Twenty years before Nightmare Moon's return, a meltdown at the Cheernobyl Magical Power Plant killed thousands of ponies and created the eldritch Zone of Desolation. It was the worst disaster Equestria faced in almost two thousand years. From this catastrophe came waves of mutated creatures, deadly radiation, and strange magical anomalies. The Zone was permanently cordoned off by the Equestrian military, who would shoot on sight anypony foolish enough to brave the horrors within... or attempt to escape.

Welcome to a world of violence and death, of terror and madness. Welcome a world of eternal suffering and fleeting kindness, where darkness ascends and the magic of friendship withers away.

Welcome to the Zone.