In what was supposed to be her moment of triumph, Nightmare Moon has lost everything. Banished by her sister and the Elements of Harmony, she finds herself alone on the very moon she created.

Utterly alone.

This story is a sequel to The Age of Wings and Steel

Tyria Metrel, an ensign assigned to the Equestrian embassy in the island city of Zyre, has her hooves full dealing with pirates and bad-tempered politicians. On top of that, a new ambassador named Rye Strudel has arrived on a mission from Princess Celestia, and he might well be the strangest pony she's ever met. Ambassador Strudel is a pegacorn, one of the rare crossbreeds unable to fly or do magic, but Tyria soon learns that his disabilities don't prevent the ambassador from getting himself into deep trouble.

Rye's cheerful curiosity and drive begin to stir up feelings Tyria thought she'd given up on—when he's not making her tear her mane out in frustration. After the two of them stumble upon a treasonous plot to seize control of Zyre, they'll have to work together to foil an old enemy, save the city, and maybe even find love along the way...

... provided they don't drive each other crazy, first.

Three hundred years after the fall of Princess Luna, Equestria teeters on the brink of disaster. Bitter political infighting and power-hungry nobles threaten to tear the country apart in a bloody civil war, while in the south old enemies prepare to reclaim their ancient homeland from the ponies.

As Princess Celestia desperately strives to hold together her splintered nation, she sends a young pony on a quest to the northern lands that border Equestria in order to plead for aid against the threat of Grypha. This unlikely messenger is Rye Strudel, the flightless, magicless, half-breed son of a guard and a baker. Rye must do the impossible and unite the thanes of the north... for if he cannot, there may be no home to come back to.