Spike, upon graduating from Luna's personal tutelage after coming of age, is sent out on a duty to explore the world and catalog it for Equestria. According the princesses, and by default a newly-revealed royal decree, he must return to Equestria married. Even more astounding, he must return with more than one wife, so as to complete his herd. Note: these are anthro characters.

A young orphan was punished a bit more severely than the original punishment with no knowledge of why he was punished in this specific way. This catches the eye of a certain ghost who experienced a similar incident, has a horrible background, and a goal for both himself and the orphan called Alpha.