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+-SH safe2255437 +-SH screencap301872 +-SH a health of information597 +-SH g42115657 +-SH body horror2065 +-SH book45605 +-SH carousel (tv channel)70 +-SH coughing399 +-SH dendrification95 +-SH flower42519 +-SH i have no mouth and i must scream249 +-SH lightning4459 +-SH open book211 +-SH shock sneezing5 +-SH sick2151 +-SH swamp fever116 +-SH swamp fever plant53 +-SH tree53815 +-SH you know for kids721
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Note that confusion is one of the final symptoms. Your brain doesn’t work so hot when parts of it are being invaded by roots and branches growing through it…
It also means that when we first see Zecora and Flutters surrounded by these trees at the beginning, they’re actually surrounded by the corpses of ponies. Or worse, still-aware ponies who can’t warn them what’s going to happen…
Nightmare fuel is magic!
No, because A) They planted their seeds and B) The two intertwining trees at the end sprouted apples and pears, not those swamp flowers.
@Background Pony #9360
Who knows, maybe they caught some mutant strain of swamp fever (orchard fever?) or maybe swamp fever reacts oddly to strong earth pony magic (if we’re going with the theory that earth ponies are connected to the land and natural life).
Edited
That’s an “I have no mouth and I must scream” scenario. A fate worse than death.
How the fuck did this get past the censors? If this wasn’t a screencap, it would be tagged “semi-grimdark” at the least.
I’d like to know what this fanfic is, too.
Ah, thanks for the extra detail.
Perhaps pony domination over an area actually pushes back these dangerous creatures and plants, making national boundaries more than just a political statement. A sort of protective residue or aura prevents such things from becoming established. The work of pegasi in weather-tending and earth ponies in cultivating the land in such a view becomes extremely important, more than just a convenience. In the old days, unicorn celestial mechanics would have been equally important; with the reign of Celestia and Luna, the entire portion of the unicorn race once dedicated to those tasks is freed for other economic activities, with benefits like those that accrued from the mechanization of farming.
Well, technically the bayou village is supposed to be in the Hayseed Swamp. That’s the one south of the horseshoe-shaped bay, north of the jungle temple and sandwiched between the Badlands and the sea on the official map.
your current filter.Of course, I could definitely see the swamp having a similar reputation to the Everfree, or for that matter the Wild North and other such places. (in fact, when has anything good ever come out of a swamp in the show? The hydra in Froggy Bottom Bog, the chimera in the fire swamp, the trees in both swamps in this episode…)
So I could definitely see in-universe maps marking our safe routes and settled areas and wildernesses to avoid. “Here there are dragons. Avoid!” “Here there are Ursas. Avoid!” “Here there are swamp fever trees. Avoid!” “Here there are swarms of flying spiders. Avoid!”
…
Welcome to My Little Pony
The swamp with the fever trees is almost certainly part of the Everfree Forest; it seems like the bayou village may be within the Forest as well, at least these days. (In ancient days, it might have been near but not within, and so there would have been only a few chances to be exposed before Mage Meadowbook found the cure.) Ponies stay away from the Everfree Forest, for good reason.
Some may argue that this is more sinister than straight out death.
Technically becoming a tree means they will still be alive…. trapped for possibly centuries in an immobile state with no control of yourself while you infect any unlucky victims who happens by your flowers and the cycle continues.
your current filter.Oh, one more thing; it’s possible that the roots growing in the lungs may be secreting organic saponins within the lymphatic fluid, which causes the coughs to spurt out bubbles (saponins are complex amphiphatic* heterocyclic sugar compounds that are secreted by certain plants to reduce tastiness towards herbivores)
For more info on saponins, see http://poisonousplants.ansci.cornell.edu/toxicagents/saponin.html
*polar on one side, nonpolar on the other
Man, that’s really dark, but sounds plausible.
It is possible for plants to grow inside the lungs, due to the presence of moisture, oxygen and warmth
My theory on how the Swamp Fever Flower Life Cycle Works:
As the flash bees pollinate the explosive flowers ( which bears similarity to the bunchberry dogwood flower ), they also electrify the pollen with their high-voltage presence, hence why thunderous sneezing is one of the symptoms of swamp fever; the electrified pollen gets inhaled into the lungs after the explosive pollination is triggered
The pollen causes pleural fluid to build up in the lungs (causing coughing bubbles) before germinating porous roots around the alveoli, building up electrical potential and current as they criss-cross their roots with the lung capillaries
To ensure the early sprout obtains photosynthesis, some of the microscopic pollen enters the bloodstream and forms macula (patches) on the skin surface, sprouting out roots that secretes lysosomal enzymes to break through the skin and forms leafy branches outta their bodies (most preferably the head)
The pollen may also inhabit the brain, which may explains Zecora’s lack of rhyming, and manipulate the cerebral cortex of the brain to influence its decision to commit suicide in a shallow marsh pool to ensure the best growth on fertilized sunny marsh ground
Once the plant reaches its destination, it takes advantage of the rotting corpse and uses its nutrients to form a hard callous xylose shell (giving it an illusion of tree transformation growth) and uses the remains of the corpse as extra organic fertilizer to kickstart its tree growth, before sprouting its flowers and dropping them off into the marsh (and the whole cycle starts all over again)
Edited
That’s what I said about Dante’s Inferno. That was my first thought when I watched this episode.
You’ll note that most ponies in Equestria are pretty shy and nervous creatures who never stray far from “the herd”, either physically or mentally. They’re cheerful and sheltered because they know there’s safety in numbers and danger when you’re alone.
The reason the Mane 6 and their friends are such big damn heroes is that they’re willing to step out from the herd and brave the unknown on their own.
How ponies managed to develop such relentlessly cheerful and sheltered personalities and culture in that pit of nightmares they live in I will never know.
That could easily be retconned.
The latter obviously wouldn’t happen because of this.