SwampSanity (MLP Infection AU)

Chapter 1: How They Got Into This Mess

It all began one day, when one pony got sick with a very bad fever. Of 104 degrees I might add. They didn't go to the hospital, for it was none too serious at the time. But as days passed, things only got worse. Headaches, chills, fatigue, coughing, and body aches slowly consumed the pony. But no matter how hard they coughed and no matter how much they ached, most passed it off as a nasty flu. 

The pony stayed in bed for weeks, as the infection slowly consumed it's body. Soon, red blotches appeared on the pony's skin, resembling rotting skin lesions. Their cough got worse too, with chunks of blood spewed from each time they hacked. But again, most assumed it was a harmless infection, this time chicken pox. However, it was clear as day to those who looked deeper, that this was no ordinary disease. It wasn't long before the infection invaded it's brain, leading it to delirium.

But it wasn't until the pathogen took hold of the brainstem, that the pony became something even worse, a monster. No more were they a civilized mare or stallion of Ponyville, they had become feral, and a danger to all that it sees. It's hair had disentegrated, and black bile and blood was expelled from it's gaping mouth. it could no longer talk, it could no longer think for itself. It had become ravenous, with a quench for blood. Its limbs were elongated to resemble roots and branches, in an attempt to satisfy it's excruciating hunger, It attacked other ponies, biting into them, scratching them, and gnawing at their most viable organs.  With every transmission of the disease, the nightmare became worse. It started in the tens, then the hundreds, then the thousands, soon, about 85% of Ponyville was infected with the very disease. 

Upon the infection's rapid spread, Victim Number 0 had soon died, with it's skin becoming bark like, and as black as tar. It's limbs were no longer mobile, nested into the ground. While dead, it was still infectious, as anyone who would come near the forbidden tree would succumb to the virus.

The Mane 6 all tried to find a cure to end swamp fever, but none prevailed. 

Pinkie was the first to go, she'd been one of the early victims, and was in the 3rd stage, only would she succumb to the final stage once it's desire for blood had resided.

Rainbow Dash was next to go, Pinkie Pie was at stage 2 when she infected Rainbow Dash. With infectious symptoms like coughing and sneezing being prime factors, but unlike other pegasi who were infected, the vicious pathogen kept her wings, for it could be used to transmit the virus faster, with Rainbow Dash's speed playing a big factor.

Then, it caught onto Applejack, the infection was similar to Pinkie Pie when it came to Applejack. Black bile, and an elongated jaw. The apples on Applejack were more than just on her cutie mark, they were in her mane, and her eyes. The apples from the acres were also infected, they were transferred to Ponyville routinely, and when they munched on the apples, they too were infected by swamp fever. 

Which is what got the next of the Mane 6, Rarity. Being close friends with Applejack, Rarity would often share an apple or 2 with her, and with it, came the infection. Her horn was badly damaged when the 3rd stage hit, now replaced with a branch. While it showed on her appearance primarilly, her dresses were also a sign of change. No more were they sewed thread by thread in woven layers of fabric, rather, the fur of of the deceased were used instead. 

The last was Twilight, the most proliferate in finding the cure, She had come to theorize, as the infection slowly consumed her brain, that the only way to erradicate the virus, was to destroy the source of it all. She had only come to the theorization before stage 3 hit, and turned her into a monstrous unicorn monster, her wings had molted off in blackened feathers, and parts of her skin were missing, and not just the red blothces but actual chunks of flesh ripped from it's body.

Canterlot was the next place to be infected, as some of Ponyville's feral residents migrated to Canterlot. The Gods Celestia and Luna were mauled and turned into monsters too. 

At that point, it seemed everypony was now a disease ridden monster, destined on consuming one another before succumbing to a tree like state. Except for one, Fluttershy.

Locked in her cottage, she cowered in fear over the plague, fearing for her life and her pet AngelBunny. Her cottage was the only place not infected, as a lush garden in her backyard was her only source of food, as well as some leftovers she stored in her cupboards. But, being so close to the Everfree Forest, where the Infected could disguise themselves so easilly, it was only a matter of time before they got her too.