Shining Armour walked through the hallways of the Crystal Palace, preparing his orders for the practice parade later. He looked out the windows and saw Leftenant Flash Sentry and the few other Pegasus Royal Guards clearing the skies of any clouds that day. Just as he looked out the window, Cadence found him on the hallway and called out to him, saying,
"There you are, honey!"
The unicorn turned his head toward his wife and greeted her back, saying,
"Hey, Cadence!"
"I've been looking all over for you, Armour." she responded. "You kinda just bolted after breakfast, you know."
"Yeah, sorry about that." he apologized. "But I was really busy today. I really want to make this parade perfect so that we'll be the best in Canterlot this weekend."
"I know that, honey." she said, caressing her hoof on his cheek. "But I've been worried about you."
"Why?" he asked.
"I still keep thinking about your constant nightmares." she replied. "I really think you should talk to Auntie Luna very soon."
"Look Cadence, I told you, I'm fine." he reassured. "But if it makes you feel better, I'll talk to her this weekend after the military review. I promise. Just stop worrying too much about me; it's making me feel uneasy to see you uneasy."
Cadence smiled at her husband's words and decided to give him a hug. The stallion hugged her back and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"I know you're not much of a military-fan." he said to her after breaking the hug. "But would it be alright if you watched the parade from the Palace balcony for me?"
"Of course!" she said. "I'd love to see you and your colts perform."
"Thanks, sweetie." he said. "It means so much to me."
-
Meanwhile in Canterlot, Princess Celestia was in her throne room, reading and reviewing the military status of Equestria. She had figured out that the number of stallions in the Crystal Empire Royal Guard had outnumbered the number of stallions on the Canterlot Royal Guard. The only difference, however was that the Canterlot Royal Guard are better trained than those in the Crystal Empire. She still trusted Shining Armour in training the Crystal Guard and making them an effective fighting force whenever Equestria needed them.
Suddenly, as she was reviewing the troops, Princess Luna herself burst into the throne room, her face full of fear and sweat flowing down the temples. Princess Celestia paused from her reading to see what was going on.
"Luna." she said, startled. "What's wrong?"
"Sister!" replied Luna, wiping the sweat off her face with a towel using her magic. "I have seen a vision, and it is about the Crystal Empire!"
"What is it?" Celestia inquired.
"He has returned!" she said. "And he will overthrow Cadence and Shining Armour and regain what he has lost!"
Celestia was shocked to hear this from her sister. She had thought that he would never return after the royal couple had retaken the Empire with the help of Twilight Sparkle and her friends.
"How is this possible?" she asked. "How was he able to survive all this time?"
"He lives through the fear of Shining Armour." she replied. "My visions were his dreams of him failing to rule the Crystal Empire. I fear that our prince would fall soon if we do not intervene."
Princess Celestia then stood from her throne, intimidated by her sister's words.
"Send a letter at once to the Crystal Empire, warning Cadence and Shining Armour of the imminent threat." she ordered her secretary, who stood beside her carrying the files of the Equestrian Royal Guard. "And also write to Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends to arrive at Canterlot at once."
Looking at Luna, she continued,
"We must not let your vision come to pass, my sister."
Luna smiled, but the sudden shiver of another vision at that moment put fear into the eyes of the Princess of the Night.
"It's already coming true at this moment..."
-
"Front and Centre!" ordered the Royal Guard officers to their troops. The practice parade was about to start, and Shining Armour was doing his final checks before starting. He ordered the officers to group their soldiers into company sized units and march them in front of the Crystal Palace in column formation, saluting as they passed Princess Cadence on the Balcony. Shining Armour himself was to stay on the Balcony, but closer to the edge with a megaphone to issue his orders to the troops.
Everypony was now in position, and Armour took a quick glance at his wife, who sat on her throne to watch the parade. Seeing her smile at him and him smiling back at her, he turned back to the megaphone and ordered, in military accent,
"Parade March!!!"
Hearing the order, the officers in turn ordered to their troops,
"Forward March!"
Drums began to rumble and trumpets began to play as the troops began to march. The music was intended to guide their soldiers in the march, making sure that they stay in cadence to the marching tone. The music began to play the Crystal Empire marching theme, which was similar to tune of the French La Victoire est a Nous march.
The columns of Crystal Empire Royal Guards began to pass through the palace, with the soldiers turning their heads to the balcony and saluting at Princess Cadence and Shining Armour. Their routine was flawless, which boosted the confidence of the young prince. Princess Cadence just waved back at the troops as they passed. She was not really into this, but she was just happy this made her husband happy.
During the parade, one of the servants came to Cadence from inside the palace and have her a letter, saying,
"Your highness, we have a letter from Canterlot for you."
"Thank you, miss." she replied, taking the rolled up letter from her with her magic.
The servant left and Cadence proceeded to read the letter. What she read shocked as, for it contained the visions that Princess Luna had seen about her husband. She was about to call out to Shining Armour when, suddenly, the sky began to go dark. Shining Armour looked up and saw that clouds were beginning to form up again on the sky.
"Damn it Flash." he said to himself in an inaudible voice. "I though I told you to clear the skies..."
Flash Sentry looked up and saw the clouds forming. He and his fellow pegasi were confused, since they had made sure that all the clouds were cleared. The Crystal Ponies who were present at the parade, both civilian and the soldiers, began to shiver as they saw the darkness fall upon them on what was supposed to be a bright sunny day.
The marching stopped because the Crystal Guard Ponies became petrified at the sight of dark clouds appearing overhead.
"What's the matter with you boys?" said one of the officers leading a company of Crystal Guard ponies. "Keep marching!"
"But, sir." replied one of them. "These clouds..."
"So what if some clouds suddenly appeared in the sky?" argued the officer. "That's Leftenant Flash's Sentry's concern, not ours! Now keep marching!"
But the soldiers still did not move, frightened at the sudden darkness that began to engulf their whole empire. The clouds began to grow bigger, blocking the sun from shining on the Crystal Empire. All the Crystal Ponies began to be afraid, for this reminded them of their dark past. Shining Armour too began to be afraid; these were the same dark clouds he had seen in his dreams. He looked at Cadence, who had a letter held with her magic. She was about to warn him when, suddenly the same terrifying voice from Shining Armour's dreams began to be heard from the clouds, echoing throughout the empire.
"You are unworthy to rule this Empire..."
Suddenly, the clouds on high began to descend fast upon Shining Armour. The unicorn had no time to react, as the clouds began to envelop his body. The last thing he heard before the clouds fully engulfed him was the terrified cry of his beloved wife.
"Shining Armour!"
The crowds and soldiers below who had seen this were terrified at what had happened to their prince, who was now inside one of the clouds of darkness.
Inside the cloud, Shining Armour looked around frantically for a way out. Just then, as he turned his head to the right, a pair of glowing eyes with purple flames flowing out of them appeared in front of him, looking directly into Shining Armour's soul. The unicorn froze at the sight, since these were the exact same eyes he had seen before. The brief petrified moment was broken when the voice spoke again, saying,
"Hello, Shining Armour."
"You..." he replied. "You're the one from my dreams..."
"Yes..." replied the voice. "You remember me quite well, young prince."
"What do you want from me?"
"The Empire." chuckled the voice. "The Empire you are not worthy of ruling."
"Not worthy?" said Shining Armour, irritated by the remark. "How dare you say I'm not worthy?!"
The eyes began to glow brighter, silencing Shining Armour with fear. The voice replied, saying,
"How dare you say you are worthy?! You only got your title as prince because of your marriage to an Alicorn Princess! You are nothing but a worthless coward; You're weak and useless!"
Shining Armour tried to gather enough courage to respond to him, saying,
"A-a-and who are you to say that?"
The mouth suddenly appeared below the pair of glowing eyes, grinning devilishly at Shining Armour. Then, from the surrounding cloud walls, out came a unicorn with a curved red horn with the same menacing eyes. He wore dark-silver armour with a red cape, and on his head was a crown with the symbol of a fallen Crystal Empire. Shining Armour immediately recognized him as he stood in front of him.
"King Sombra..." Shining Armour said.
"The one and only..." Sombra replied, grinning devilishly while looking at him with his fear-striking eyes.
"T-that's impossible!" Armour replied, stuttering. "We defeated you!"
"We?" chuckled the dark king. "You did nothing. It was your wife and a baby dragon who defeated me."
"Then... How did you get back?"
Sombra brought Shining Armour closer to him with his dark magic and replied, starring into his eyes,
"With your fear. I live on the fear of other ponies. As long as fear is in their hearts, I will return. And you had so much fear inside of you, that it was able to give me enough strength to come back in flesh and blood."
"Fear?" said Shining Armour. "Fear for what? I-I-I haven't been afraid of anything."
"Then what do you call those three sleepless nights? Three nights of me reminding you of your inability to rule this empire; Three nights of me saying you are nothing but weak and useless."
"What makes you say I am weak and useless?" said Shining Armour, trying his best to regain his courage.
"Don't you get it already, Shining Armour?" replied Sombra. "The only reason why you are a prince is because you are married to an Alicorn Princess. If it had not been for that, you would just be stuck as a soldier, fighting your wars for no just cause. Your own little sister can overpower you, now that she is an Alicorn. You have always been pathetic and worthless, and that is why you are not worthy of ruling the Crystal Empire!"
Sombra's words hit Shining Armour to the bone, causing him to shiver at his sight. He knew that what he said was true, and he could not deny it. His eyes began to glow, with purple flames coming out of it as the sight of his uselessness flashed before his eyes. The dark king made a devilish smile and said,
"This is the fear I feed upon; the fear of learning the truth of yourself; the feel of being without worth."
Just as he had said this, Shining Armour began to feel his body change in matter. He noticed that he was now turning from solid to gas, and he began to freak out.
"What's going on?!" he asked, terrified.
"I am just going to send you where you belong..." replied Sombra.
"No... No!!"
Shining Armour made one more shriek before finally disappearing from Sombra's sight. Outside the cloud, Cadence and two Royal Guard officers stood, waiting for the cloud to disappear. They had tried to breech the cloud, but could not because of an invisible force field. Suddenly, the cloud began to lift and the silhouette of a unicorn appeared on their sights.
"Shining Armour?" said Cadence, thinking that Shining Armour had come out of the cloud.
But as the unicorn turned around Cadence and the guards saw who it really was.
"Hello, Mi Amore Cadenza..." said Sombra, giving a devilish grin to the princess.
The two Royal Guard officers began to point their spears at the king, saying to Cadence,
"Your highness, get behind us!"
Before Cadence could move, Sombra used his dark magic to knock the two officers out. Cadence charged up some magic on her horn, preparing to fight back, but Sombra used his magic to cast a spell on Cadence's horn, disabling any magic that would come out of it.
"You maybe an Alicorn, Cadenza." he said. "But you're still not as powerful as Celestia and Luna.
"What did you do to my husband?" Cadence said, angrily with tears in her eyes.
"I only did what was right; I put him where he belongs."
Turning toward the edge of the balcony, Sombra went to the megaphone and announced to the citizens of the Crystal Empire,
"My beloved Crystal Ponies, your king has returned!"
As he had said this, he began to cast a spell on all the Crystal Pony Royal Guards. He began to control their minds, making their eyes like his, glowing with purple flames coming out of them. The Crystal Guards began to turn their weapons on their officers, who were shocked to see that the very soldiers that they had trained were suddenly put up against them.
All the other crystal ponies began to run in fear as the mind-controlled army began to retake the Crystal Empire. Cadence could do nothing to save her empire, nor did she know what had become of her husband.