Scootaloo gets her chance to pilot the experimental Absolution into deep space for its maiden voyage, but not all is well. Halfway through the one year mission in isolation, her ship is beset by Ghosts who hound her every step. The shipboard AI, Star Mother, is struggling with some outside invasion Scootaloo does not understand, and in the midst of it all... something is wrong at the heart of her ship. Something sinister is hiding in the circuits and mental pathways of Princess Luna's greatest and most secretive project: AfterPony. As the Absolution descends into darkness, Scootaloo must come to grips with the nature of a Ghost and the AI who she calls friend.