Long ago, the Chaos gods were five, and Malal who sought chaos in the destruction of chaos, the heirarch of Anarchy and Terror, was banished. Isolated to an area of space in which it could do no harm to it's former family.

Millions of years later, Princess Celestia observes as the chaos gods, the Imperium, and many other factions begin to arrive in her distant corner of the universe, and reinforces an eons-old quarantine. Ships that attempt to invade go missing or are "reformed" and she has reluctantly let Twilight build up a well prepared planetary defense force.

But when that defense force is put to the test, Celestia decides to call upon the family that once banished her, rather than risk more lives in the conflict.