A/N: Steelbreaker and Drew here with another chapter of the story that is tasty and full of flavor. There's some big changes in this chapter, and this one also gets a little dark. Can't have a good story without some conflict, now can we? R&R and let me know what you thought.

To dch448 - Well I thought about adding some lemons in here, but I decided I didn't really want that kind of story.

To Raine Moon - It's good to have a writer who knows what they're talking about reviewing this story. Thanks for that. I do realize your concerns as I see and feel them as well. I know by experience how easy it is to suddenly find myself backed into a corner - by myself - with nothing left to write. As far as the Gary Stu concept, you have great timing for that. I plan my chapters ahead of time, and this was the one where I would be leading the story away from that, so as to keep things interesting and realistic in a sense. You aren't the first person to bring it up. I don't usually go for self-inserts either, but I have yet to actually do one as well. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, I can say I gave it a try. I appreciate the honest criticism, as it reminds me of the boundaries I have set for myself, as well as why I shouldn't cross them.

To Guest - Why thank you, I am glad you enjoy. Plenty more to come, so be sure to check back frequently.

To Zuelatak - No promises if she comes onto me. A stallion can only have so much self-control. Besides...her cuteness is over 9000!

High-ho Silver, AWAY!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters associated with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, nor the original story.

Chapter 13: The Icy Claws of Fear

Alone...so alone.

They all left, I don't know where.

Useless...

Meaningless...

No...no more...please...

Ah...this is most interesting. Your fear will soon consume you, as you will see. There is naught to fear, but the fear itself...is there? You will find out more than you wish to.

I awoke with a start, panting heavily and with tears streaming down my face. I checked to my left and to my right, and was very relieved to see the beautiful mares I loved. I kissed each on the forehead softly, and proceeded to get up. I opened the glass curtain that shielded the room from the beginning of what was to be a blizzard and peered outside. The crisp air kissed my cheeks and I found myself still worried. That was by far the worst nightmare I've ever had, and more so now because I had more loved ones. I was confused, as I had never had a nightmare with any of my girls sleeping next to me, but brushed it off. I heard shuffling in the sheets as one of them started to wake up, and then a scream. I turned to see four very frightened mares all staring at each other, and then they all looked to me. Luna's gaze turned to one of anger, which only made me more confused. "What hast thou done to us? If thou has violated us, thou shall spend the rest of thy days in the dungeons!" I was suddenly taken aback. "L-Luna? What's going on with you? You act like you've never seen me before or som-" She cut me off. "Thou shalt address us as Princess Luna, knave!" I was now frightened. Something was very wrong, and my confusion turned to sadness, and then to anger...and then to sadness again. What happened? I felt a presence within me...Celestia. 'Steelbreaker! I require you at the palace immediately...something has happened!' I shook my head and immediately teleported to the throne room, leaving four very bewildered mares behind.

I arrived in the throne room to see a very sad look on the solar princess's face. "Steel...I am so sorry...I could't stop it." She started to cry. I walked up to her and embraced her in a hug, me crying by this time too. "Tia...what happened? They don't...they act like they don't even know me anymore. What's going on?" She only shook her head and cried harder. "...Phobos has awakened in our world." I was confused. "Wait...Phobos...I've heard that word before. Wait a minute, that's one of Mars' moons in my universe. Mars is a planet, by the way. But what do you mean Phobos has awakened?" Celestia shook her head. "Phobos is a god of fear. In your world, he is a god of your Greeks. While the mythology in your world is flawed at best, he does truly exist. I don't know why he has chosen to come to this world, but he is here...there is no mistaking it. He seems to be targeting you." I was awestruck. A god is after me? This isn't good. "Why would he be after me though? What would be the point? I'm nobody." Celestia shook her head. "Do you recall what I told you when you first awakened as a spellbender? You have the potential to be far more powerful than I could ever hope to be. Assuming Phobos is here to claim this planet as his own, he will want to destroy the greatest threat to him first...you." This only made me more confused. "Okay, but what does that have to do with Luna? Or any of the other girls?" She only frowned and let slip tears from her eyes. "He is the god of fear, Steelbreaker. What is your greatest fear?" I thought for only a moment before it struck me like a bolt of lightning...loneliness. My greatest fear was being alone...being worthless. My entire reason for being was protecting my loved ones, and that need to protect stemmed from my love for them, as well as their love for me. "So...you mean..." She nodded. "To all of them, it is as if you've never existed. It is safe to assume he has targeted anyone you care about...even your own family." Wait a minute... "What about you, Celestia? I care about you and you care about me. You're like family to me, why aren't you affected?" She smiled sadly. "I do not know for sure, but I believe it is because of my memories of you. In all of my memories of you, my sister is there as well. The love I have for my sister goes beyond what most beings could imagine, save for one such as you. Because you are connected to her in my mind, those memories are much stronger, and thus much more difficult to break...if not impossible. I cannot say for sure, however."

We were interrupted by a flash of light behind me. I turned to see a very upset Luna staring at Celestia. She then looked at me, and a flash of confusion contorted her face. "Sister, what is this criminal doing here? Hast thou any idea what has just happened?" I winced at the anger in her voice. Celestia looked at me and nodded, and I nodded back. "I'll be in the Everfree ruins, Celestia." I then looked at Luna, and felt an immense feeling of loss and sadness wash over me. I let slip a tear, and disappeared in a flash of brilliant light.

I opened my eyes to find myself in front of what remained of the Palace of the Two Sisters. I walked inside the main building and sat down on the cold stone floor. I was numb with sadness. I felt so broken, I couldn't even cry. I didn't even want to believe it. This couldn't be happening...this must still be a bad dream.

I sat on the cold floor for what felt like hours, until I heard hooves approaching. Normally I would have hidden to be cautious, but at this point I didn't have the will. I just lay down and let out a sad sigh. I looked up slightly to see Luna approaching, a very confused expression still on her face, but also very embarrassed. She sat on her haunches but didn't speak. For some reason I suddenly became very angry, and I turned away from her. She growled. "You will not turn your back on the princess of the night! I demand you face us this instant!" I snorted and growled right back, anger building in my heart. "I have no fear of you, Luna. I'm not afraid of you, or anyone else. Don't think you can bully me into doing what you want. Until you're ready to address me properly and without all this hostility, you can leave...now." I heard her gasp in surprise. "N-nopony has ever spoken to us in such a way. Why wouldst you speak to your princess in this way?" My anger subsided and I turned around to face her, a sad frown on my face. "I've never had to speak to you that way before, because the Luna I know - the Luna I loved - would never treat a pony as a commoner. The Luna I knew hated to be treated like royalty because it's hard to make friends when everyone's so formal. Do you treat Twilight Sparkle this way?" Her confusion then turned to shock. "H-how dost thou know of Twilight Sparkle?" I sighed sadly. "I know much more than that. I know nearly everything there is to know about you, princess. For example, I know that you only speak in your old way of speech to strangers. I also know that until you made friends with Twilight Sparkle, you cried yourself to sleep every night. I now know how you felt during your exile to the moon." At my last statement, she instantly turned indignant. "Do not presume to know how we felt during exile. Thou hast no idea what we felt." I smiled sadly. "I think I do...and I'll prove it to you." I focused on the emotions I had been feeling since this all started - the intense feelings of loss, sadness, and loneliness. I then felt them well up within me and I allowed them to flow out from my heart towards her. I opened my eyes at the sound of her sobbing. "We...we had no idea. Why? Why dost thou feel this way?" I lowered my head with a huff of pained breath. "I woke up this morning to find that everyone I've ever cared about has forgotten everything about me. To you and the rest of my loved ones, I am a stranger. What hurts the most is that I feel there is no way to correct this. Luna, I am not of this world...I am from elsewhere. To you our most important and first meeting - the time when you decided to bring me here - never happened. Yes...it was you who brought me here, but to you that meeting never was. I have nothing else in my life now. My life...is hollow. So please, leave me...I can't look at you any longer. I feel like the pain of loss alone may kill me. I kind of hope it does now." For the first time, her tone softened. "We...I am sorry. I did not know. I sense that you are telling the truth, however unbelievable it may be. Perhaps you could tell me of...us?" I shook my head. "There would be no point, princess. Even if I were to share with you all the memories I have of us, they are still my memories. Love can't come about from a feeling that is not our own. This incident was my greatest fear...and it is a fear now realized." She smiled softly. "Surely it is not as bad as you make it out to be." I grit my teeth and stood, advancing with sudden anger towards her. She backed away in fear. "Not that bad? NOT THAT BAD? Imagine if everything you were, everything you cared about was stripped away from you with no way to get it back. Imagine if you no longer could control the moon and the night, and Celestia died before your very eyes...and it was your fault. Imagine that for a moment and you'll have an idea of just how bad it is. I wish I had been banished to the moon instead of this. At least on the moon there is no one to keep you company, so the loneliness is warranted. No...instead I have to be around my loved ones knowing that they don't have any idea who I am, and that I will never get what I had back. So I'll take your words and use them...don't presume to know how I feel." She hesitated before stepping closer. I stopped her. "No Luna...just go. Please just leave. I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but you being here is just making it worse. Just go back to your sister and tell her I sent you away." She stomped a hoof. "No, I would not leave a loved one if they needed me." I chuckled painfully. "You're my loved one...I am not yours. Please go." She shook her head. I glared at her. "Go or I'll make you leave." She laughed. "You believe you can force me to leave?" I grit my teeth. "I can and I will. I'll say it again...go, before I make you leave." She shook her head. I focused on the throne room of Canterlot and teleported her. I immediately put up magic barrier around the ruins.

For the first time ever...I just wanted to be alone.

Perspective change - Luna

I found myself standing in front of my sister once again. She showed a confused look on her face. "What happened, Luna?" I shook my head. "I am not sure sister. I only wanted to speak to him and apologize. Somehow the conversation escalated and he became very angry. He sent me away and I cannot seem to teleport back. It is as if something is preventing me from doing so." My sister stepped off of her throne and looked out into the distance, her eyes widening. She pointed towards the forest many miles in the distance. "Luna, what is that?" I gazed out the window towards where she was pointing. I was shocked to see a massive ball of what looked like magic rising high above the forest. It stopped some thousands of feet above the treetops and floated in the air. "I...I do not know, Tia. Gather the guards, we need to find out what it is." She nodded and shouted to summon the guards to the throne room.

An hour later we approached the object above the forest. A crowd of ponies had gathered, curious as to what it was. It was as I feared...it was our old palace of days long since past. It was as if the very ground beneath it had been torn up and raised into the sky. Who could possess such power? "Sister, what is that?" She shook her head at me with a sad look. "I never thought this would affect him this much." I was confused. "Him? What are you speaking of sis-" I stopped my statement as I felt a very familiar feeling in the air...one I was intimately familiar with. "Sister, I feel the power of Nightmare Moon...this is not possible!" She shook her head. "That is not Nightmare Moon...it is another known as Frostrender. He is a being that resides within the alicorn...the one known as Steelbreaker." Steelbreaker...why does that name sound so familiar? "Sister...we must get inside." She shook her head. "Not yet. I have an idea, but we need help. You must find and gather the Elements of Harmony. Find the bearers and bring them here. Hurry Luna!" I nodded and sped off to find the bearers.

Thankfully it had not taken long to find all of them, as five of them were in the crowd below us, and the last was in her cloud home, sleeping. I had gathered all of the Elements and called my sister. "Okay Tia, what now?" She nodded. "We must get inside. The barrier on the outside can be punctured, but I will need your help, Luna. It will not be long before the barrier closes again, so we must get everypony inside before that happens." Twilight stepped forward. "Celestia, I still don't know what we're doing here...what's going on?" She shook her head at the young lavender unicorn. "I cannot explain it myself, I am sorry. The being inside can shed more light on it than I can." She turned back to me. "Luna on the count of three, I need your most powerful dispel spell that you can muster." I nodded. "One...two..." I readied the spell in my horn, putting as much as my being into it as possible. "Three!" I released the spell, firing it directly at the large bubble of magic above us. Our two spells collided with the bubble, tearing a large gaping hole in it. The breach however began to repair itself very quickly. I focused on all the Elements and teleported us inside.

When I opened my eyes again, I saw the Elements of Harmony and Celestia all standing next to me in what used to be the main hall. Celestia looked around. "Frostrender, where are you?" The sound of hooves could be heard down the corridor. I was shocked to see a massive blue armored alicorn standing at the end of the hallway. It towered over both myself and Celestia, and I felt intense magic radiating from it. Even with how imposing the figure was, it had a kind smile on its face. "Celestia, I apologize we must meet again under such circumstances." My jaw dropped and I looked at my sister. "Tia...you know this pony?" She nodded. "We both do, sister...well, both did." She turned her attention back to the blue pony. "Frostrender, what has happened to Steelbreaker?" The one known as Frostrender bowed his head in what appeared to be sadness. "I am sorry Celestia...I tried to appeal to him. He has lost the will to live. He has withdrawn so far within himself that I am all that is left." Celestia gasped in shock. "My word...I was unaware just how much this would affect him. What of these ruins? Why have you raised it into the sky? It is causing quite the commotion within the town." Frostrender shook his head. "It is not I, princess...it was Steelbreaker. He placed enchantments that hold the levitation spell as well as the barrier spell. I have not been able to break them." Celestia nodded and her horn began to glow with a golden light. She let the spell free, only to have it arc back to her horn, flinging her body against a wall. "Celestia!" I ran to her side. She groaned but stood up. "I am alright, Luna." She then turned back to Frostrender. "Frostrender, we must use the Elements of Harmony...I am sorry, but I do not know how you will be affected." The alicorn bowed his head. "I understand, princess. Do as you will. I pray you save Steelbreaker from himself." I turned to Twilight and her friends. "Ready your Elements. Prepare to fire at Frostrender." They all nodded their heads and began to glow softly. Each Element seemed to appear out of nowhere, fastening itself to its respective bearer. Celestia and I stepped out of the way. 'I love you Luna. Never forget to smile...it's what made me fall in love with you in the first place.' said a loving voice in my head. I suddenly found myself unbelievably saddened, and something clicked in my head. I felt myself remembering something...something I once knew. Without thinking I jumped into the path of the Elements power. There was a bright flash and a feeling of warmth, and then...nothing.

Perspective change - Celestia

"LUNA!" She had jumped into the path of the Elements' magic. Why? What possessed her do that? She smiled for a moment before collapsing on the floor. I ran over to Luna's unconscious body. She was still breathing...oh thank the gods. I suddenly felt an intense warmth from behind me, and the room lit up with a flash. I turned around to see the pained expression of Steelbreaker. He did not speak, he just slowly walked over to Luna and sat on his haunches. He let a tear slide down his cheek before speaking. "Why...why would she do that? What in the name of all that is holy would make her do such a thing?" I placed a hoof on his shoulder. "Steelbreaker, she's alive. She'll be okay. The Elements are meant to restore order. Killing or harming is not something they are capable of." He nodded but still looked confused. "I...I still don't understand though. What made her do that? Why?"

Perspective change - Steelbreaker

"...What made her do that? Why?" I was so confused. Even if she knew she wouldn't be hurt by the blast, what would make her protect me? What would be the point? I closed my eyes and grit my teeth in a frustrated confusion. I suddenly felt a soft hoof caress my cheek, and opened my eyes to see it was dark blue. I looked down and saw Luna smiling at me. "Please smile...I do not like to see you upset, Drew." It took me a moment to register what she had just said. "D-did you just call me..." She nodded. The heartfelt reunion was broken short as a multi-hued stream of color shot out from her chest into the sky. I stuck my head out a window and saw it form into a ball growing larger and larger. The ball of energy grew to be as large as the sun in the sky, and then burst in a brilliant flash of light. I opened my eyes and looked around. I saw all of the Elements unconscious on the ground. I was about to panic before I saw them breathing, to which I sighed with relief. I quickly remembered what was going on and dispelled the barrier spells from around the ruins. Celestia looked at me with a smile. "I think you should get home, Steelbreaker. Take the Elements with you." I looked at her confused. "Celestia...I don't really have a home anymore." She waved a hoof at me in dismissal. "Do as I say please. Trust me." I nodded slowly and looked at Luna. She just smiled. "I will be by later, Steel. I promise." I smiled back and teleported myself and all the girls to the library.

It hadn't even been a day, but it felt great to be back home. I levitated all the girls upstairs to Twilight's room and lay them in bed, and I walked downstairs to the kitchen. I grabbed a bottle of hard cider out of the fridge and sat down in the reading room, lighting a fire. "Man, what a hell of a day." I said to myself while taking a swig of the sweet alcohol. I heard a groan from the basement and looked to see my brother ascending the stairs. "Ugh...what the hell happened, man? I had one fucked up dream." I was about to tell him when I froze...realization hitting me. "You...you know who I am?" He shook his head at me with a smirk. "Don't act like a dumbass Drew, it doesn't suit you." I jumped off the couch and hugged him as hard as I could. He just stood there, confused. I laughed. "Yes homo...lots of homo." He chuckled.

I spent the next twenty or so minutes explaining what had happened, and he just sat there listening for awhile before saying anything. "Wow dude...that's intense. I bet you probably flipped shit." I nodded. "Yeah...little bit." We just sat there for awhile enjoying the warm fire. I heard the sound of hooves on the floors above me, then more hooves...then lots of hooves. I smiled and stood up, my brother following me to the stairs. Pinkie and Twilight stood at the top of the stairs with the other girls, just staring at me. Twilight ran down the stairs while Pinkie dove off of them over the railing, tackling me to the ground. She started crying hard. "Steelie...I had such a bad dream. You were so sad..." I kissed her forehead and held her tight. "It wasn't a dream Pinkie...but everything's alright now." She looked up at me with a smile and stepped off of me. I stood up just to get tackled again by Twilight. I just started laughing and stroked her mane. "It's okay Twi. It's over." I could feel tears soaking my chest, but she nodded. Dash just stepped over me and Twi...and smiled. She leaned down and nuzzled my cheek. "I'm glad you're okay Steel. I know you'll always pull through somehow." I nodded and pulled her down in a hug.

The next hour was spent talking about what had happened. Apparently my relationships weren't the only ones affected...anyone connected to me was affected too. My brother and Applejack didn't know each other, and Spike didn't know my brother. I heard from Applejack that Big Mac had been very surprised to see a strange mare in his house when he saw my mother, which I laughed at. The CMC had it the easiest...they just made friends with my sister all over again.

There was a knock on the door before it opened, revealing Luna and Lyra covered in snow. Dash frowned. "Uh oh, looks like the blizzard started." I nodded and looked at the group. "Anypony need to get home?" Fluttershy and Applejack nodded, and I teleported them both home. Luna came and sat next to me on the large couch, and Lyra sat on my lap, nuzzling my chest. 'Still so cute...'

Thoroughly exhausted by the entire day, I found myself dozing off while the others talked. After a few minutes of drifting in and out of consciousness, I finally fell off into blissful sleep.

Perspective change - Celestia

I found myself again in my personal study frantically going through the different papers and books that were loaded on a large desk. 'There must be something different...something I've missed. Why are the wards failing now?' I searched through everything ranging from spells and charms to physical laws. It just didn't add up...I must be missing something. It was then that I saw a small book from my younger years. A book titled "Magical Law". It was a textbook of sorts given to young unicorns teaching them about the universal laws of magic, and how it affects the world. I started reading the paragraph a couple pages in about the source of a pony's magic. "A unicorn's magic comes from within. It is drawn from the life force of the unicorn itself. Because of this a unicorn must take care to not over exert oneself." I remenisced about my younger years of reading this for the first time and continued reading. "An alicorn is a different prospect altogether. An alicorn's power is drawn from the latent magic within the environment, and from Terra herself." I facehooved...that's it! Every time Steelbreaker would use magic, he drew it from anything magical around him, from the air to even the spells of other unicorns. Or in this case, from the magical wards that protect our planet. I made contact with Steelbreaker...this was important. 'Steelbreaker, I need to see you in the throne room right now.' I heard him groan in annoyance. 'Ugh...Celestia, isn't one crisis a day enough? I think we've hit quota for awhile.' I rolled my eyes. 'Just get up here please, it's very important.'

I walked into the throne room to find a very groggy Steelbreaker staring at me. He glared at me and I giggled. "This better be important, Celestia. I was having a good dream." My demeanor became serious. "It is important, Steelbreaker. Very much so...as in 'safety-of-our-world' important." He raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Okay, I'm listening. Please continue." I smiled. "Well Steel, you may not know this, but we have magical wards protecting our planet from potential invaders. These wards are powered from the magic of the planet itself. What you don't know is that these barriers have been weakening...and I think I have found the cause. I pray that you do not take this the wrong way, but the cause...is you." He seemed taken aback suddenly...not surprising. "I'm not sure what you mean, Celly. Are you saying that I'm a threat to this world?" I shook my head. "Not directly no...but your magic use is. You see whenever you use magic of any kind, you draw energy from the planet itself. This is why you never feel fatigued no matter how powerful the spell you use. Your magic use has been draining the planet's energy, which in turn weakens the wards. It was fine with just myself and Luna, but the addition of another alicorn has put undue strain on the planet's magic." He suddenly looked very ashamed. "I had no idea. You're going to have to send me back to Earth, aren't you?" I giggled and shook my head. "No Steel, I'm not going to send you back to Earth. What I do need to do however is sever your connection with Terra. This way your body will adjust to build up and use its own magical reserves. Things are going to be very different for you from now on. Most of the spells you were able to cast so easily before will leave you feeling exhausted. I do urge you to be careful. The more you practice with your spells however, the more attuned you will become to your own magic. This in turn will increase your natural magic reserves. It pains me to say that you will likely be outclassed by Luna and myself as far as magic prowess goes, but something tells me that won't bother you too much." He nodded. "Well being the most powerful made me a big threat which made Phobos target me. That's not something I ever want to experience again. Besides, I'll still have my girls. They definitely didn't fall for me because of my magic."

I focused my spell on the aura around him. I could feel his connection with Terra now that I was looking for it, and in a deft motion, I severed the connection. He instantly collapsed to the ground, nearly blacking out. "Wow. I feel so...flimsy now." I stepped next to him, helping him up. "Yes, you are going to feel that way for a few hours while your body adjusts to using your own magic. There is one other thing I need to mention Steel...and it is very important. The Element of the Guardian draws upon the bearer's magic to sustain it. This will be a problem for you now, as the amount of magic it has access to has vastly decreased. Using your Element will leave you feeling weakened. Use if for too long...and it could kill you. Be careful, Steel...please." He nodded weakly. "I'll only use it if I absolutely need to, I promise." I nodded. "Good. Now you should get home, everypony is probably wondering where you went. You're still recuperating, so I'll send you back. Don't forget to practice with your spells to get stronger." I focused on his destination and sent him on his way. Confident that things would be okay now, I slowly walked off to my bedchambers for some much-deserved rest.

Perspective change - Steelbreaker

I found myself back in the library, everyone having gone to bed or something. I felt very tired, so I just grabbed another bottle of hard cider from the fridge sat down in the reading room. While nursing my drink, I began to think of what Celestia had said. It actually scared me a little bit to know that using magic too much could now hurt me. I realized just how much I had taken it for granted. In all honesty, it did bother me a little that I wasn't going to be so badass anymore, but I would rather the planet continue to exist more than I want to be the ultimate magic user. I quickly gulped the last of the cider in my bottle and got up to throw the bottle away, nearly tripping as I dragged my hooves across the floor. I strangely didn't feel like going anywhere right now, so I just sat near the window watching the storm outside rage. Things were going to get pretty intense tonight, but luckily things would stay pretty warm in the building. I lay down on the sofa in the main room and fell asleep.

I was awakened a few minutes later by Dash. She was right in my face saying my name to wake me up. I rubbed my eyes and yawned. "Hi Dashie. What's up?" She nodded towards upstairs. "You coming to bed?" I nodded. "Yeah. Lead the way." While walking up the two flights of stairs I yet again realized just how much I had been depending on magic. I usually would have just teleported to he third floor, but right now I was too afraid to. I didn't want to end up in another coma or something.

When we got to the bedroom, Twilight and Luna had already fallen asleep next to each other, Luna cradling Twi in her hooves. 'Dawww...' I scooted next to them and lay in the obnoxiously large round bed. Pinkie lay down on my chest while Lyra and Dash got on either side of me. I smiled at the situation.

Maybe things weren't so different after all.