Crystal Skies was to be married; now he has blood on his feathers. Forced to move to Baltimare, he learns who he is, what's love, and where friendship ends. He gets involved with gangsters, intimately, but then his fiancée has a "Family" background.
Her best and only magic teacher, Sunburst, abandoned her. Proper Step refused to teach her magic; it wasn't "lady-like." She runs away and learns to fight with hoof and magic, to save her life—but doesn't realize she's becoming somepony's sharp tool.