Horizon POV

It had taken a long time for Crystal to recover. Nearly a week. On the end, she had more than just one event to recover. There were multiple painful memories she now had to try and deal with, instead of hiding them deep in the back of her mind.

Crystal was still not fully healed. And it might be a long time before she is. The psyche does not recover or change quickly or easily. Just like I did and still do.

My eyes fell on Blueberry. She had also taken a long time to become the alicorn she is now. From the once lost and emotionless alicorn she turned into somepony with her own personality, will, and likings. But that had taken time.

I looked back in front again. My eyes followed the riverbank we were walking along. somewhere along here should be the old zebra factory. The one that was filled with poison that could taint the whole river.

I was still unsure what was so bad about some poison getting into the water. There was no village or town close by so the poison would have lost so much potency that it wouldn't hurt anypony. But then, zebras were known for crafting powerful potions, including lethal ones. Maybe there was something on it, to be worried about?

Zitrus, for his part, was still willing to at least give it a look. And since we had already spent enough time in the rest area, he was more than eager to finally reach our destination.

And indeed. After following the riverbank for a while we found a building. The midday sun shone on the old zebra factory that was placed close to the water. But still out here in the middle of nowhere. Guess that was the reason why the facility was not too hidden. It didn’t look impressive. Quite the opposite. Small, inconspicuous but not disguised. It had the shape of a block. No windows and only one entrance, with no door. Most likely rotted away long ago. I was not able to see far inside. All I could see from here was a hallway.

“That’s it? This old shack looks like it could collapse at any moment”, Crystal asked as she gave the whole construct a very sceptical look.

“I mean, isn’t that the reason why we’re here? Because this is a prewar facility from the zebras and if it would break in, all the poison the building is holding could flow out and poison this river here”, Zitrus explained.

I had to admit, this zebra facility looked old. Defiantly prewar old. But why did the zebras build something like this out here in the middle of nowhere but still in enemy territory? What purpose had it had?

As we stepped closer to the entrance, I spotted a single amphora resting against the wall. Normally, such an item was used by the zebras to transport liquids like water. But it would have surprised me if that was the case here.

I floated the clay vessel to us and uncorked it while Blueberry, Zitrus and Crystal stood in a circle around me. It had a dark green fluid inside that already screamed poison. Even though it had no smell to it.

"If this building is filled with such easily broken amphoras, then the risk the river will be poisoned, is very plausible. Once the facility collapses, all of these vessels will be destroyed and all the liquid runs out”, Zitrus noticed.

“So, you DO plan to go inside?”

It was not really a question, since I already could guess Zitrus' answer.

“As much as I hated to admit it, it seemed that way. The only way to safely get rid of, whatever they were crafting in this facility, is by going inside. And that better sooner than later, before it collapses on its' own”, Zitrus admitted.

“No, I will not allow this! It is always you, the one of us who can get hurt the easiest, who puts himself into life threatening danger”, Blueberry told with a stern voice and suddenly spread wings.

The rest of us were so taken by surprise by it, that we took a step back from Blueberry.

“But Blueberry… you remember what Mille told us. This place can only be entered by a zebra. Or an earth pony since they are so similar in build. Everything else would be detected and attacked by the security system”, Zitrus reminded her.

“Oh, come on! This is such an old fragile building. I doubt that ANYTHING in this place still works”, Blueberry said.

She lit up her horn and soon she was gone from our view.

“I will go in first, but to better be safe than sorry, I will be invisible. So, whatever might still work in there, it will not be able to detect me”, We heard the voice from Blueberry.

I didn't think that was a very good idea, but still better than sending Zitrus in it, all on his own. I listened as Blueberrys' hoof steps made their way to the entry and soon were inside. But she didn’t get far. Suddenly two turrets came out of the wall and aimed at a position, where I could only expect, Blueberry was.

The turrets fired. But they didn't use regular bullets. These turrets were equipped with energy weapons.

It all happened so fast that I was not even able to react. Luckily, Crystal was faster than me and placed a shield around Blueberry’s position. The energy blasts got absorbed by the shield, leaving Blueberry unharmed. But the goal of the turrets was to kill all intruders and just fired another time. Again, the shots got blocked by the shield but it started to crumble. I lit up my horn. My magic grip found my invisible sister and I swiftly teleported her out of the hallway.

As soon as Blueberry was no longer in the building, the turrets folded in and disappeared again in the wall. All this happened in such a brief moment. It was incredible that Blueberry was still alive.

But when she dropped her invisibility spell, we saw how shocked she was. She had come very close to death.
Crystal was breathing heavily too. Keeping up her shield had taken a lot of power from her.

“How were they able to detect Blueberry? She was invisible”, she asked between pants.

“I guess they have invisible lasers in this building”, Zitrus assumed. “They scan the area with where the light glances off. They detect everything, even while invisible. So, unless we find all laser lights and cover them, they will always detect us.”

I observed the hallway. Zitrus was right. There were multiple small holes in the walls. Most likely this building was full of such lasers. Impossible to find them all. And impossible to use my teleport ability to get past them.

“I guess we destroy the turrets then”, I suggested.

“Too risky”, Crystal threw in. “There might be more than just these two turrets. Maybe the whole building is full of them. I guess these zebras calculated that unicorns, with a shield spell, might come. They installed energy weapons, which absorb magic much stronger. We will be turned into dust by seconds. Literally.”

…

This was it then. It really was up to the hope that Zitrus, as an earth pony, would not be attacked by the defence system. All eyes were suddenly on him.

“So, guess I have to try”, he said.

“No, you don’t have to. You said, we would take a look. But you never said you would step into a facility, filled with poison, fully automatic turrets and could collapse at any moment”, Crystal stepped in between.

“I know, but if we don’t do anything now, then it might already be too late”, Zitrus argued.

“But still! It is not worth the risk of losing you!”, Blueberry said.

“But who knows what could happen if this poison gets into the water. The consequences could be worse than we can imagine.”

It was obvious that Zitrus' mind could not be changed.

“You just have to play the hero, don’t you”, I said.

My voice was not raised. But I could not hide my disapprovement. I also didn't like that Zitrus was taking such a big risk.

“I hope not. Heros do not survive long in the wasteland”, Zitrus joked.

I guess he tried to lighten up the mood a bit. But he failed.

“Please be careful”, I half ordered.

Zitrus gave a nod and then faced the entrance. I could see that he was nervous. Very nervous. Slowly and carefully, he took a few steps into the facility. I kept my teleportation spell ready, to get him out quickly if needed. But nothing happened.

Zitrus took some more steps in the hallway. He passed the checkpoint where the two turrets were hidden in the wall. But they stayed inactive. It looked like it was true. The security system didn’t detect him as hostile.

Zitrus was now so far inside that we could only see his flame-coloured mane and tail.

“What is inside?”, Crystal yelled to him inside. Her voice showed how on edge she was too.

“More clay containers. There is also a staircase leading downwards”, Zitrus' voice called out. "From what I can see they produced the poison down there in some sort of lab and up here was the storage.”

“And how do you plan to get rid of the poison now?”, I asked.

“Give me a moment, I will check for a solution”, Zitrus answered.

Then he disappeared completely in the building.

I, Crystal and Blueberry waited outside. Of course, this didn't help matters any. I started to count the seconds but soon brushed it aside since it only made me more nervous.

“I have something!”

Hearing Zitrus suddenly, helped a bit to calm me again.

“Some of these amphoras have their cork removed or a little crack in the clay. And all of them are empty. But they clearly have been filled once. I assume that this liquid slowly evaporates when it comes in contact with air.

My plan is now to put all these containers in the basement, so that when the building finally caves in, the liquid is stuck down there, as it slowly evaporates over time.”

“What about the turrets? Have they attacked you yet?”, Blueberry wanted to know.

“So far, nothing has happened. Guess I am safe”, Zitrus answered. But some fear could still be heard in his voice.

“You are still in a very dangerous area, so please be careful”, I reminded him.

“I will. You three wait outside. It shouldn't take me too long to finish. Then we can destroy this place and leave.

I was sitting on the river bank while I played with the green stripe in my mane. I tried to keep my nerves low and my mind on anything other than the fact that Zitrus was still in the facility. He had been in there for a little while now. Most likely it felt longer than it actually had been.

Blueberry was also sitting next to me, but she kept her eyes on the building like it could disappear as soon as she would look away.

Crystal in the meantime was trying to skip some stones over the waters surface. But the river was moving too fast for her to manage it. Besides, it looked like she had no idea how to do it anyway.

We three had decided after a while that it might be better if we step away from the entrance of the facility. Not too far, just in case, but still a bit so we could relax a bit better. That didn’t mean it was going well.

“Will you change your name back to Hope”, I asked Crystal to distract me a bit more.

“I don’t know. But I do not think so”, my green sister said to me. “I've used the name for such a long time now. It just feels more like… me. I doubt that I would grow familiar with the name Hope again. Not because I-“

A sudden rumble cut off Crystals' sentence. Immediately we all looked at the facility. And indeed, the noise came from the old building. A part of it was caving in. A whole wall, including a part of its' roof, was collapsing in itself. Dust got kicked up.

Luckily it was only a small part. If Zitrus was not standing in that spot at that moment, he was most likely unharmed. But we three wasted no time. Faster than lightning we were on our hooves and I teleported us three closer to the place where the wall had broken in. Not directly inside but close enough to see the damage it had done. Thick stones, tall enough to squash a pony, were laying in a pile.

Shit! Shit! Please be alright!

“Zitrus are you in there?”, I screamed into the big gap of the wall.

BOOM!

A sudden explosion, coming from the inside of the facility, nearly knocked us back. But the shockwave was enough to give the building the final strike. Everything that was standing at that moment was now falling apart. Walls, ceiling and the containers with the poison. And somewhere in the middle of this, must have been Zitrus!

More dust got kicked up and blinded me. And the rumble of falling stones was so loud that I barely was able to hear my own coughing. It was not until the moment the dust cloud settled itself again and we were able to see the damage it had done.

Nothing stood anymore. Where once had been a facility was now only a pile of stones, dirt and dust. And no sign of Zitrus…

Author's Note

Thank you all for reading.

And with another chapter done ,we are one step closer to the end of the story. And to be honest, I am happy about it. Not only because of the joy finishing this project will bring me, but I also started to forget the reason I started this story.
I started to write this fanfiction because I had the idea and I wanted to write it down, so that others could enjoy reading it. But in the last few chapters, I was forcing them out because I felt like I had to. And I think you noticed it do to the drop in my writing quality. But I also barely paid attention to the people who actually read the story, nor the loyal followers or my friends who help me. What i once valued just felt normal and unspecial to me.
So, I want to apologies to you all that I was not here for you like I should have been and I didn’t give you the attention you deserve.