Lazy Pines is a small town in the high country of Colorado, easily overshadowed by the bigger sights to see along Colorado State 9. When influenza strikes the town hard, it is little more than a statistical blip in a typical flu season. No one thinks any more of it as the initial wave of infection passes ... until the other symptoms begin to manifest.

Meanwhile, during what should have been a routine trip to Canterlot, Twilight Sparkle stumbles upon a strange anomaly which turns into an all-consuming mystery. As she discovers the complex web of magic stubbornly maintaining this mystery's secrets, she grows worried what it could mean for herself and her family.

And as the residents of Lazy Pines struggle to understand -- or even believe -- what is happening to them, two worlds have irrevocably been set on a direct collision course.

Updates every other weekend.

Cover art by Mix-up. Please check out more artwork by this talented artist.

Now has its own TV Tropes page thanks to redandready45.

This story is a sequel to Pandemic

Six months ago, the world humanity knew had been irrevocably shattered in a way they would never have imagined. ETS -- Equine Transformation Syndrome -- had arrived, a powerful transformation spell attached to an otherwise ordinary flu virus. Only with the assistance of Equestria in the form of Twilight Sparkle and Starlight Glimmer had ETS been stopped from transforming all of humanity into ponies.

Humanity had been saved, but at a cost. Hundreds of millions of humans had been fully transformed into ponies, and many did not want to go back. The United States was hit especially hard, with over a quarter of its population as ponies. Friction between humans and ponies, Earth and Equestria, has been growing. Families torn apart by ETS had yet to reconcile.

The collision of worlds that the pandemic had brought had only just begun.

Updates weekly FOR NOW -- may switch to every two weeks in the future. I will announce as such.

This story is a sequel to Pandemic: Starting Over

I'm Rebecca, Rebecca Riddle, though some people teasingly call me the Marshmallow-- because I'm kind of pleasantly plump. If you met me on the street, you wouldn't think too much about it. I'm just your ordinary college freshman human-turned-pegasus, in a world of both humans and ponies. I dance to music, love to draw, write stories, and play my kazoo, nothing out of the ordinary at all.

But I lead a double life that only a few know about. It is hard trying to keep the two parts of my life separated. By day I'm Rebecca Riddle, but when I sleep at night, I'm something much more, something beyond comprehension; but awake or asleep, I always try to keep smiling-- even when it is tough to smile.

Short universe background information is provided in the author's notes of the first chapter.

A solo title in Pandemic Series. Note, this AU existed before the actual real-life pandemic happened.

Art done by friend who has no art page to link.