Horizon POV

My wings were beating strong, and my shining horn was guiding the way while I flew through the night. To my left side was Blueberry and to my right Crystal. Our goal was to reach this Repelled Outcast as soon as possible. But it was still so far away. Too far for my liking.

The comforting but heavy weight of Zitrus' body was resting on my back. He was sleeping. But it was not a restful sleep. Not only because of the heavy movement from my flight, but also because the poison was starting to take effect. He looked sick and seemed to be developing a feve. What kind of poison worked so slow?! It slowly took over his body while he grew weaker. I could only hope that it would not kill him. Or that we found a medic before it did…

I and my sisters had flown tirelessly through the night with only some small breaks to let the next carry Zitrus for a while. Sharing the extra weigh to carry and using our stamina equally. But even alicorns were not supermares.

“Horizon, we have to take a break for a moment. Blueberry might not be able to go on for much longer”, I heard the voice from Crystal.

I turned my head to the left and looked at my blue sister. She was now indeed sweating up a storm, and her flight was inconsistent. Her eyes were determined, but she couldn't hide the fact that she was fighting to stay aloft.

“I am… alright. Let’s… just keep… going”, she was able to say between heavy breaths.

“No, you’re not. It won't help anypony if you fall from the sky due to exhaustion. Besides, we all need a break. We cannot fly nonstop”, Crystal argue.

She was right. I too felt how my wings hurt and screamed for a rest. It might be better to give in before they did.

I gave a nod and we three went for a landing. As soon as my hooves touched the ground, my wings drooped to the ground tiredly. But I still did better than Blueberry or Crystal who both barely could stand anymore. I floated Zitrus from my back, which caused him to wake up.

I removed the bandages from his hind leg and checked the wound. It was infected and was bleeding again. I quickly took some fresh bandages from his saddlebags and wrapped his leg up again.

Zitrus was laying on the ground and just let me do the work. He was not in the condition to stand anymore.

“Here Zitrus, try to drink this again”, Blueberry said and floated a healing potion into his hooves.

Zitrus didn’t look pleased at the bottle. Healing potions weren’t antidotes. they were not able to cure you if you were poisoned. But they could slow down the negative effects they caused and maybe help the body to get rid of it completly. But whenever Zitrus had drunken them so far, he had to vomit them out right away. He already had tried it two times now and was not looking forward to throwing up for a third time. Especially since it didn’t help when he already wasn’t feeling good.

Sadly, it was the best shot we had so far. Maybe, just maybe, it would work this time, so he uncorked the bottle and took a sip. But I already could see how his body was rejecting it. He wanted to vomit again, but a magical grip forced his muzzle closed again.

“Please Zitrus, you have to keep this down!”

Blueberry’s horn was glowing as she used her magic to hold Zitrus' mouth closed, not allowing him to throw up. Zitrus gave a muffled help sound but couldn’t do much against it. Blueberry had tears in her eyes but kept the spell up. I saw how much it hurt her to cause Zitrus such pain.

“Blueberry, stop! You'll choke him on his own vomit!”, Crystal nearly screamed and pushed Blueberry.

She fell on the ground and lost concentration over her spell. As soon as Zitrus was able to open his mouth again he vomited hard.

“I’m sorry. I just feel so useless now… I can do nothing right now. There is no way I can protect him from poison”, Blueberry cried.

“Don’t think like that, dear sister. Let us take this break for a short moment and soon we will be off to our way. We will reach Repelled Outcast as soon as possible and there we will find a healer to save Zitrus”, I said.

But I was worried too.

With each second the sun rose more over the horizon. And at the same time the physical health of Zitrus sunk. He was right now lying on Crystal’s back.

His eyes were half closed as he stared aimlessly at nothing. He was not speaking anymore, and his mind was probably not able to concentrate anymore. His body was limp like a sack, and he was sweating. His body was fighting with everything it has against the poison. This also meant that he didn't have the energy to worry about his injured leg. The infection had only gotten worse and it most likely wouldn’t be able to heal properly anymore. And still, it seems the more Zitrus’ body tried to fight to the poison, the worse it got. If we didn’t hurry, he would soon lose the battle.

But even alicorns were not immune against exhaustion. We had been awake all night and flying as fast as possible. But it was all worth it when something appeared in the distance.

“There it is!”, I happily yelled.

My sisters also looked in the same direction and an expression of relief crossed their faces. This gave us the motivation to push the last of our energy into our wings and flew faster towards our destination.

From above the village looked more like a barracks. The houses appeared to have been built fast and looked to be a cross between a small house and a large tent. They were also were in very orderly rows.

I would have asked this was the Outcast Village and not some military camp, but he wasn't in any condition to answer anymore. Besides, there was no option for a second chance anymore. Time was running out. We had to take it.
I, Blueberry and Crystal, with Zitrus still on her back, landed in the middle of the camp. And it seemed like we were in the right place. There were a lot of zebras here. They looked a bit sleepy, which was no surprise due to the fact that it was early in the morning. But I also spotted two griffons, a pegasus and an earth pony, who had more scars than skin. All of them turned their heads to us as we appeared in the middle of their village.

“We need a medic!”, I yelled to the villagers.

But instead of an answer, most inhabitants took flight and ran away. The remaining jumped behind cover to hide. I wasn’t expecting a warm welcome, but I thought that these inhabitants, who were outcasts due to racism and repulsion, wouldn’t be so prejudiced.

“Please, we have a life on the line”, Crystal was able to get out between ragged breaths and turned her body a bit to expose Zitrus.

He seemed to have lost consciousnes. Only his flat breathing showed that he was alive.

But still nothing. No zebra, or any other creature, showed up. They were still hiding from us.

This filled me with anger. No, it filled me with fury. They saw the condition Zitrus was in and that he would soon die. But they didn’t come to help. Because we were alicorns They feared us for our power and greatness. But they seemed to forget that this power could also be used!

I spread my wings to make me look taller and lifted my head fully. I showed my full superiority as I lit my horn and grabbed the first creature I spotted. A male zebra with greyish stripes, who was peeking from his hideout. Rage gave me power again as I floated him towards me and looked him dead in the eyes. He was whimpering in fear in front of me. Right now, he was nothing more than a bug that I could crush whenever I felt like it. Making him suffer and force him to tell me where this Goddess damn medic was!

But then realisation hit me. This was not me. I was exhausted. I was tired. I was emotionally stressed. And I was angry. This left me vulnerable to lose my control and myself. But starting a raid now would not help anypony. It would only end in a blood bath with brutal, pointless deaths. And my loved ones, including Zitrus if he survived in the end, would hate me forever. Just like I would hate me.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I opened them, I still had an angry look, but I could see clear at least.

“Tell us where your medic is!”, I demanded.

The scared zebra lifted a hoof and pointed at a building. It didn’t look different than the others. It also looked like somepony had taken a tent and a wooden shack and mixed them together into one. The only thing special was that it had no other buildings attached to it.

He fell and his rump hit the ground and ran away a moment later. i and my sister quickly went to the indicated building. Instead of a door it had a curtain which Blueberry nearly ripped off as we entered.

The inside looked way more like a medical clinic. a medical bed in the center of the room was surrounded by operation equipment, potions in clay bottles, and first aid supplies. All of it clean and in order. In general, it looked like a perfect mix between pony and zebra medicine. And in the middle stood a female zebra, watching us with her steaming cup in her hoof. She had deep black stripes and open mane, with was unusual for zebras.

“By the stars, what is going on? If you alicorns don’t know, this is a medical building. And it is commonly known to be very forbidden to attack any kind of place that is meant for lifesaving aid”, she said with the most casual voice which had nearly no accent.

She calmly took a sip from her cup as her eyes fell on Zitrus on Crystal’s back.

“But I guess you are here for another reason”, she said like it was the most normal thing.

“Please, help us. Help him!”, Crystal begged.

The zebra didn’t show any sign of nervousness as she placed her cup to a nearby table and pointed with a slight movement on the medical bed. Crystal understood and gently used her magic to place the still unconscious Zitrus on the bed. The zebra mare gave him a studying look from head to tail.

“Alright, what happened?”, she asked, not taking her eyes off him.

"He was nearly crushed when an old zebra facility collapsed while he was inside. His whole body, including his wounded leg, came in contact then with a poison. Since then, he only grew sicker and weaker”, Crystal gave as fast summery.

The zebra gave an unsatisfied frown.

“That alone does not help. There are nearly more kinds of zebra poisons than there are zebras. I need more information. What did the poison look like? What were the effects exactly? Did it act slow or fast? Give me everything you know so I can find the right antidote.”

“It took all night for him to get to this point, so I guess it is a slow working poison. It was a dark green liquid”, Crystal explained.

“The facility was in the middle of nowhere next to a river. The poison was kept in amphoras and seems to evaporate when it comes in contact with the air”, Blueberry added.

“It didn’t have any smell to it and Zitrus vomited whenever he drunk a healing potion afterwards”, I ended.

For the first time the face of the zebra had a serious expression.

“B gewaar…”, or something like that the zebra whispered before she slightly turned her head.

“Candy Heart, come here! I need your help”, she yelled.

A second later a pegasus mare came through a curtain door that separated the medical room and a side room. whose name was Candy, had pink fur. She also had a short pink and white mane and tail and wore a medical cap. Her blue eyes firstly fell on the unusual sightt of three alicorns in the room with caused her to make a face which I only can describe as mlem face.

“Candy, we need to clean the blood of this stallion asap. No potions or anything like that!”, the zebra ordered and then turned her head in our direction.

“And you three can wait outside!”

“Wait, what is going on? What happened to Zitrus? Will he be alright?”, Blueberry asked.

“I will tell you later. Now we need space to work. So, out, out!”, she told us and chased us outside of the medical bay, separating us from the, still in critical condition, Zitrus.

It was shortly before noon and we three still sat outside of the medic building. The village had started to wake up around us. They all give us some mistrusting and strange looks, but they didn’t gave us more attention than we did to them. We weren’t much able to care.

Even though we were tired, sleep was not an option. We were way too nervous, way too worried. But none of us entered again. We had to let the medics, who were trying to save Zitrus, do their work. The only thing we could do was hope it would all end up well.

“You three can come in now”, a sudden but familiar voice, said.

We three turned our heads. The dark black striped zebra had left the medical bay. Like on queue, we three jumped up and went for the entrance. The zebra was smart enough get out of the way. Once we were inside, the sight before us did not fill my heart with joy.

Zitrus was still laying on the bed unconscious. He looked drained, sick and dishevelled. Like a sickness sucked all his life out. Only his leg looked properly bandaged now. The room was in disarray. The operation tools were scattered, the air smelled unclean, and the pink Pegasus was busy putting some empty blood bags away.

“How is he?”, I asked the zebra while Crystal and Blueberry each nuzzled one of Zitrus' cheeks. He didn’t show any reaction.

“Not good”, she admitted. “He is on the edge of death right now. He might not survive it.”

“What?!”, Blueberry yelled.

Crystal too looked in shock.

“Why not? I thought you cured the poison”, I said.

“Let me start at the beginning. My name is Xonia, and you are lucky that you came to me and not a pony medic. Because that thing was actually not a poison”, the zebra explained.

“What your stallion here experienced is a biohazard, made from the time before the big war. Unlike a poison, that mostly can be neutralised by an antidote, this one spreads on its own and has to be cured.”

“So, this was a bioweapon?”, Blueberry asked, shocked.

“Indeed”, Xonia agreed. “Mutated bacteria. Once in your body, it spreads on its own, making you sick. This is the reason why he grew sicker and sicker instead of just dying a quick death.”

“Then how did you heal him?”, Crystal wanted to know.

“By cleaning his blood and getting as much of the bacteria as possible out of his body”, Xonia said and pointed at the empty blood bags.

“But that doesn’t make any sense. We found this bioweapon in an old zebra facility. Why would the zebras keep such a thing in the middle of nowhere but still right in enemy territory?”, I questioned.

“That, I can only guess from what I got told. As far as I know, the bacteria died when it came in contact which air, with made the transport difficult. So, their plan was to multiply and mutate it in a secret lab, known as this facility and keep it in containers. And when used, they could just pour it in the water, where it survived long enough to reach villages and cities of ponies.”

“Wait, the zebras wanted to poison the water with a bioweapon? That is brutal! Many ponies, mostly innocents, would have died! No matter if soldier or a foal!”, Crystal nearly yelled.

Xonia shook her head disappointed.

“Indeed. But that was their goal. To overcrowd the already full hospitals. Causing a collapse, in the middle of the enemy linesand and breaking the civilian population. Ponies didn't have a lot of knowledge about poisons and bioweapons. Ponies used more magical potions. Like the healing potion. Which is also the reason why your stallion vomited when consuming one. The zebras from prewar time mutated the bacteria in such a way, that it would make you reject any form of magical healing potion.”

“And why didn't they use this bioweapon if they had it?”

It was me again asking.

“I can only assume that after the fall of Canterlot, the zebras didn't see a reason to use such a weapon and abandoned the building. But still kept it, just in case…”, Xonia guessed and made a paused a bit before continuing.

“Is this facility still standing? Is this biohazard still a threat?”

I shook my head.

“No. Zitrus here was able to get all the clay containers in the basement. When the building got destroyed, all the liquid got trapped in the basement. Now the bacteria will die by being exposed to air.”

Xonia gave a nod.

“But what about Zitrus? What about him?!”, Blueberry asked.

“Like I said, he is in critical condition”, Xonia sighed. “But there is nothing more we can do for him. His body has to get rid of whatever of the bioweapon is left in him. But he is weak now. He might not have the strength to recover.”

This message hung heavy in the air. I was… I can not really explain it… I was just down. We all were.

“I know this does not help”, Xonia said “but in my eyes, he is a hero.”

Author's Note

Longest chapter i created so far.

I am sure there is at least one reader who has more understanding about biohazard and medicine than I do and is able to tell, that most of what I wrote doesn’t make sense. But I do not have such knowledge so let’s just say… it is a bioweapon created in a land of magical talking ponies. It does make sense!

Also, here a small drawing from a friend of mine. Showing Zitrus on the medical bed with Xonia, the three alicorns (including crying Blueberry) and Candy with her mlem face.