Fallout Equestria: Space Captain Andromeda

by Weavers of Dreams

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Heart of the Matter

Mercy Andromeda thought it strange as she went deeper still into the stable. Perhaps she was blacking out, it almost felt like she had been absent for years. She shook her head and carefully plodded onward through the menagerie of frozen lovers. There were hundreds of them, and more still the deeper she went.

Then she came upon another barricade. This one was constructed with heavy equipment. Great earth movers welded together with lengths of rebar and scrap metal. Frozen ponies pressed themselves against it, desperation and anger on their faces as they used their last moments to hold something back.

---WHATEVER IS PAST HERE WAS THE REAL DANGER--- Rarity warned.

"And it's what we're here to find," Mercy said as she ignited her DMCs, offsetting them to make a saw, the frozen steel practically shattering as she cut a path. Past that she observed a field of sharpened steel poles facing into the darkness, above a sea of broken glass. "And it was barely stoppable."

There was a trail of bent and blunted poles leading up the barricade.

---YOU CAN HOLD OFF IF YOU'RE NOT READY, DEAR---

Andromeda shook her head. "No. This is what I have to do. Whatever this thing is, it needs to be dealt with right away."

---OF COURSE DEAR--- HAVE YOUR SHOTGUN READY---

Wordlessly, the mare unslung the double-barreled devastator and checked that both barrels were loaded and the safety was off. It floated alongside her as she stepped into the darkness, her magic and Rarity acting as her only lights.

The plastic tunnel soon gave way to roughly chiseled stone and further past that a gaping maw in the depths of the world opened up with a spiraling ramp downwards into the darkness. It was also where all the defenses ended, smashed barriers and frozen corpses littered the rim. Some seemed to have died fighting each other.

They had found the mine of the craftium. The former housewife was certain of it.

And just as she took that first step to descend the ramp, she froze.

...

---MERCY?---

... ...

---MERCY, DARLING. PLEASE. YOU ARE SCARING ME---

"... you don't hear that do you?" Mercy asked as she took a step back. "It's like a distant murmuring."

---OH DEAR--- YOU CAN NOT GO ON--- YOU READ THOSE REPORTS TOO--- IT THE VOICES ISN'T IT?---

Andromeda nodded, but she did not back down. "We keep going. There is nothing for us if we turn around now."

---BUT---

"No," she said firmly before Rarity could finish texting across her helmet. "What will I do? Where will I go? There is no choice, Rarity. I'm sorry."

---

---VERY WELL DEAR--- BUT PREPARE YOURSELF--- WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT'S LIVES DOWN THERE---

Silently, they descended into the abyss. The darkness was heavy, and the ground rough. Andromeda's ears twitched as the murmuring grew ever louder. She swore she could pick out a word or two here and there. The voice was deep and almost playful.

Toying...

After what seemed hours, they arrived at the bottom of the quarry. Goodness, how deep did these ponies dig?

The ground and walls glittered with a strange gleam in the light of her magic.

"Craftium," she said as she approached it to investigate.

Her booted hoof slid over the surface. It ran in veins of small particles, like tendrils.

Beautiful isn't it?

"Who's there?" Andromeda cried as she leaped back, shining her light about the darkness.

Deeper...

---MERCY--- WHAT ARE YOU HEARING?---

"It's telling me to go deeper," answered the frightened mare. "It's... it's a real voice... not one you hear but... like a thought you know you're not thinking."

---I HAVE SOME EXPERIENCE--- Rarity consoled her. ---I UNDERSTAND--- JUST BE CAREFUL---

"Yeah, it's obviously a trap of some sort," Mercy said as he hefted her shotgun, finding herself wishing she could shove more shells into each barrel. "Let's continue, shall we?"

Ever deeper they traversed. The voice grew louder, and the glittering craftium brighter. At some point the ground began to vibrate beneath her hooves. It was as if something was boring through the earth below. The tunnel itself began growing ever wider.

Until they came to a room, where the craftium was no longer particles, but solid veins and branches jutting from the rocks themselves. As if someone had spent months, or even years meticulously unearthing the heart of the mine. Now they see the true form of the craftium, a silvery red ore...

...rhythmically pulsing.

---IT'S ALIVE--- Rarity commented.

"Oh, I am."

The walls should with a deep voice, no longer be confined within Mercy's head. The game took a step back in fright and turned her muzzle to the ceiling, gasping.

It was a twisted cathedral, darkness and evil dripping from every misshaped pillar and balcony no matter the amount of light shining from the craftium organ.

"I've been expecting you, Mercy," it continued. "Won't you join us?"

BLAM! BLAM!

Andromeda was not in the mood for conversing with eldritch abomination today. She swiftly moved to reload her shotgun while observing the lack of damage she had done. The entity laughed at her struggle.

"There is no need for violence anymore. I can show you a way to achieve your heart's deepest desire." The voice now sounded like it was whispering in her ear, infiltrating and clouding her mind. "I have seen your loss, little one. I have seen your crimes. I can make it all disappear. I can heal your every pain. All I require in return is your body. With that suit as my vessel, I could take you to the surface and return all that was lost."

Lies. Mercy Andromeda knew it was lies. But her mind began to fill with the smiling faces of her family. Then the foul creature began mimicking their voicing.

"Mommy, come play with us."

"Honey? You need to wake up, come join us."

"Mommy, I got an A in school today."

"No!" cried mercy, falling to her haunches. the gun clattering to the ground as her mind began to overflow again.

---MERCY--- WHAT IS HAPPENING?--- YOU HAVE TO FIGHT THIS---

"No! No! No!"

The world around her began to fade, as the voices and memories consumed her from within. The mission... her friends... those that were depending on her... all vanished. A hollowness grew within her. An emptiness void of these terrible things, of everything.

She found herself crawling towards it. That would make the pain stop. The blackness would end it all. Peace was within her reach if she just crawled a bit further into the hollow.

---EMERGENCY OVERRIDE PROTOCOL ACTIVATED---

The mare stopped her struggling and picked herself up. Grabbing the shotgun and reloading it in a smooth manner.

"What?" the entity rumbled angrily. "How did you break free? Your body was mine."

"This body, isn't even mine, much less yours," Rarity said with a scowl as she took aim.

BLAM!

"Mercy has been through so much."

BLAM!

"Had everything taken from her,"

BLAM!

"And you have the gall to torment her."

BLAM!

"Lie to her."

BLAM!

"And who knows what other terrible things."

BLAM!

"I will not let you take what she has left," Rarity cried in unladylike rage. "She is the last friend I have in this world. I will be damned if I let you take her from me."

"Who are you?" the voice demanded, the veins and organs shaking madly. "Why can't I find you? Where is your mind?"

BLAM! BLAM! Was Rarity's answer. Pouring every remaining shell into the alloy.

"I am a primordial god," he declared wrathfully. "You will submit and answer to us."

"No," was all she had to say in response. The shotgun dropped to the ground beside her, ammo spent.

It was silent a moment. Perhaps shocked at her defiance. Then it laughed.

"Very well," it said. "I was being kind before. All I need is the suit, the body within can be replaced with any number of my other vessels."

The arteries near the ground rumbled and split open. Forms dropped to the stone floor, landing in heaps.

Ponies. Hairless with silvery veins showing beneath the translucent flesh.

They slowly picked themselves up. Opening their eyes to reveal dripping black orbs.

One-by-one, they opened their mouths to show sharp metal teeth and roared an unearthly dirge that would have cracked Mercy's crystal helmet with their volume and power.

Rarity smirked as she set her hooves, the cracks healing already.

"Oh, darling. This is going to be fabulous!"

Comments

[ponyatthedisco]

ooh boy i lost the plot on this one im going to have to reread this

[Snowkitsune]

yay moar