The clip-clop of Luna's pacing hoofs filled the air and swept around the room in a repetitious echo. That and her faint, barely audible muttering were the only sounds filling her room. Time passed on quite a bit before she finally sat, albeit in the middle of the floor. She gazed at the mirror across the room, frowning severely.
After a few seconds, Luna yelped in surprise, fear filling her cyan eyes. She launched herself at the mirror, pounding and clawing it as if to clear it of it's image.
Taking no notice of the fact that it had already shattered, she continued to paw at it mercilessly, blood spattering from her hooves.The night princess finally stopped breathing heavily as she sank to the ground, laying amid the broken mirror and her own blood. Her breathing soon turned into shaky, broken sobs, and she slowly cried herself out.
Finally, she sat back up, horn glowing as she cleaned the area around her. She went to stand, but was stopped by the pain in her hooves. Lifting a hoof, she stared at the bloody mess it had become. Luna sighed again, hovering over to the bathroom.
Taking a wet cloth in her magic, she wiped down her hooves till they had minimal blood on them. The alicorn proceeded to lift her bandages in her magic, wrapping each hoof painfully and carefully. When she had finally finished, she flew back to her bed after casting a simple spell to hide the bandages, and collasped on it with a heavy sigh.
She rolled onto her back, staring vacantly at the ceiling. She thought numbly about what she had seen. Herself, yes but... Black had raced up her, her eyes snakelike, her teeth grew sharper, dripping dark blood.
Luna whimpered a bit at the thought. How am I still not rid of the Nightmare? She thought to herself. It has been years, and many things had improved for me since. And yet... I cannot ignore the flashes of black in the corner of my eye whenever I turned my head, or the echo of maniacal laughter whenever the castle was silent. Or the fact that whenever I passed a reflective surface, THAT happened. Or my dreams, when my fangs rip into-
The door opened suddenly, a tall, white alicorn walking gracefully in, multicolored mane waving in a breeze only it responded to. "Little sister? It is time for your court hours."
Luna sighed heavily, before rolling off her bed. "Of course, sister..." She trod off carefully, mind already numbed to the world.
Meanwhile, in the darker shadows of the castle, a dark, moving mass lurked. The pitch black substance darted through the shadows, following her. As Luna entered the throne room, the mass followed, and took it's place in the corner. It's body rippled, and in it's place stood a pony of nondescript features.
She had a dark grey coat, and a thick, two-toned light blue mane. Her cutie mark was covered by a silvery cloak, with two slits for her wings. To anypony looking at her, she was just a normal pegasus.
The pony slipped out, her hooves barely making a sound on the marble floors. As she walked down the hall, the guards hardly gave her a second glance, some strange force keeping their focus elsewhere.
When she had reached her destination, she entered the room, the pleasant smell of breads and cakes filling her muzzle. She trod on, hardly even noticing the smell. The grey mare stopped in front of a large, elegant looking cake. She smiled pleasantly at it.
Then, she turned around and bucked it into a wall.
The mare then winked at it's remains, vanishing in a flash of teleportation magic, leaving only the spattered cake, and the bakers bursting in seconds later to discover the cakey carnage.
-Page Break-
"What do you MEAN the cake for the diplomatic meeting was found destroyed?" Princess Celestia said calmly as she could, staring down at the baker. The young stallion looked up. "Completely mashed, your Highness. No time to make a new one, either."
The Princess sighed, closing her eyes. "This has gone on too long. Things being disabled, foods destroyed, other weird instances... there must be somepony behind it." She gracefully walked to the window. "They must have a darker purpose, but what?" Closing her eyes, she sighed again. "We must increase guard levels. No corner unguarded."
Her eyes opened, gleaming softly. "We SHALL find this petty criminal."