need to... *wheeze* ... You need to see this!" said the out-of-breath guard. Highly concerned, Celestia asked the question:
"What is it, guard?" She asked.
"There's no time! Just come quickly!" At that, the guard hastened away, leaving Luna and Celestia to chase him. When they got outside, Celestia stopped her sister.
"Luna, you must stay here." said Celestia.
"Sister, I need to... I need to see this too... *Yawn*..." said Luna
"No, luna, you must stay here, and try to rest. I will return shortly." At that, she told the guards to escort Luna to her room, and Celestia flew off to see what the ruckus was about.

Later, at Sugercube Corner

The masses were huddled around many guards, who had blocked the spectacle so no-one could tamper with the evidence.
As Celestia landed, she couldn't help but have a really bad feeling about what she was going to see. as she moved forward, the crowd and gurds parted, except for one, who was clearly leading the investigation.
"what happened here?" Asked Celestia.
The guard in charge snapped a salute, the replied:
"It's a pretty grisly spectacle, ma'am. You might want to see for yourself." as he finished talking, they arrived at the scene, and Celestia almost threw up looking at it: several massive blood stains led into the alley, which was now covered in viscera and bones tossed haphazardly about, like a wild animal eating it's prey would do. However, in the middle, a single beat-up guard helmet lay on its side, in a puddle of bloody viscera. This was, by far, the most disturbing murder Celestia had ever seen, and she'd seen plenty. "What happened here?" she repeated nauseously.
"Several victims were dragged here from various locations, at least ten from the bones we found. Anyway, they all passed along this alley, and citizens have reported hearing what they called 'Demonic, evil growls and roars' coming from this alley, ma'am." replied the guard. Celestia was dumbfounded. After all, Ponyville was such a nice, peaceful little town. Only a sick, twisted monster would kill innocent ponies like some kind of wild animal. However, as she studied the remains, she noticed something odd about them: All the skulls had perfectly circular, but very small holes in them. This was familiar, but she just couldn't place why. Suddenly, the guard walked up and interrupted her train of thought.
"is everything alright princess?" asked the guard. Celestia suddenly had the bad feeling something was watching her. as she faced the guard, she noticed something in the window on the house behind the guard: It looked like a vague shadow, with two red eyes. Before she could confirm she saw anything, however, it vanished.
"... Nothing. I'm fine. Carry on." she said, wanting to leave as soon as possible.
"yes Ma'am." said the guard, and he returned to barking orders to his subordinates.
The Nightmare stared at Celestia as she investigated its latest mess. As it peered at her, its anger began to reach critical levels, and it was sorely tempted to crash through the window and devour her for the pain she caused it, but it restrained itself. The Nightmare Needed to bide its time, then it would strike when it had more power. Until then, though it would simply feed on her sister, like it was able to do last night. Their wards are weak, and can no longer repel it. As The Nightmare slid back into the closet, It began to intricately plan its revenge on the two morons that ruled this country. Oh, yes, there will be blood. So much blood...

Author's Note

"You know, that princess really got me steamin' back there...
Maybe a little visit from me is in order...
And, of course, more senseless bloodshed. Keh heh heh!!!"
~ The Nightmare