Applejack at the Edge of the World

by MagicS

Bogged Down II

A low mist covered the floor of the swamp as Applejack walked through it. And yes, it was truly a swamp and not just a slightly flooded forest, she wasn’t going to try and delude herself any further.

There was a slight drizzle last night and the road was covered in puddles of water, even almost slightly flooded in some places. Applejack’s hooves splashed and splashed every time she took a step and the rest of her body was wet with either mud or water dripping from the trees over her head.

It was early in the morning but there wasn’t a lot of light that made it down here into the swamp and a steady mist also spread out over the water off the road. The trees coming up from the water were gnarled and twisted, sometimes even around each other, not leaving much open space while the water level rose up higher and made it impossible to actually see the ground besides what was left of the road anymore. Long reeds and cattails came up from the water while lilypads floated through the mists.

“Well this still aint the worst place I’ve been through,” Applejack said.

There was a problem ahead though after about another hour of walking that morning.

The road disappeared.

Or more accurately—it was taken away. Water completely flooded it and the swamp just a few steps in front of Applejack, the earth pony standing there and staring flatly at the pool of water that blocked her from continuing. This wasn’t a simple depressed part of it that was flooded, nor was it just a half-inch deep layer of water, the swamp had completely devoured the road. It vanished into the murky, dirty, impossible to see through, water. As far as Applejack could see now it was just water with trees and plants sticking out of it. Nowhere she could walk without water coming all the way up to her body.

“Aint that just great,” Applejack sarcastically muttered and moved her saddlebag so it sat on her back.

She carefully checked out how deep the water was with her hooves before taking the first few steps and wading into it. Cold and heavy water swam between her legs and splashed up against her belly, it wasn’t quite deep enough where it actually reached her body yet but it was close enough that each step still caused the water to hit her stomach and chin. Applejack just had to trudge on and ignore it—still thankful that her hooves hit the ground at the bottom of the swamp.

“Better not be any cragadiles here,” Applejack said as she walked on.

Without the road though she didn’t have a straight path ahead any longer. There were so many trees popping up that she’d have to go twisting and turning around them and it worried her that she might get lost at some point. She doubted she’d end up going completely the wrong direction but she still might end up stuck somewhere if she was unlucky. And she was usually fairly unlucky.

There was also the issue that she didn’t have much food and water right now and she didn’t think eating or drinking anything found in the swamp was a good idea.

But she had ate recently so it wasn’t too pressing. Just something the well-prepared Applejack was thinking about. In a situation like this it was always best to be prepared for anything and have your mind on any future complications.

She then tripped over a root and almost ended up dunking her face completely into the water.

“Blegh!” Applejack yelled as she barely avoided it, water dripping off her chin. “Consarnit! I’ve already had enough of this!”

Applejack shook her head to try and get most of the water off her and kept walking—a little more carefully this time.

---

Three hours later and in the middle of the day, and Applejack felt that something was wrong.

Really wrong.

She was getting short of breath, and her throat hurt, for some reason her hooves were starting to feel cold and numb while her head was becoming fuzzy and hot. Her stomach was tied in knots and each new inhalation of breath made her cough and her lungs start to burn.

This aint right… I feel like I’m coming down with the worst fever of my life… Applejack thought as she continued to force herself on through the swamp water. Can’t be the swamp, haven’t been here long enough and I was feeling fine beforehoof… didn’t accidentally drink any of that water or nothing…

A deep shudder wracked her entire body and Applejack nearly stumbled and fell over—only saved from falling into the water by a tree that helpfully stood up right next to her. But even then the shaking didn’t stop completely. Applejack was helpless, feeling exhausted lying up against that tree as her legs shook and she felt on the verge of fainting. She closed her eyes just a moment to rest, drawing in a few ragged breaths, wheezing on every exhale. It just made her lungs burn more.

“Come on Applejack… come on Applejack...” she told herself.

If she was sick she couldn’t let herself stop here. That’d just make things worse.

It could in fact be the last bad decision she ever makes.

So she had to force herself to keep moving until she at least got onto dry land or some spot where she could actually rest. Applejack opened her eyes back up—sneezed—and left the support of the tree behind. Though she was still shaking she managed to get it at least a little under control. And the pain in her lungs and throat wasn’t the worst thing she had ever felt. She could do this. She could definitely do this.

It was the fuzzy haze in her head, the dizziness, the lack of coordination, that ended up being more of a problem. Applejack wasn’t even sure if she was walking in a straight line anymore and the swamp was all starting to blur together. Fevers had the tendency to do this, you couldn’t think straight, it was almost like you were in some sort of manic fugue. Applejack had experienced enough of them and nursed enough family members through them to know. This was so much worse than anything else though. Her head was hot enough where it felt like she could melt right through a glacier and every time she blinked a smattering of dark spots appeared behind her eyelids. That red cloud in her mind caused her to sway back and forth with every step, more water splashing up against her.

Applejack bumped into the log of a fallen tree before she could even notice it. She nearly slumped against it before catching herself, just coughing instead before hoisting herself over it and back into the water. She walked in a daze for quite a while longer after that—completely unable to tell what time it was or how long it had been since she started feeling sick.

Her extremities were numb.

Her body convulsed and shivered every minute.

Her lungs burned.

Her eyelids became heavy.

And finally her eyes themselves started to burn with irritation.

Applejack brought a hoof up to wipe them on reflex, accidentally getting some mud and dirty swamp water on her face, but at this point she didn’t really care. Even then she was sweating too much—the cold and numbness from her hooves and legs being overcome with hot flashes and a rising temperature through her entire body. A dull throbbing pain started right behind her eyes as well before enveloping her entire skull, soon becoming a piercing pain that felt like somepony was taking a knife to her. Despite her ragged breathing and worsening fever she could still hear mosquitoes buzzing all around her. It was starting to drive her crazy, she didn’t know where she was, her head spun and Applejack stumbled past another group of twisted trees into a more open pond.

Breathing heavily she stopped and stared down at the water beneath her—lower than the rest of the swamp she had just waded through—the water only came halfway up her legs.

Above her she could feel the sun and finally managing to raise her head she saw a break in the canopy of gnarled swamp trees. It was a clearing, with only a few cattails emerging from the water.

Since she at least wouldn’t drown here, Applejack stayed where she was and just tried to catch her breath for a moment. She tried to clear her mind and break through the fuzzy warped mental state she was in. The intense heat wracking her body at least gave her something physical, something real, to focus on. It was better if she was just tired and hot instead of barely able to tell what was going on.

Applejack considered herself a decently healthy pony so this sudden fever was even more strange.

She was a robust pony and yet for some reason walking through this swamp had brought upon her the worst sickness she had ever been through.

Taking in another breath brought on a hacking coughing fit and Applejack doubled over, nearly falling to her knees in the water. She really wished she had a friendly face with her right now to take care of her or at the very least reassure her that things would be okay. What she wouldn’t give for Pinkie Pie’s smile or Fluttershy’s warmth…

The coughing fit ended and Applejack managed to stand up straight again, getting as much fresh air from this clearing in the swamp as she could. The idea to maybe stop here crossed her mind—wondering if that was actually the correct decision. She could lean up against a tree and wait for the sickness to pass instead of risking going deeper into the swamp while sick. Here where the water was at least shallow was safer and with her feverish head the way it was she might get lost far easier if she tried navigating out of the swamp again.

But with her burning throat and lungs she also craved fresh water. The thought of a cool drink of water was so good right now. It was probably what her body badly needed and there was no way she could find any of it in the swamp. Not just a drink but a splash of it across her face and everywhere else to clean up.

She might not get better without any water.

Applejack took a few deep breaths and shuddered each time, finally resolving to continue moving on like she had decided earlier. The numbness, the pains, the shaking, it was all manageable to her right now, she had attempted to get used to it, but the heat in her head was getting worse. It was like the fever itself was concentrating now in one place. The irritation in her eyes was now getting worse because of that too, they felt dry and hot and no matter how much Applejack blinked it didn’t get any better. Instead with each blink more black spots appeared behind her eyelids.

Her vision had gone completely blurry, she hadn’t taken another step despite resolving to, and it was getting darker and darker.

“M-My eyes...” Applejack groaned, trying to blink them back to normal.

But it only got worse and soon—even with her eyes completely open—all Applejack saw was darkness. Intense irritation and burning was all over her eyes and right behind their sockets in her head, while the rest of the pain and sensations in her body had lessened.

“I-I can’t see nothing, what’s wrong with my eyes?!” Applejack said in a panic as she stumbled through the shallow water. “Sweet Celestia—I’ve gone blind!”

Out of reflex she reached up and tried to rub them with her hooves to see if that made any difference. All she did was get mud and dirty water on her face and the irritation didn’t abate in the slightest.

Panicking, and breathing harder than before, Applejack lost all sense of direction in her darkness. Her hooves plodded through the water, splashing everywhere while the buzzing sound of mosquitoes came from every direction to further disorientate her. She didn’t know where she was going in her blindness and she was panicking too much to walk carefully. All it took was a single spot where the mud was softer for her hoof to sink a little deeper than she expected and Applejack tripped. Falling onto her side in the water her saddlebag went flying off her back—she could hear it open up and spill its contents into the swamp.

“No!” Applejack shouted, trying to get up and find it and everything inside it. The bits, my oats, Twilight’s journal!

Her hooves helplessly searched through the water while she crawled about in the shallow pool. She tried to send out an exploratory tremor but she couldn’t get it to work—the pain in her body, the trembling, and her feverish mind made it impossible for her to focus and properly use Hoof of the Earth. Everything just slipped away or at best only sent out ripples into the water when she tried. Now she felt far more blind than ever before.

Applejack stood up and panted, trying to get her bearings, she knew she was still in the shallow clearing so she just had to calm down and stop panicking. She could find her stuff and then find her way out of this swamp.

“But what if… what if my eyes never get better?” Applejack shivered. “What if I’m blind for good?” Applejack raised a hoof to her forehead. “Twilight, help me out here… why’d this have to happen?”

“It’s the curse of Red Agony Swamp.”

Applejack’s head shot up as she looked around, pointlessly though since she still couldn’t see anything. “Who’s there?! Who said that?!”

“It has only been a few days, surely you haven’t forgotten my voice?” The deep voice asked as Applejack now heard heavy steps coming towards her from behind.

Her jaw tightened and she turned around to face him as best she could. “The Warden. How are you-”

“I assure you that climbing up a cliff and walking over a bridge with a broken leg—that is still painfully useless—is not easy,” the Warden said nonchalantly. “But I had to track you down. I needed to get you back for everything you destroyed, everything you ruined. Do you have any idea how long it will take me to fix this? I do plan on going back to the Citadel but you’ve still put me back years.”

She couldn’t get an exact place on his voice but she still tried to look where she mostly guessed he was standing. “You’re not going to do that again! I’ll never let that happen!”

A deep rumbling chuckle came from the Warden. “You’re not in any condition to stop me. I figured you would be going straight west after leaving the bridge, and it turns out I was right. You have no knowledge of the west and that is what brought you here. How are you feeling now, Applejack of Equestria? Feverish? Tired? Unable to see?”

“You… what’s happened to me?” Applejack growled.

“This is Red Agony Swamp—named for the disease carried within the waters here. All who cross through here, even me, will succumb to the disease. Fever, fatigue, aches and pains, and finally it all culminates in blindness as the disease reaches its peak. When I first traveled through the Far West and came through here the exact same thing happened to me as what’s happening to you now. There is a silver lining though, you will only catch the disease once and then be immune to it on any return trips. Well, not a silver lining for you.”

Applejack’s blood ran cold. “So you’re...”

“Perfectly fine aside from the aforementioned broken leg you gave me,” the Warden said as he began to walk around more and Applejack tried to follow his position as best she could.

“You had best leave me alone before I break your other legs then,” Applejack said in an attempt to still sound confident.

“I think not. The disease and its symptoms will naturally pass in a day or two after the fever reaches its hottest and your eyes feel like they’re going to melt. You can’t tell yourself obviously—but your eyes are red and bloodshot to an absurd degree at the moment. However, there is no lingering pain or any damage to your eyesight after the disease has run its course. By tomorrow you’d be perfectly healthy,” a smirk Applejack couldn’t see tugged up the Warden’s lips. “But since you’ll be dead very soon that hardly matters to you.”

Comments

[RoboRed]

This is so many kinds of not good.

[redmar]

That certainly isn't good but I'm not sure the Warden will survive his attempted murder.

[Doctor Axiom]

Really love the curse of the Red Agony Swamp bit.

It's like a super severe version of endemic fungi in the real world. Out of curiosity- did you base it on any particular real world disease?

[MagicS]

11745563
I don't think I based it on any real world disease but it's been a couple of years since I came up with the idea so I may have forgotten.