what is MLD?

So this post is going to be an explanation of my AU, the idea behind it and my plans for it.
Buckle up, because its a long one.
What is MLD?

So MLD, short for “my little diseases”, is a horror My Little Pony Alternate Universe, focusing on Twilight and her descent into paranoia and madness after being healed from a specific illness that only attacks alicorns for their magic.

This illness Twilight was infected with, is called “The Unseen Blight”, that turns ONLY an Alicorn's magic into a toxic viscus that pollutes their bloodstreams. Attacking their organs directly after about 5 months of infection.

Throughout the beginning of the AU, it will focus on Twilight trying to find answers to what has infected her, trying to gather information on what's going on as her condition gets worse, with Rarity and Spike doing their best to support her and try to help her find the answers, especially in the later stages of infection.

Their final resort, before Twilight ends up bed-bound, is to send a scroll to Celestia and Luna, asking if they know what's going on, where Celestia reveals what the illness is, why it was hidden away, and how to cure it. 
As Cadance had been infected with it in the past, and they already knew how to stop it from becoming fatal. Though sadly, the only known cure at the time, was to make a horn transplant, that could only be done through a healthy alicorn’s magic, and the use of a unicorn’s horn, which would end up killing the unicorn…

After which, Princess Luna comes to Ponyville to heal Twilight, through Rarity’s noble sacrifice and Luna’s magic.

This ends up separating the remaining mane 6 after Rarity’s funeral, and Twilight has confirmed to make a full recovery.

After that, the AU follows Twilight and her now girlfriend, Pinkie Pie, as they work together on trying to make a vaccination for the “unseen blight” to prevent future infections and distributing it to the other alicorns. Since the illness only attacks Alicorns, there is only a demand for a short supply. 

The trauma from Rarity’s death shook twilight and Pinkie to their cores, causing constant nightmares and paranoia. Twilight ended up going over the edge with, and ended up scrambling to make vaccinations for many of the known illnesses in equestria that could quickly turn fatal.

Such as the “feather flu” as well as many others that could quickly affect the respiratory system or the bloodstream. Sending them to Ponyville Hospital for distribution.

Once Twilight had made those, she began to get more paranoid and started coming up with “what if” scenarios. Thinking of illnesses that dont even exist yet, but could come into fruition.
So, she begins to make certain illnesses and experiment on animals to see if she can cure them before the illnesses become fatal.
She is taken over by paranoia and makes diseases just so she can cure them before they would even exist.

The AU then follows Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Applejack, as they visit Twilight 1 by 1, with a bigger gap between each pony, and each one mysteriously vanishing, last being seen at Twilight’s castle.
Though Twilight and Pinkie manage to come up with ways to cover up each disappearance as and when they happen.
Instances that would not be likely to leave a recogniseable corpse behind.

All this time, Pinkie is willingly working alongside Twilight to make these illnesses and fabricate stories to cover up why the elements of harmony were slowly vanishing.

The rest of the AU i want to keep in the dark so that i dont spoil too much for my future plans.

What are my plans for this AU?

So my main plan is to write a story series. In which it expands upon what’s been going on within the AU, the world building aspect of it all, and how it could all be connected. 
There will be many twists and turns, and I am really looking forward to getting started on it all.

But my story series isn't the only thing I have in mind in terms of what I want to do.
I also want a reason to get more into drawing body horror, I'm a big fan of drawing horror and gore and making things as morbid as possible.
But when it comes to that, i tend to default to the simple, make a very fatal injury, draw as much blood as possible.

And I don't really lean into the other ways I can make characters look horrific, while keeping them alive. 
So that is another reason for this AU.

The main reason is that I just want to do this for fun.
Being a big fan of the new MLP disease AUs I've seen popping up on TikTok recently, they gave me a lot of inspiration to expand on my AU that I started back in 2022.
(yes my AU is very old XD)

And with so much help from my amazing friend, Warp, I've managed to fix up a lot of the AUs problems, polish it up a bit, and I feel confident with moving forward on it all.

Is my AU fully complete?

No, it is not.
And I don't think I will ever come to a full conclusion about this AU. But this is just my current thinking, I don't know what the future may bring, I may come to a final chapter for this messed up world I'm making.

There are still a few dots I need to connect, and a few plot holes I need to fill with an explanation and links.
But from what I have so far, I feel ready to begin my next few steps.
I don't know how long this story is going to be. I'm going to aim for 5 or 6 chapters, maybe more..

And the focus won't only be on Twilight!
It's going to focus on some side characters too, and how they are affected by the mane 6 vanishing slowly.
There's going to be the CMC, Luna, Celestia, Spike, individual chapters of the mane 6, even Discord!
I'm very excited for everything that is to come. And I hope you guys are too.