By now, everypony knows the story of Nightmare Moon, of how Princess Luna found herself banished for a thousand years. But how many have considered what happened next? "Oh, Celestia was very sad," they'll say, "and it made her move the capital to Canterlot," they might add. But surely there must have been more.

A thousand years before the rise of Twilight Sparkle and her friends, the Lunar Guard and the thestrals found themselves without their lunar protector in a land filled with hate and fear, ruled by a princess stricken with grief. This is the story of these ponies, and how they struggled for survival in one of Equestria's darkest periods.