The world has changed in one hundred thousand years. The magic that once shaped life itself has faded into myth and legend. An age of industry has set upon the flightless and hornless ponies who now populate the world. Great metropolises of steel and brick rise from the republics and monarchies that dot the planet. In the seaside city of Gracia, sparkling capital of the Teton Republic, a young museum worker named Starlight makes her living in this brave new world, oblivious to the magical heritage that dwells inside her and the ponies around her.

That is, until one day when an earthquake in the west prompts Starlight and her new friends to embark on an adventure to the desert city of Sundown. It is here that an event not seen in tens of eons has occurred: a unicorn has been born.