Keratin-Eliminating Mammal-Oriented Single-cell with Antibody-Burning Excretions. KEMOSABE disease, known more commonly as the gruesome "Meltmane Fever." A truly devastating plague with disturbing effects and no guaranteed cure known to science or magic, both modern and long past. Except one.

~~Book I~~

An outbreak of KEMOSABE across all of Equestria puts Rarity and Spike the dragon in the roles of Ponyville's last hope. With only an old pony's tale and the wisdom of Zecora to guide their way, the unlikely adventurers set course for the Purest Spring, a mythical fountain with waters said to cure any illness. Their journey is fraught with peril as they head towards Zebreria, a dark land of endless winters and monstrous creatures.

Shortly after their journey commences, Ponyville succumbs completely to the KEMOSABE, leaving only five equines- Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle, Time Turner, and Lyra Heartstrings, and Zecora- in any shape to help. These five must work together to keep their town's withering population alive and stable with a rapidly diminshing supply of bacterial suppressants and no chance of outside help.

[For the record, the excessive capitalization in the chapter titles is entirely deliberate.]

A telegram from far-off Neighvada brings excellent news to the Apple siblings: Their parents are coming back to Ponyville for the upcoming Apple Family Reunion. This potentially joyous occasion is marred, however, by the stunning revelation of who their parents really are. Now, Applejack, Apple Bloom, Macintosh, and the rest of the Apple clan struggle to get their family accepted once more by the town they helped create.

"I've seen them all die right in front of me. Friends cut down in a hail of fire before my eyes. My own brother, sliced open in an attempt to save my friends a few more seconds of life. Princess Luna stabbed straight through her lungs. Ponies I could barely call acquaintances blown to pieces.They're gone. I'm all alone. There's no one left but me, the new girl, to finally track down and kill the stallion that murdered all my closest friends..."
"Twilight, I think you're taking these video games a bit too seriously..."

Pinkie Pie, the peerless party pony we know and love, has always perplexed Twilight Sparkle, who finally can study Pinkie after her mentor arrives in Ponyville to retrieve her. Between the years of rock farming and her new life as a party planner, Pinkie was a martial artist, a brilliant disciple in the nuttiest and most powerful form of hoof-to-hoof combat, Shugakain. The time has come to recieve her final training, and she must spend three months on the poorest part of Equestria to train, kept company only by an overanalyzing Twilight and Spike, who seems to be losing his mind. As well as documenting her friend's tribulations, Twilight tries to piece together the broken memories Pinkie reveals as she sleeps.

Back home, madness strikes Ponyville. The remaining four Elements of Harmony enter a 2500 bit bet: whoever can go two months with their life turned upside down wins a fortune. And so it comes to pass that Rainbow Dash goes to college, Applejack becomes a romance writer, Rarity plays dress-up as a birthday party clown, and poor Fluttershy enters the ring as an amateur buckboxer... Will their friendship keep them bound together, or will a year's worth of tax free money be enough to split the four friends apart? What secrets lie buried in Pinkie's mind? And what happens when Twilight is finally proven right on a problem settled long ago?