//------------------------------// // Risk: 19 // Story: The Human Condition // by Gilded Tome //------------------------------// “Oh shit!” Andrew shouted as he slid down to his knees beside the large earth pony. “Over here Autumn!” Autumn rounded the side of the boulder at a gallop, barely managing to slow down in time. She lowered herself to Big Mac’s side, opposite of Andrew. “Big Mac, buddy, are you alright?” Andrew asked, gingerly nudging him. “C’mon, I know you can hear me.” When the big pony remained silent, Autumn leaned in, pushing her hoof against his neck. “His pulse is weak, he must have hit his head when it happened.” She guessed, putting her head onto his chest for a moment before looking at Andrew seriously. “We need to get him to the hospital.” Andrew nodded, standing up from Big Mac’s side, putting his hands on the boulder. Autumn mimicked him, her front hooves looking for purchase. With a nod they both pushed with all their strength. The rock didn’t budge. “There’s no way we can lift this…” Autumn finally concluded, her breath coming harshly from the strain. “Go… Go get Turner and Ditzy.” He said, once again kneeling next to his friend. “Hurry!” Autumn tore across the field at an impressive speed, cleanly clearing the fence in a single leap. Andrews focus returned to the injured pony, who seemed to be getting even paler. He checked his pulse again, cursing when he could barely find it. “It would be nice if I knew what a good pulse for a pony was…” He muttered to himself, looking around, waiting for Autumn to return. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Ditzy appeared over the hill, her wings pumping. She soared directly to him, Turner and Autumn galloping on the road behind her. “Oh sweet Celestia!” Ditzy said with a gasp, covering her mouth with her hoof when she finally landed next to Andrew. “What happened?” “We don’t know but he isn’t waking up, he might have hit his head.” He explained as the two earth ponies arrived. “We need to get him out from under the rock, and to a hospital.” The couple nodded, and the four ponies positioned themselves around the boulder. “On the count of three!” Andrew said. “One… Two…” Andrew strained as hard as he could, the “three” driven out as a barely unintelligibly grunt as he put every ounce of muscle into the task. They strained for what seemed like minutes before they sagged, defeated by the boulder. “Fuck!” Andrew swore, kicking the boulder angrily before taking a deep breath. “Okay, okay…Ditzy, I need you to fly back to town, the nearest group of ponies you find you send here. Then get to the hospital and do the same.” Ditzy nodded, giving the pinned pony one more sad look before taking off. She flapped her wings as fast as she could, soon disappearing around another hill. “Any idea how long-” “Seventeen minutes, give or take.” Turner answered, as if by instinct. “Fifteen if the wind is with her.” “I don’t think he has that long.” Autumn said with a dull voice, once again kneeling beside Big Mac. Andrew followed her look to the area directly around the pinned leg. His heart sank when he realized what he was looking at. A dark red stain had spread around, almost completely hidden by the dark earth around it. Blood. “Should have realized after I smelled blood but didn’t see any on his head.” Autumn admitted in the same dull voice. “He didn’t get knocked out, he passed out from blood loss.” Andrew looked at Autumn, shocked by her brutal description and empty voice. He shook his head and focused, now was not the time. After a moment he jumped up, quickly tugging the belt from around his waist off. He rushed to strap it around Macintosh’s leg, then looked to Autumn. “Where should I tighten it?” He asked, shouting when she didn’t respond. “Autumn!” The pony started slightly, finally meeting Andrews eye’s. He saw a raw moment of pain, some wound that had never healed. But it was gone in a flash, replaced by determination. “Right here.” She explained, pointing to an area close to Big Mac’s hock. Andrew fastened the belt around the limb, pulling it tight until it bit into the skin. He held it firmly, tugging it to make sure it was as tight as possible. Satisfied he began looking around, trying to think of a way to free the trapped leg. “Can’t you use magic Andrew?” Turner asked, breaking his shocked silence. “You can do magic, right?” “Not reliably, and definitely not on something this size.” He explained. “Magic is not something I’m good at, I can’t lift a fucking rubber ball without giving myself a concussion. No, spells are not going to fix-” “What is it?” Autumn asked after a long moment of silence. “Spells won’t fix this… but runes might.” Andrew said quietly, his mind racing. “Quick, Autumn come here and hold this tight, I have an idea!” “What do you mean runes?” Autumn asked as quickly moved to take Andrews place. “How are they going to help?” “Runes work differently than unicorn magic.” Andrew explained as he looked around the field wildly. “No emotions, no controlling magic. The only thing you need to know is what runes to use and how much energy to put into them. ” Andrew finally spotted a sharp looking tool attached to the side of the cart by twine. He tore the twine with a single jerk, rushing back to the rock. With a grimace he began carving into the stone. The metal on stone made a horrendous sound which made his bones ache but none the less he continued. Turner and Autumn covered their ears as best they could, both visibly blanching at the sound. Never the less Andrew continued carving runes into the stone, hurriedly finishing group after group, mumbling to himself as he did. “Nauthiz… then an Ehwaz… or Gebo? No, definetly Ehwaz, with Tiwaz then ending with an Algiz!” Andrew finished it all off with a star in the middle of the groups of runes. He studied the carvings for a moment, then threw the tool away. It bounced across the dirt, unneeded. “What’s the star for?” Autumn asked, her puzzlement clear. “It’s a focus point, it should feed my magic out evenly.” Andrew explained simply, placing his hand on the star, then looking from Turner to Autumn. “Tie the belt off as best you can, you guys need to be ready to push.” “You’re not going to lift it?” Turner asked as he put his hooves on the boulder. “Nope.” Andrew closed his eyes, and let out a long, slow breath. He focused on the now familiar spot, calling out his magic. His hand glowed, but instead of trying to focus the magic into a spell, he let the magic flow out into the runes, the red glow syphoning off into the star. He poured more and more magic into the carvings, and they began to glow the same color. They grew brighter and brighter, draining more and more of Andrews magic. After only a few moments he could feel the energy leave him, it was a lot but not nearly as much as he had expected. Finally the runes pulsed, and Andrew cut off his magic, stepping away from the boulder. “Now! Push!” Autumn and Turner both heaved, pushing with all their strength. Andrew could see the muscles in their hind legs bulge and cord, their faces contorted in effort. Finally the boulder began to roll, slowly at first then finally over the divot it had dug when it first moved. It rolled a few feet, releasing Big Mac’s leg completely. The two ponies slumped, breathing deeply as they held the boulder for a moment, making sure it wasn’t going to roll back, which had stopped as soon as the runes blinked and went dark. Andrew grabbed Big Mac’s front leg and pulled him farther away, just in case, half falling and half sitting when he was far enough. The unconscious earth pony’s leg was clearly broken, fractures of bone poking through his leg. Blood steadily oozed, pooling on the already blood drenched leg. Andrew hurried to it, pulling off his shirt and pushing it against the gash the bone had created, taking care to not push on the bone itself. “That was incredible Andrew.” Autumn praised, rushing to his side. “Did you actually make it weigh less?” “I don’t think so.” He answered offhandedly, tearing off a sleeve and using it to fasten the already bloodstained shirt to Big Mac’s injury. “I think it was more like giving it extra energy to move. But can we focus?” “Right okay, one thing at a time.” Autumn stated, before checking Big Mac’s pulse. “Buck me! I can barely feel it! We need to get him to the hospital, like right now!” “It’s a twenty minute run from here.” Turner pointed out, trying very hard to not look at the mangled leg. “That’s too far.” Autumn replied quietly, looking to Andrew. “Andrew I don’t think he has twenty minutes in him. I don’t think he has five. ” Andrew chewed his lip, and stood after fastening the cloth to Big Mac’s leg as best he could. Autumn quickly resumed putting extra pressure on it. “Fuck it! In for a penny, in for a pound!” Andrew shouted after a moment of chewing his lip. “Can either of you guys carve a good circle in the ground, around Big Mac?” “Uhh, I can do a pretty good circle, probably?” Turner answered uncertainly. “I have to do it when installing sundials, it’s not gonna be perfect but…” Andrew picked up a nearby stick and tossed it to the earth pony, who caught it in his mouth. He began to carve a circle around the prostrated pony, angling his head to carve into the ground. When he was done a pretty well made circle ran around Andrew, Big Mac and Autumn. When he was done Andrew took the stick from him and once again began carving runes, this time into the dirt around the inside of the circle. He drew four lines, dividing the circle into four sections, the lines running until they reached Big Mac. He marked runes around the earth pony as well, before kneeling beside him. “Okay, go stand by Turner.” He told Autumn, helping her stand. “What are you going to do?” She asked nervously, only moving when Andrew half pulled her up and forced her out of the circle. “I’m going to teleport us.” “What?!” Autumn shouted, stopping half way to where Turner stood. “You said yourself you can’t even levitate something, how are you going to teleport?” “That’s what the focusing circle is for!” He explained, annoyed and exasperated. “Look, you said yourself there isn’t much time!” “But you could hurt yourself! Teleporting is not something you mess around with!” “The runes will stabilize the spell, make it more accurate and much safer.” He assured her, pausing and looking down at Big Mac. “For whatever is in the center.” “What?!” Autumn shouted, taking two steps back toward the circle. “That sounds really dangerous, Big Mac wou-” “I’m not doing this for him.” He said quietly, cutting her off. “I won’t let another sibling go through... I won’t let a family like the Apples go through losing another member. Not when I can help it.” Without another word he began pouring magic into the seal, the runes and the lines glowing as he did. They grew bright with red magical energy, finally pulsing after a moment. He pulled his hand from the lines and looked up again, locking eyes with Autumn Song. His hand glowed with a bright red light, crackling with energy. “Seeya on the oth-!”