Riots have held Stable 222 in the grip of terror for days, started by a scavenging team bringing back an anti-zebra propaganda leaflet, and the accidental death of a zebra engineer. One night, as Doctor String Bean is making his way home, the Stable is destroyed. Of the hundreds of ponies and zebras that called it home, there are only twenty survivors, Doctor Bean among them. Emerging into the Martingale night, it's up to String Bean to lead the survivors, whether he wants to or not. Along the way, they become the unlikely heroes of the nearby city of Neigh Orleans, and quite possibly all of the southern Equestrian Wasteland.