The Royal Guard had never been the most prestigious of positions. When things were well, ponies complained that you were not needed. When things were not well, ponies complained that you were to blame.

For Lieutenant Eclipse, the singular remaining competent officer in the battered and depleted Lunar Guard, things are even worse. Fighting on the losing side of a civil war tends to reduce your popularity. Worse than that, the Nightmare War has physically transformed the fighters, and warped their form. Although they are not displeased, they cannot now return to 'proper' society. It would seem that there is nothing left for them.

Princess Celestia, mindful of all her little ponies, presents him with another choice: being sent on a mission to the frozen north, once home to the Crystal Empire. Success is unlikely, to say the least. Here, though, they will be able to live without fear or hate. Where will this segregation lead the ponies, wounded in heart and mind?