Hostile lands. Frigid valleys. Backwater villages. Shadowy forests. Vicious beasts. Gloomy mines. Strange magics. And the nicest pony for miles is a necromancer. A royal investigation of tainted ley lines uncovers dark secrets in the Frozen North.
After Jason Wright's suicide, a second human arrives in Equestria. Two years later, he is a mercenary with a partner, but on a job he becomes entangled in something way bigger than any mercenary may be able to handle. Especially a magicless human.
Princess Nightmare Moon had tried to keep it secret. She had feigned ignorance, but the charade could not last. She nocked the arrow. Tirek was a large target; he would fall easily. Then the true challenge would come: explaining herself to Celestia.
She looked just like Princess Celestia, except marred and broken. Her ceremonial barding had rusted slightly. Black streaks ran through her mane. Worst was the scar across her chest. The tarnished Celestia smiled at Luna. "H-hello, monster."
For most humans, being sent to Equestria and put into the body of a megalomaniacal centaur trapped in the depths of Tartarus would be the most bizarre thing that ever happened to them. For a certain knife-wielding mercenary, it was Tuesday.
Nightmare Moon won. She defeated Celestia, broke the Elements, banished the sun. This all happened a very long time ago. So long ago, that she has had plenty of time to change her mind. Not that fixing it will be simple.