In Tartarus, the Lord of Chaos was sitting on his throne watching his mirror. A month had passed since the the Queen of Hearts’ attack. The Lord of Chaos had let pass that interval of time in part to give a false sense of security to his enemy, but also because it was getting harder and harder to come up with a plan that would work, since Twilight and the Generals of Order had already caught most of his villains.

"This is ridiculous!" the Lord of Chaos explained, as he watched several parts of Equestria in search of something that could be of interest, but he couldn’t find anything. "Normally, I wouldn't take too long to come up with a plan to take those nasty ponies’ stupid peace that they love so much."

Fire Punch opened the door to enter in the room when the Lord of Chaos, filled with rage and frustration, launched a lightning bolt from his spear that almost hit Fire Punch, who managed to dodge it in time, going to hit the wall, next to the door.

"Master, are you okay?" Fire Punch asked, afraid that his question would put his master even angrier.

"I'm stuck!" he exclaimed. "This has never happened to me before!"

And then he turned to Fire Punch and said:

"And this is partly your fault, Fire Punch!"

The stallion startled when he heard the Lord of Chaos saying that and asked:

"What do you mean with that, master?"

"If it weren't for your failures, none of this would be happening" the Lord of Chaos. "Mainly your last failure with the Queen of Hearts."

Fire Punch was petrified, fearing that the Lord of Chaos would punish again, but he was relieved when he saw his master trying to calm down, saying to himself:

"Take it easy. Think. There has to be a way to defeat those ponies. Let's see, what haven't I thought. I could use a minor villain to terrorize ponies, while I think of a better plan. No, that would be pathetic. I’m the Lord of Chaos after all. I still have three more villains in the solitary. Maybe I could use one of them. But I have to think of a perfect way to use them."

The Lord of Chaos thought for a few moments and then he had an epiphany and said:

"Of course. I know what to do!"

"What is it, sir?" Fire Punch asked.

"Tell me, Fire Punch, what do you see?" the Lord of Chaos asked, pointing to the mirror and snapping his fingers.

Fire Punch observed and saw the image of the Crystal Empire appearing.

"Is the Crystal Empire" he replied. "The place where Princess Cadance and her fool husband live and rule."

"That's right" the Lord of Chaos said. "You know, I realized that I have given too much attention to Equestria and the Light Kingdom that I ended up putting the Crystal Empire aside. I think we have to make sure it doesn't feel that, don’t you think?"

"You mean you're going to attack the Crystal Empire?" Fire Punch asked.

"It surely will be the starting point of my new plan" the Lord of Chaos replied, giving a short laugh. "Those crystal ponies won't know what hit them."

And having said that, he got up and started heading to the door.

"My Lord, you're not thinking in..."

But the Lord of Chaos ignored him and walked out of his room. Fire Punch began to follow him. The two went then to the solitary of Tartarus, where the Lord of Chaos has moved to stand in front of the cell that had Mirror Coat’s Cutie Mark.

"Sir, are you sure?" Fire Punch asked.

"Do you think I don't know what I'm doing?" the Lord of Chaos asked in a harsh way.

"Ah... of course you know" Fire Punch answered, making a nervous smile. "You always know."

The Lord of Chaos turned again to the cell door and pointed his hand to it, beginning to try to open it. The door cracked and then collapsed. Fire Punch waited until the smoke created by the collapsing seat to see what kind of villain the General of Knowledge had arrested in the solitary. But, when finally the smoke disappeared, he saw that the cell was completely empty. The only thing that was there was a wall mirror with a beautiful frame.

"Master, there's nobody here" Fire Punch said.

"That's because you're not looking as it should be" the Lord of Chaos replied.

The Lord of Chaos approached the mirror and observed her reflection.

"Why are you looking in the mirror, master?" Fire Punch asked, starting to observe also the mirrored surface.

Suddenly, black smoke appeared in the reflection of the mirror and red eyes showed up, something that made Fire Punch startled and put himself behind his master and then he asked:

"What's that?"

"Only a villain who feeds on love and hope" the Lord of Chaos replied. "He can leave his victims in a hypnotic state, while feeding them. Mirror Coat managed to stop him, trapping him in the Mirror Realm and then isolating it in here."

"Master…" a voice said from the mirror.

"How are you... Wraith? " the Lord of Chaos asked.

"Freedom…" the Wraith said.

"I know" the Lord of Chaos said. "Unfortunately, the Mirror Realm is the exclusive domain of my brother and the only one of his followers able to enter and leave freely is Mirror Coat. But don't worry, my trusted server. I'm sending you to a place full of reflections and where you're going to be able to feed and be strong enough to let go of there."

The Lord of Chaos giggled and then said to Fire Punch:

"You, send this mirror to the Crystal Empire."

"Of course, my Lord, but what part of the empire is that I'm going to send it?" Fire Punch asked.

"Ponies say I'm mean and cruel, but I'm going to show them that I'm not so bad as they picture me and make a small gesture of respect and generosity" the Lord of Chaos said, giving a slight laugh. "This mirror will be a gift for the beautiful and beloved Princess Cadance."

That made Fire Punch drop a smile and say:

"As you wish, my master."

In the Crystal Empire, the morning started. Cadance woke up and saw that Shining had already raised up, probably to treat Crystal Guard affairs. She got up and went to Gleaming Shield’s room to say hello to her.

"Hello, my little filly" Cadance greeted, giving a kiss on Gleaming’s forehead. "Did you sleep well?"

Gleaming giggled what made Cadance considered as being a "Yes".

Gleaming Shield’s foalsitter appeared and greeted Cadance with a bow:

"Good morning, Your Highness."

"Good morning" Cadance greeted her back. "Today I only have a few meetings this morning. My husband will also advance in his duties. If all goes well, we could be this afternoon with our daughter."

"As you wish, but if you need me, you just have to call me" the foalsitter said.

"Thank you" Cadance thanked.

Cadance and left for her royal meetings that she had to deal with. After the meetings that were scheduled, Cadance was preparing to meet with her daughter when a messenger pony appeared, carrying a big package.

"I'm sorry, your Highness" he says, approaching. "But I have a package for you."

"For me?" Cadance asked, surprised. "From who?"

"I don't know, princess" the messenger replied. "The sender is anonymous."

"Well, this is awkward" Cadance commented. "But you can leave it with me."

Using her magic, Cadance took the package and signed the delivery form. After the messenger had left, Cadance looked with curiosity to the strange package. She went to her room and there she unwrapped it: it was a beautiful wall mirror with a magnificent frame.

"What a beautiful mirror" Cadance admired. "It must be one of the most beautiful mirrors I've ever seen."

She looked around through her room and then hung the mirror.

"I think you're going to be right here."

After that, she looked to the mirror and combed her mane with a hoof, saying:

"I don't know why, but I think my reflection is best when reflected in this mirror. Well, it's time to go see my darling daughter."

And she left the room. Cadance barely knew, upon receiving that mirror, that she was allowing a fearsome villain from the solitary of Tartarus sent by the Lord of Chaos to subdue the Crystal Empire. The mirrored surface of the mirror began to reflect black smoke and red eyes showed up, while a laugh was heard.

Cadance was walking through the halls of the castle towards her daughter’s room, when she began to feel something strange. She had the strange feeling of being watched. Her feeling was right, because the same darkness that was in the mirror was now following Cadance, using her blind spots to go unnoticed, something he could without problems, as the castle, being made of crystal just like the whole empire, allowed him to such a thing.

The princess of love stopped and turned suddenly, but she couldn't see anything, as the Wraith could hide quite well. Taking advantage of it, the Wraith moved away quickly by the way Cadance was following. He could have started with the princess, but he knew that his power was not strong enough.

By the way, he found two guards and he decided to start from them. He approached their reflexes and wrapped them with his darkness. Through the reflexes, he could hit them. He started to suck all the joy and hope that exist in them and wrap them with their own sadness and despair. This caused a strong effect on them, which caused them to fall to the ground, feeling themselves so heavy and crestfallen. They pretty much were really motionless, having no desire to move. Even the crystal that was covering their body and the one that was under them have lost their light.

Cadance continued her way, but then a strange feeling she had felt moments ago returned to take her, but with greater intensity. That's when she found the two guards the Wraith had attacked and went to their edge running. When she got there, she asked:

"But what happened? Are you all right?"

One of the guards had the strength to lift his head to his princess and struggled to formulate the words:

"Princess... I don't know what's going on. Suddenly… we became pretty heavy and depressed. We can’t… even rise up."

"But how is this possible?" Cadance asked.

It was then that she noticed the ground where the guards were and saw how the crystal was, something that was immensely unlikely happen, unless...

"Oh no" Cadance said.

Opening her wings, Cadance started flying and began to cross the castle. It was then that she found many other crystal ponies that belonged to the Royal Guard and those who worked in the castle in the same situation as those that she had found, with the crystal also losing its light.

"But what's going on?" Cadance asked, worried. "Oh, no, Gleaming!"

And she flew rapidly towards his daughter's room and entered there in a sudden way and was shocked to see Gleaming Shield’s foalsitter lying on the floor in the same situation as the others. She went to her and asked:

"Are you okay?"

"Princess... I don't feel... very good" Gleaming Shield’s foalsitter said.

"Relax, everything will be fine" Cadance said.

And so Cadance went to Gleaming Shield’s cradle and became relieved to see that her daughter was fine. She was playing in her bed blissfully and did not seem to be noticing what was happening.

"But what's going on?" Cadance asked to herself.

The Wraith passed from the castle to the rest of the Crystal Empire and began to suck the happiness and hope of the ponies that he would find.

Shining Armor returned to Crystal Empire after patrolling around, making sure there was no villain sent by the Lord of Chaos. But when he entered in the Crystal Empire, he was stunned by what he was seeing. The crystal ponies, as well as any pony that was visiting the Crystal Empire, were all on the ground, motionless.

"Oh no" Shining said.

He approached one of the ponies and saw that he was alive, he only seemed to be completely unable to move. Shining noticed then that the crystals were losing their light in several places.

"Cadance! Gleaming!"

And, desperate to get back to his family, Shining started running as fast as he could towards the castle.

Cadance picked up her daughter and put her on her back and tried to fly out of the Castle as fast as she could.

"We have get out of here" Cadance said. "Obviously, there's something attacking us and that just may be one of the villains of the Lord of Chaos."

And the Wraith appeared right behind her, starting to chase her. Finally, he had achieved enough power for power attack, something he would be able to do once he had reached Cadance’s reflection.

Cadance was flying as fast as possible and that's when she finally noticed in the darkness that was stalking her, what made her move even faster, not only for herself but also for her daughter. She managed to reach the gates of the castle and got out of the castle, but was shocked by what she saw.

The crystal heart was rotating very slowly, seeming to be stopping, and its own light was fainting. The Wraith, taking advantage of this moment, managed to reach Cadance’s reflection and, with that, he began feeding from her joy and hope, which was something that Cadance had more than a normal pony. She began to feel weak and gave a groan, falling on the ground. Gleaming, in an unreflective way, opened her wings to get a soft landing. Viewing her mother lying on the floor, she went to her and called, looking a bit worried:

"Mommy?"

Shining ran as fast as possible until he had arrived to the castle. He saw Cadance lying on the floor with Gleaming beside, near the crystal heart, whose light was even weaker.

"Cadance!" Shining called. "Gleaming!"

"Daddy!" Gleaming Shield called, thrilled to see her father.

Shining embraced his daughter and said:

"I'm glad you're all right, my love."

Shining then turned to Cadance and asked:

"Cadance, are you okay?"

She lifted her head weakly and said:

"Shining... run."

"What?" Shining asked.

His question was answered when the Wraith appeared in one of the pillars of the castle. When he saw Shining, the Wraith started to go toward him quickly, but then Shining and Gleaming began sinking in the floor, disappearing, what made the Wraith to stop and look around. The prince and his daughter had disappeared.

When Shining realize, he was in the throne room of the castle of the Light Kingdom with Gleaming Shield. Twilight and Blue were there, as well as the Generals of Order.

"Shining!" Twilight exclaimed, going to his brother to give him a hug. "I'm glad you're okay!"

"But what happened?" he asked while Twilight picked Gleaming up with her magic. "Cadance?! Where is Cadance?!"

"Relax, my friend” Blue said, approaching and putting his hoof on his friend’s shoulder. "You have to take it easy."

"But where is Cadance?" Shining asked again.

"I apologize, Prince Shining Armor" Mirror Coat said. "But unfortunately I could only transport you and your daughter. It was too late for his wife."

"What do you mean?" Shining asked to Mirror Coat, standing up, in a bit snippy tone.

"What Mirror Coat is trying to say, Your Highness, is that Princess Cadance was already under the effect of enemy and because of that we could not bring her here" Golden Paladin explained.

"But that's exactly what I said" Mirror Coat said.

"Bro, why don't you just explain the technical stuff instead of the emotional stuff?" Purple Smoke asked.

"Yes, just leave that to the pros" Heartbeat added. "Not me, I'm more than a pro."

"Guys, what if we focus on what is more important?" Leaf Mane asked her.

"Yes, in particular what's happening to the Crystal Empire" Melody said.

"But what was that thing?" Shining asked. “I never saw anything like it.”

"The reason why Mirror Coat acted" Golden Paladin replied.

"It seems that the Lord of Chaos decided to attack the Crystal Empire" Twilight told. “Heartbeat’s alarm warned us of villain activity and Mirror Coat went to see what was going on."

"I got there as fast as I could and rescued those who still had not been affected" Mirror Coat said. "But I was only able to save small foals, including Princess Gleaming Shield, and you."

"But what was that?" Shining Armor asked. "It seemed like something was attacking from inside the crystals."

All exchanged a serious look, something Shining Armor noticed and asked:

"This is more than a simple villain, right?"

It was Mirror Coat who replied:

"He’s the villain of the solitary that I defeated. I would recognize his work anywhere. He is called the Wraith."

"The Wraith?" Shining Armor repeated.

"He's a dark being that feeds on happiness and hope and at the same time involves his victims with their own darkness" Mirror Coat explained. "I managed to imprison him in the Mirror Realm and isolate him in the solitary. The Lord of Chaos released him and must have sent the mirror where he is to the Crystal Empire and, once there, he began using the reflexes to move and feed."

"But, if you beat him once, you should get it again" Shining Armor said.

Mirror Coat thought for a moment and said:

"It will be a lot more complicated. Right now, he's not in this realm, but in the Mirror Realm. Although he would be on my territory, the Wraith is feeding constantly of the happiness and hope of the whole Crystal Empire, including Princess Cadance."

"And what does that mean?" Shining asked.

"It means he's getting stronger every minute" Golden Paladin replied. "We must hurry, before it's too late."

Shining Armor, Twilight and Blue Sword exchanged a look and then they asked at the same time:

"Too late for what?"

And the Generals exchanged a worried look between themselves.

The Lord of Chaos observed in his mirror the Crystal Empire, who was now lying in darkness and silence, with its inhabitants plunged into despair, including its princess. Even the crystal heart eventually stopped and its light eventually perish. That image made the Lord of Chaos drop a huge laugh.

"What a beautiful visage!" he exclaimed. "Look, Fire Punch, the Wraith knows how to work perfectly."

"Wow, I'm completely amazed" Fire Punch admitted. "I never thought anyone could do what he just did. He even managed to defeat Cadance. It's a shame he couldn't get Shining."

"Yes, Mirror Coat can be a problem" the Lord of Chaos said. "While the Wraith is within the Mirror Realm, Mirror Coat will have advantage. That's why I sent the mirror where the Wraith could be in a place full of love and joy. There, he will be strong enough to get rid of the Mirror Realm and haunt this world once again in my name!"