PROLOGUE
Fear magic is a tricky thing. It changes both the target and the caster. Only the most powerful unicorns can handle casting it more than three, four times. Yet, there was one certain unicorn, who mastered it. It didn't help him when the Crystal Heart exploded him to pieces though. The broken horn was all that was left of him. Laying in the snow, waiting.
Several years later
Canterlot was two steps from anarchy. Ponies were too scared to leave their homes after dark. The aura of fear was so thick one could cut it with a knife. Something was stirring fear in the darkness, lurking in the shadows. Everypony could feel it. Especially Princess of the Night, Luna.
"This doesn't make any sense..." Celestia whispered to herself while walking to the main chambers of Canterlot Castle.
"Sister, something's very wrong!" Luna yelled, while opening the throne room doors.
"I know, Luna. Something's changed. Reports are coming from everywhere. Ponies are scared off their lives. Some are even going missing."
"It's not only that! Almost every dream is a nightmare! For every dream solved, two next appear! It's like something is making people scared on purpose!"
"I came to the very same conclusions, sister. Something is making these ponies fear their own shadows."
Meanwhile
Blizzards around the Crystal Empire never cease to exist. They just change their place, circling around the empire itself, stopped by the Crystal Heart in the center of it. Even when the summer comes, the snow does not disappear. The Eternal Iceland got it's name not because it sounds nice.
If someone wandered here at night, he would see a red light from under the snow. Luckily for the source of the light, any ordinary ponies wandering through the Icelands at night would freeze to death in about 10 seconds. For something like this, witnesses are burden to take care of. The light was becoming stronger and stronger, until it exploded, vaporising the snow around it. In the center of the explosion, a silhouette could be seen. A silhouette with curved horn.
"I'm alive! Freezing Wastes, I didn't even believe it would work, but I am alive!"The pony yelled and sniffed the air. His face changed from a smile to a very serious expression. "Oh. This smells like trouble."