Holding back Tartarus

Chapter 2

Nolan struggled against the weight of the large white stallion he had found bleeding on the forest floor, his legs were already starting to shake under the much bigger stallion propped up against him.

“Hey, Big guy.” he grunted “Wouldn’t be asking too much for a little help?” After a few seconds, the skinny pegasus felt the weight of the other stallion leave him, with a relieved sigh he trotted up to the slowly moving pony.

“So... Big ‘un. You got a name?” He queried, glancing up at him from the corner of his eye.

The white stallion grunted.

Nolan gave a slightly annoyed look. Speeding up ahead of the struggling pony and, without breaking eye contact, placed his red rump firmly on the dirty ground.

“No, I helped you and I could leave you here. All alone. I need to be able to trust you, even a tiny bit. Now please, tell me your name.” Nolan said slowly, his stoic expression never changed, his light blue eyes bore into the scarlet red orbs the white pony struggled to keep open.

“.....”

Nolan mentally cursed at the stallions stubborn attitude. Quickly forming a plan together in his mind, he slowly raised himself from the dirt, spun around and slowly walked away.

“Fine by me, bleed here for all I care!” He shouted back sharply, twisting his head slightly and showing off a small smile.

He barely made it five steps before a weak voice called from behind him. With his hooves planted firmly in the dirt he angled his right ear in the other ponies direction.

“Couldn’t quite catch that “ Nolan smugly said. A thin, wry smile spread across his lips.

“By the Goddess” A weak sigh escaped the white ponies dry, cracked lips “You sure know how to get a pony to speak, little one.”

By now, Nolan had already turned to face the almost prone stallion. He felt great pity for him, the once surely proud, strong and noble pony now barely managed to keep himself from collapsing.His mane hung limply over his battered face. His legs...no...his entire body shook with the pain that wracked his pathetic form. He slowly and steadily raised his head to meet Nolan’s.

“Well, buck it. It’s Aegis, my name is Aegis” The now named pony practically spat out. Nolan took note of the extremely deep and gravelly voice that came forth from his blood-stained lips.

“Good good, I’m Nolan. Pleasure to meet you” The smaller pony replied cheerily. He rushed over to the right side of Aegis and, after some difficulty, managed to push him up and lead him out into the brightly coloured countryside that surrounded ponyville.

He could feel the strength slowly leave him, accompanied by the weeping wounds that littered his pained body. His vision was blurry and the bright colors of the world became increasingly dull with every heartbeat. Tired muscles begged for rest, rest he would probably never...

“Oh my...” A soft voice ripped him from the confines of his mind, after he blinked hard, his eyes began to focus on the yellow blur standing oddly close to him.

It only took a few seconds for his vision to re-sharpen . He could now clearly make out the slightly trembling form of a yellow pony. A gentle face hid behind a long lock pink hair and now he could clearly tell she was a mare, very slim and at least a head shorter than the war-pony. No wonder she trembled at the sight of his massive mangled form.

*groan* “Hey Fluttershy? Fancy helping me here?” Nolan sounded impatient, can’t blame him really. He’s only a little guy.

“Umm... Uh Nolan?” The now-named Fluttershy spoke quietly, with a hint of uncertainty that didn't exactly put anyone at ease.

“What is it now?”

“His wings...”  He rasped, and with a look of pure confusion, he stared back at the feathered appendages that brushed the ground.

“Don’t be silly ‘Shy, if he was a pegasus he wouldn't walk now would he?”

“...”

“Here. Look. He doesn't have any- BY CELESTIA’S REGAL TEATS HOW HORRIFYING!”

Nolan clearly doesn't like the look of busted wings.

“Hey, uh maybe you guys should go...get...somepony” The white stallion finally wheezed out. The adrenalin that once ran through his system had dissipated, now replaced by even more pain at the sight of the bent and twisted wings.

And with that. He collapsed.

After a long day working the fields Big Mac happily set the heavy wooden cart inside the huge barn. The wood creaked slightly as the front end was lowered and propped against the back wall. From outside he could hear the faint sounds the others having fun outside.

Walking over to a large pile of hay,he picked up a new piece between his large teeth, the previous one chewed and mangled. The new straw was crisp and tasted fresh between his teeth, a taste he had grown to love after years of working hard around the farm, it kept his hunger at bay and took his mind off the monotonous tasks that came with being a farmpony.

“ Hey Big Mac! Yah comin’?” Shouted Applejack through the slightly open barn door.

“Eeyup” His deep voice slowly replied. He picked up the pace and roughly shoved the heavy doors open, letting in bright rays of sun that assaulted his green eyes.

He raised a large leg to shade tired eyes from the burning sun. With a quick look around the farm he saw everypony having fun.

His sister was currently in a hoof-wrestling competition with a certain polychromatic-maned mare .He shook his head with a small chuckle. Those two are far too competitive for their own good. Apple Bloom stood next to her older sister shouting encouragement, while Apple Bloom’s friend-Scootaloo-buzzed around the head of Rainbow Dash.

A glance at the large house confirmed his suspicions, Pinkie Pie had taken up shop in the kitchen and was in the process of making many sugary sweets. The young purple dragon Spike helped with the baking. Spike had been a good friend of the red stallions ever since he came to Ponyville with Twilight , the lack of other young Stallions in the town made sure that each male grew close and regularly hung out with each other.

A slow walk past the two competitive mares brought him to a small bench setup for food. A certain white fashionista  had sat herself under a large light purple and frilly umbrella next to her little sister, Sweetie bell. The older mare wore a pair of large white sunglasses that hid almost her entire face. She also seemed deep in conversation with the young filly about, Rarity herself was very engrossed by the sounds of it while her sister seemed less enthused.

“But Raaarityyyyy” The foal whined, her voice cracked in desperation.

“Now now Sweetie, you must stay here, in the shade. Who knows what this type of heat could do to your complexion.” The older mare calmly stated, her silky and posh voice though, didn't stop her sister from pressing.

Sweetie Bell continued to pester her sister long after he walked away. The sounds of the verbal battle that ensued grew faint as he made his way across the field to where Twilight Sparkle was talking to Jinx.

Jinx had been a new pony in town a few months ago, a small mare that could be one minute like Fluttershy, timid and scared, to then getting as confident and boisterous as either of the Apple sisters. She was also a very strange Unicorn, gifted with magic but sadly had no control over what it did. This often led to her causing havoc by pure accident.

The whole ‘accidental magic’ business coupled with her being massively in love with a certain red pegasus that had no idea she even liked him that way caused her to not be the best at social interactions.

He sat down to observe the magic lessons, a purple aura enveloped a nearby bale of hay. The bale lifted from the ground quickly, as though it weighed nothing and after about a minute of free floating, it rested gently back on the soft farm dirt.

Twilight then turned to her student, said something Big Mac couldn't couldn't make out and then took a step back.

Now, most ponies see Big Mac as being just a dumb farm-pony that could barely hold a sentence together. He's not the kind to care what others think, He's actually rather smart, not incredibly smart, but enough to pride himself in having wisdom that few others have. Just because a pony chooses not  to speak, doesn't mean they can’t.

His inner musings were cut short when a large, heavy haystack collided into his side.

“Big Mac!” Two voices shouted in unison, then, as quickly as it came the large hay bale flew off the prone body.

“I’m really sorry Big MacIntosh” Came a small voice from behind the purple mare.

“It’s alright Jinx, it was an accident, no harm done... right?” Twilight spoke with a soft tone he was surprised to hear from the young mare. All that time with the Princess actually did have an effect on her.

“Big Mac, you ARE unhurt?” Her voice changed back to her normal, slightly sharp tone.

“Eeyup.”

The smaller dark grey unicorn visibly perked up at this, a wide grin plastered her face and her bright pink eyes filled with relief.

They all stood awkwardly for a few minutes, nobody having anything to say, Each pony took turns to lazily scuff their hooves  across the ground. Big Mac kicked a tiny grey pebble across the dirt, a light cloud of dust filled the air slowly before disappearing into the hot air. His attention was caught by a familiar scarlet pegasus flying frantically towards the group.

“Quick....forest...Fluttershy... big guy...hurt” The small stallion wheezed through short frantic breaths.

“Take your time Nolan...now... what’s wrong with Fluttershy?” Twilight spoke slowly but was clearly worried over her yellow friends involvement by his words.

“Ok ok.” He soon caught his breath and began to look more calm.

“There’s an injured stallion, I think some griffons did a number on him.” A small gasp escaped the two mares mouths, Big Macs jaw tightened at the thought of a citizen of Equestria getting attacked.

“We tried to walk him back to town, but...well the guys huge. I mean HUGE, like...like...BIG!” Nolan blurted out close to speeds that the pink menace reaches while on her daily sugar highs.

“Big Mac, go get the girls and keep watch on the fillies.” Twilight had changed to a more serious demeanor. She had already taken off to a slow gallop with Jinx and Nolan close behind.

He took a quick look back towards the other ponies on the farm, almost all had turned their attention to the little piece of drama, though none had tried to approach. Rainbow Dash and AppleJack sure did look ready and raring to go though. A soft movement of his colossal hoof motioned to them to stay

He closed his already tired eyes and slowly shook his head. His slightly dirty mane whipping around in the air.

“Eenope.”

And with that, He took off in a full gallop towards the injured stallions location.