A young filly in present day Ponyville is cursed with nightmares of post-apocalyptic Equestria. She finds herself influencing the course of future history in ways that she cannot understand. She must learn to balance her life at home with her life on the other side of the veil, and fight to preserve her own sanity, and her own innocence.

She discovers that such a task is only possible through the magic of friendship.

Hope is the faith of the young. Losing everything she holds dear, Puppysmiles embarks on the adventure of her life to find her mother, her hopes of meeting her again driving her through the horrors of a world not of her making. Too bad the Wastelands doesn't care about hope.

The megaspells detonated. The world died. While most of the surviving ponies did so in underground Stables, the pegasi hid in the clouds. Rainbow Dash, the most celebrated of their ranks, disagreed with their abandoning the world below and left to seek those in need. In doing so, she was branded a traitor. For when Rainbow Dash left, she took the key to the pegasi's continued dominance with her. To retrieve this "key", the pegasi hired a mercenary to bring it back. The mercenary was Gilda, an old friend from long ago. The "key" is Dash's head.