Fallout Equestria: Space Captain Andromeda

by Weavers of Dreams

Chapter Two: Ghosts of the Past

Much mild cursing, complaining, and groaning later, Andromeda managed to turn on the pipbuck's transmitter. The Ministry model was much different than Stable Tec's commercial version. It was less blocky, allowed multiple displays at once, and the mainframe around her neck allowed it much finer tuning than what was currently standard. Not to mention it was light and slightly flexible; a much desired bonus.

She cleared her throat and began her speech again. Louder this time.

"Hello Equus, this is Space Captain Andromeda, calling to you from, where else? Outer space. Now listen up all you..."

"Get off the air you stupid kids, this not a toy."

Andromeda's jaw shut with a click as she stared at her pipbuck, eyes dancing between it and her HUD. She didn't know whether she should feel happy to hear somepony else's voice, or perturbed at the rudeness of the stallion on the other end.

"Oh, come on," she shouted in a mixture of confusion and anger. "I've been stuck up here who knows how long and..."

"This station is for emergency broadcasts only. Not your dumb...," the stallion shouted back, but his voice started to become garbled. Andromeda refocused the antennae, it was starting to drift, and listened to the rest of the rant. "...cking stupid games, you strumpet-born pests. When I find you I'm gonna skin you all alive and..."

"Mind your manners, mister," Andromeda retorted. "The Ministry Mares wouldn't like me to report your sour attitude."

"That's it," the stallion said. "I'm gonna take all those little radio away from you all and use them for target practice. Wait until I get the Commissar."

"Get your commissar on the air," Andromeda screamed back while flailing her arms in frustration. "Maybe then I'll find somepony mature enough to know how serious I am."

"Who are you talking to, Short Wave?" A new, gruffer voice came over the air. "The radio is not for pleasure calls."

"Short Wave?" Andromeda repeated, rolling her eyes upward in thought. That wasn't a zebra name. At least not that she had heard.

"I'm trying to get bunch of kids off the air," the one she now knew as Short Wave answered back in a very respectful tone. It was possible the commissar had just walked in.

"Again?" the commissar, she guessed, asked in an exasperated voice. "Celestia have mercy. Please tell me my grandson isn't one of them."

Definitely not zebras. But commissar wasn't an Equestrian rank. Andromeda listened with rapt attention.

"I've only heard one voice, sir," Short wave said. "A filly. Claims to be Space Captain Andromeda."

"Hey, I'm a full-grown mare," she snapped at the two on the other end. She pouted sourly as she waited for them to respond.

Nothing but sighs and groans. They weren't taking her seriously. On the plus side, Short Wave seemed to speak nicer in the commissar's presence.

"Yes-yes," the commissar patronized her. She could just about see him rolling his eyes. This was still not going well. "Tell me, Captain Andromeda, what is your current position?"

"About two hundred nautical miles above your dumb heads," Andromeda said with a less than enthusiastic sigh. This was not how she pictured ponies' reaction to a spaceship.

"We'll just see about that, little missy," the commissar said with an almost humorous edge to his voice. "While you've been talking, we've been tracking your signal. Prepare for..."

"Sir," Short Wave's abrupt call cut off the commissar's patronizing words.

"What is it?" the commissar snapped.

"The readout says it's coming from straight up."

There was a long pause. A smile lit up Andromeda's face as she felt they were finally going to take her seriously. Then it all got even more confusing.

"Shut off the radio," the commissar said urgently. "It's a distraction. Prepare all units for Enclave attack. Have the mares and foals sent to the..." It went dead, leaving a very distraught space fairer alone in the dark void.

"Enclave? I'm space Captain Andromeda, and I demand answers. Hello? Heeelllloooo? What are you doing with mares and foals that close to zebra territory anyway? I said answer me. In the name of Princess Luna, pick up the bucking radio! Does rank mean nothing to you?"

Silence greeted her, deafening in its gaping maw. As a filly, she had had a clock that would tick noisily, skip ahead to seconds, then skip back on second three times an hour. It had annoyed the living Tartarus out of her. Right now, she would give anything to have that clock.

"Maybe I picked up the wrong station," she reasoned, liking the sound of her voice, because it was the only sound to be heard. "Try and locate Command, pipbuck, I want to make contact with them before I starve to death up here."

---LINK NO LONGER EXISTS---SIDENOTE---SUBJECT UNABLE TO STARVE---

Andromeda only read the first part, not too interested in all the pipbuck had to say. "What do you mean no longer exists? Are we out of range? Did all our coms get knocked out that badly? What does it mean?"

---LINK NO LONGER EXISTS---RECEIVER HAS WORLD WIDE BANDWIDTH---LINK NO LONGER EXISTS---DEFINITE CONCLUSION---

She growled and began pounding the screen. "It... can't... be... gone," she seethed. "I just left their a little while ago. Are you saying they just cut the link?" Her anger suddenly gave way to fear when a thought came to mind. She looked about at the damaged ship and wondered. "What was that gas?"

---INCONCLUSIVE---

The captain reached out and hugged the makeshift antennae to her chest for some form of comfort. "What happened after we took off?"

---SUGGESTION---MAINTAIN SANITY---YOU ARE ALONE---THERE IS NO WE---

"Yeah, like that's going to happen at this point," the mare muttered. The pipbuck continued.

---1532 MESSAGES IN STORAGE---

That got her attention. "Busy day. Uuuh, play all, I guess. Not like I have anything better to do. An aweful lot for one day. Well, at least that means they're alive. You're just a broken piece of trash, pipbuck. You know that?"

---IGNORING DENIAL---BEGIN MESSAGE 1---

A quivering, desperate voice filtered into her helmet. It sounded like Dr. Comet. "Andromeda? Hello? Please, it's been six hours since the launch. Ministry Mare Twilight Sparkle asked us to cease radio chatter, a safety precaution incase of zebra interception. Fortunately, no pony thinks they can intercept an email yet. So, do not try to contact via the radio link. Send an email instead. Please. It would do us all well to hear your voice again. Please, tell us you're okay as soon as you can."

---END OF MESSAGE 1---

"Stop," Andromeda ordered the pipbuck with chuckle. "What a relief. That's why the link no longer exists. Mercy Andromeda, you silly mare. Just send back a new email and wait for orders. Yeah... I hope I still get to keep that check."

She swiftly began vocalizing a response to Dr. Comets voice message. In the back of her mind though, was a lingering feeling of dread. She forced it away.

"Hello, command, this is Space Captain Andromeda. I woke up around two hours ago, and things are a little messed up. I-I want to apologize, for the rocket. Yeah. I messed up big time, I'm so sorry. I should have spoken earlier, I should have paid more attention to what was going on inside of here. Yeah... just saying I'm sorry doesn't really mean much with the future of Equestria at stake. But please, if you'll just contact me back, I'll do anything. I'm lonely. You can keep the money, just let me do what I'm supposed to. Help me fix this. We can still save Equestria, I j-just need a little more... time."

Her confidence falling with every word, Andromeda sniffed loudly and stopped speaking before her sobs could distort everything she tried to say. She sent the message and glanced at her pipbuck screen, while setting the antennae afloat beside her. "How long before this reaches Command?"

---TEN MINUTES---

"Oh," she said, crestfallen. "I could really use somepony else's voice." Short Wave and the commissar came to mind. "Somepony familiar. I don't care if they yell at me, I don't care if they take away all those rewards. I just want to know that I'm not alone."

---SUGGESTION---MAINTAIN SANITY---STOP TALKING TO YOURSELF---

"Buck you." Her half-hearted remark was barely above a whisper. She sat in silence, her eyes never leaving the screen, even though all she had to do was look at the HUD. It crossed her mind that Stable Tec had a magical eyes forward sparkle, but Twilight and Applejack had said something about progress and initiative, or something like that. She never really got a straight answer. Maybe it was something to do with a patent. Even a government secret had some legal limitations it seemed. Excluding SATS just seemed logical, as she wasn't supposed to encounter any combat in space. Then again, a zebra wasn't supposed to get aboard either.

It had been a rough day. Her emotions were flying off in different directions, and she was making all kinds of mistakes and errors. She was both afraid of what the next few minutes would bring, and afraid that it wouldn't come at all. It was a bad day to be Mercy Andromeda.

Ten minutes passed, then twenty, then an hour. There was no word she had for what she felt. So she thought up a combinations of words. "Clop-bleeding, plot-inseminated sons of venereal-diseased orgies, greasy-hoofed malcontented wind-breakers wishing on Luna's flanks, stiff-legged buckers, slapping striped plot masochists, why won't you answer?"

She pounded a hoof against the pipbuck's screen as she screamed out long and hard. Finally, after a long fit, she felt like crying. But decided against it. "Maybe I missed something."

---DENIAL---

"Buck you, buck you, buck you," she hissed through her teeth as she cycled through the displays until she reached the message board. There was still the same amount of messages. 1532. "Play message two and continue."

---PLAYING MESSAGE 2---

"Hello, Captain? This is Ministry Mare Twilight Sparkle, sending you the second email, on the second day of the launch. We decided to work in shifts, sending one every hour. Please, contact us, Mercy. We need you. Equestria needs you. We're so... so sorry. We thought we were so safe in this stupid iron bunker. Please tell us that you are alright. This is all our fault. Please... forgive us. We failed you. We'll keep sending you messages, to keep you company until you can establish a link. Know that you are in our thoughts and prayers. Ministry Mare Twilight Sparkle, signing off."

---END OF MESSAGE 2---

They blamed themselves for this? Andromeda was taken aback by that logic. Then her jaw dropped. One message an hour? 1532 messages, at one per hour was...

---PLAYING MESSAGE 3---

"Andromeda? Th-this is Ministry Mare Fluttershy, I hope you're not mad at us. I'm so sorry that this happened to you. No pony deserves to be alone in such a terrible place. Even Princess Luna shares your grief. She knows what it's like to... to be alone for a long time. Please try to hold on, Andromeda, we're doing all we can to fix this. Please, if you don't mind, send us an email back. We'd all love to hear your voice again. Y-you m-may not know this but, you inspired us all, Andromeda. What, with all your enthusiasm about being the first, er, second mare in space. It was nice to see somepony still so happy in this terrible war. We'll get you out of this, you'll see. E-even if it means... losing Hope. Yay Equestria. I-I'm sorry, I can't do this. Please forgive me."

---END OF MESSAGE 3---

Mercy Andromeda's eyes went wide as she finished the math in her head. If her calculations hadn't gotten too muddled, she figured it had been around sixty-three to sixty-five days. She had just woken up from some sort of toxin-induced coma. But then, why didn't she feel weak or hungry?

---PLAYING MESSAGE 4---

"Hey there, Space Captain. This is Ministry Mare Dash, you know, from the Ministry of Awesome. Heh, well, I don't know exactly what to say, but... I did agree to help keep you company. So, let's try to work things out. We finally got Fluttershy to stop crying. She's rather worried about you up there. You and the zebra. Typical Fluttershy... ah, if you're hearing this, I've got a little confession. I was going to tell you about it in a week or two, but I really think you need it now. Every once in a while, when things are too stressful, I take a little glass of Gryphon's Rampage... I managed to sneak a couple bottles on board for you. I stashed them inside the dashboard, next to the gold wiring. I thought it would help. I mean, I don't know what it's like out there, and I'm not ashamed to say that... to say that you're probably braver than me. A small chance. Heh, yeah. I-I don't think I could stand being up there like that, all alone, without my friends. So... I hope you enjoy the contraband. I'm sure you'll need it more than I do. Well, anyway, I've got a little glass right here. So it's kind of like we're having a drink together. Yeah, that sounded stupid. Still... here's to you kid."

---END OF MESSAGE 4---

Andromeda couldn't help but smile at Dash's gesture. She was a rough, showboating mare, but was she pleasant and fun to be around. Mercy lassoed herself over to the dashboard and peered into the hole she had cut before. It took some rummaging around with a hoof, but she finally came in contact with several glass bottles. She pulled them out. The now frozen, golden brown liquid gleamed in the purple light of her HUD. A tribal picture of a raging male griffon was on the front, wings spread and claws bared. With a longing sigh, she put them back and listened to the next message.

---PLAYING MESSAGE 5---

"Well, sugarcube, I hope you're enjoying Rainbow Dash's present. Thinks she was all secret like. There'll be a lot more where that came from after you come back, believe me. Although, Ah'd suggest somethin' a little more... full and sweet. I know how much you love your sugar. I've got a nice big case o' my finest hard cider, sittin' in storage, jes' waitin' for ya. We're all watchin' the screens down 'ere, Captain, hopin' you'll send somethin' back. We're all about as wound up as barrel full o' rattlesnakes. Don't go blamin' yerself, now, Mercy, none o' this is your fault. None whatsoever. Me an' Pinkie were the ones in charge of security, an'... an' I am so sorry. I don't know if you can ever forgive me, or if I can even forgive myself. But, rest assured, we're doin' all we can. Yeah. You've probably heard that a few times already. Well, this is Ministry Mare Applejack, signing out.

---END OF MESSAGE 5---

After hearing Applejack, Andromeda was left in thought. Who was to blame? Was it her? The Ministries? Or was this just some divine punishment for the whole world's foolish mistakes?

---PLAYING MESSAGE 6---

* * *

Some of the messages were quite lengthy, some were almost obscenely short. They were from the Ministry mares and other workers at Command that she had become friends with. Even that stallion she gave a bruise on her first day there. He wasn't really bad, just doing his job. Her overreacting to the Ministry of Morale's reputation was the main factor in their strained friendship. They had made up after week, but he still shied away whenever she lifted her right hoof. He had left a few kind, thoughtful messages.

Fluttershy had read her a few stories, ranging from Daring Do, to children's poems. She had even taken the time to grab some interesting Zebra tales, just in case the zebra was still alive. Though Andromeda was sure, that if she had remained conscious, she would have diced him apart with the digital magic. Then, she promptly threw up after realizing she had killed another pony. Nevertheless, those stories were fascinating, usually relating to dangerous creatures and monsters from the stars. In retrospect, this would have made Hope's mission all the more terrifying and effective.

Pinkie Pie was largely absent. Through some brief words and phrases, she managed to piece together the idea that Ministry Mare Pinkie was the most upset of them all. Blaming herself and some sort of substance withdrawal. Andromeda didn't know what that was all about, but it seemed serious.

Rarity just talked. Talked about everything and everypony, gossiping up such a storm about her family, friends, celebrities, rich ponies, even the royal alicorn sisters. Andromeda felt she knew all these ponies quite intimately by the time Rarity's final message played. It was strange, though, how the most secretive of all the Ministries was headed by the chattiest of the six mares. But then again, Rarity had a certain flair of tact and grace. Tact being the ability to tell somepony to go to Tartarus and make them look forward to the trip. Rarity could definitely do that.

Ministry Mares Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack had all done their best with words of hope and promises of rewards. But around the first hundred messages sent, they all began to lose the sincerity in their voices. Even so, they carried on, telling her they were doing all that they could, looking for a way to get her back. It seemed they were more concerned about her than Hope. But Hope was the whole reason they had even come together. Wasn't it? They should be worried about the rocketship! It was Equestria's best shot at ending the war. What was the life of one mare?

It shocked Andromeda to find herself thinking so coldly about herself.

---PLAYING MESSAGE 1531---

"Rarity here, darling. I'm sorry, but today's little talk is going to have to be cut short. We... we know you must be running out of food, and oxygen by now. Twilight has given up, I'm sorry to say. The poor dear has been pushed beyond her emotional limits. This was so important to her. Now she's lost her greatest triumph, and a dear friend. I hope you know that, Andromeda. You weren't just a project to us. Now, I must be getting along. I have some packing to do. There's a meeting in Canterlot I cannot afford to miss. Farewell, Space Captain Andromeda. Please, d-don't die j-just yet. There's a surprise coming for you in just a little bit. Do hold on a l-little bit l-l-longer."

---END OF MESSAGE 1531---

"I shouldn't be alive, should I?" Andromeda asked herself as she looked down at her body. Surely she must have run out of oxygen a while ago, and there was no way she could have lasted without food for this long. "But I'm not dead."

---DENIAL---

"I'm not dead," she shrieked at the pipbuck, tears falling from her eyes.

---DENIAL---

"If I'm dead then how am I talking to you?" Andromeda reasoned through clenched teeth.

---ERROR---MORE INFORMATION REQUIRED---UPDATING---

"Just play the last message," Andromeda hissed.

---PLAYING MESSAGE 1532---

Fluttershy's voice appeared. She sounded sad, and her voice was shaky.

"H-hello A-Andromeda. I-it's me, Fluttershy. I-I didn't bring you an-any stories today. I'm sorry. But I'm n-needed elsewhere now. I w-would stay if I could, Andromeda. P-please believe me. But, it's not all bad. N-not really. I've brought you some special guests. Now that things are... we all agreed that you deserve this, Andromeda. Please, as our final parting gift..."

A new voice sounded out, a stallion's. Rich and strong, yet weakened from grief.

"Honey? I got so worried when you stopped sending letters. Th-they tell me that you're in space now. Heh, your dream come true. I'm sure it's as beautiful as you imagined."

"It's ugly and lonely," Andromeda said with a disdainful look at her surroundings. Sobs threatened to escape her throat as she heard this particular stallion carry on.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't mad at you making this... big... big decision. You're gone... you've left us alone, and... I don't care about the money they gave us. I want you back. Please. Isn't there anything...?"

"I'm afraid not," Fluttershy said with a sob. "I'm so sorry, sir."

"You should be. She should be at home, with her family, playing those games and reading her comics. Not drifting around the world like some second moon, or satellite. Whatever you want to call it. Mercy, honey? I'm sorry, but, I miss you. I've missed you ever so much. All I can think about now is what we can never have anymore. Y-your birthday... it's in just a few weeks. I had everything planned out. We were going to go to that Prench restaurant you always wanted to go to. Le Lune, you know that one with the Ursa Major statue out front? Then I planned on taking you... do you mind, Minister Fluttershy? Just a moment?"

Oh? Oh! Yes. O-of Course. Come along you two, lets leave him alone for a little bit. Now-now, please don't cry. If you cry, I won't be able to stop.

Andromeda blushed bright red, and a smile lit up her face as she heard her husband's plans for what would have been her birthday. Needless to say, she was saving this recording. When he was done, he told her how much he was going to miss her.

"They gave us a reservation in Stable 41," he continued, after having let the others back into the room. "But, it won't be the same without you. Please, Andromeda. Don't be dead. Come back to us."

"I'm not dead," Andromeda piped up as though she thought he might hear her. The pipbuck was still analyzing her, so it remained silent.

"Please, sir. There's not that much power left. Finish it up. I-if you don't mind, that is," Fluttershy said in a soft, yet firm voice.

"Yes, of course, I'm sorry. Goodbye, Mercy, my love, I hope to see you again someday."

A new, smaller voice piped up. This particular one was openly sobbing. "Please come back to us. I miss you, mommy."

---END OF MESSAGE 1532---NO MORE MESSAGES REMAIN---

Her wail of anguish rattled her helmet, and no amount of testosterone shock would calm her. The poor wife and mother had just heard her own husband beg for her to come back, and heard her daughter crying, and she was helpless to do anything about it. It no longer mattered to her who was to blame for the botched rocket launch. All she wanted now was to return home and fall into her family's hooves.

Comments

[cookiechip]

I can't wait for the next chapter she should try contacting another radio station again

[ponyatthedisco]

naw poor rocket mare

[The Amateur]

The captain reached out and hugged the makeshift antennae to her chest for some form of comfort. "What happened after we took off?"

---SUGGESTION---MAINTAIN SANITY---YOU ARE ALONE---THERE IS NO WE---

Favorite two lines of the chapter. What a lovely interface!

I have seen great premises before in these fictions, but execution has always been a little off. Now here I see a fantastic premise with carefully thought-out execution. The pacing is just slow enough to evoke the feeling of isolation and hopelessness that characterize the great void of space. Our character is an eccentric family mare with a healthy sense of determination.

It would be awful if we had to sit through breakdown after breakdown, but Andromeda manages to keep working toward returning home.

The messages were an ideal way to present the personalities of the Mane Six without resorting to exposition. The last message, in particular, was a stunning use of dialogue for building a bit of Andromeda's backstory.

The only problem I could think of at the moment was the interface itself. The pipbuck gives some funny lines (as quoted above), but it seems rather hostile for a soulless piece of technology. Even a blunt interface should not be responding with phrases like "ignoring denial." It more often broke my engagement with Andromeda's unfolding revelation than anything else.