A commission from @TG_89 thanks for the continued support! I hope you enjoy the story
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“Today’s the big day, huh buddy?” Veronica smiled to the brown pegasus stallion in front of her, causing him to give an excited flitter of his wings. Her official job designation was animal handler…at the space agency it meant that she could be working with something as small as a cockroach to something as big as a monkey. Fluffies were on a different spectrum though. Not human of course, but definitely not an animal.
“Tom suuuu happeh! Gun fwy su big!” Climbing onto a stack of books he’d been taking practice jumps off, he launched himself into the air as hard as he could then plummeted right back down with a squeak of hooves.
Major Tom, or just Tom. Just your average, every-day fluffy someone had picked up at the Fluffmart. He was unimportant in nearly every way and that was important. The tests NEEDED that completely ordinary factor. Fluffies from breeders often had defects since they were bred over and over again in the same line. Not an uncommon thing in any animal.
Veronica had worked with Tom for a few months now. Like almost any pegasus, his deepest desire was to fly. It was such an earnest wish that would be granted on a grand scale.
“You’ll be going to sleep for awhile and then when you wake up, you’ll be in space. Up there…with all the stars, the sun, the moon.” Giving him a smile, she watched his eyes light up with excitement. Ever since the first time she’d explained it to him, it never failed to make him just as happy.
“Tom am bwing mummah back bigges’ staw! Pwomise!” A waggle of his tail, wrapping his front legs around her leg and cooing. She loved the little guy. Space travel was safer than ever these days, though. The fluffy had gone through training to be able to have rudimentary understanding over some of the equipment, too.
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“Tom to Medical, Tom to Medical.” Came a voice over the intercom. Veronica tucked the fluffy up in her arms and hurried on over to the Medical Wing, handing him over to a doctor.
“Look at mommy, Tom.” Keeping Tom’s eyes on her own, she gave one of his front legs a gentle squeeze to distract him from the needle which was about to slip into his back leg. It worked: She watched the doctor give him the sleeping medication which would keep him under until he was far up in the sky. Farther than even most humans could hope to be.
“I love you, buddy. It’s going to be a long day. But you’ll be flying, for real! Can you imagine?” Tom responded to his handler’s smile with one of his dopey own.
“Suuu happeh…” But so sleepy too. His eyelids were already becoming too heavy to keep open for long. Nodding in and out, he felt a lot of love for mummah and couldn’t wait to tell her all about flying when he got back from that big place in the sky.
After he was out of it and snoring, the doctor waved a hand at Veronica. “We’ll be fitting him with his flight suit and oxygen. Leave.” Impolite, straight to the point. What an asshole. With a roll of her eyes, she hugged Tom and gave a pat to the top of his head.
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When Tom’s eyes fluttered open, he found himself in a familiar capsule-like space. There was much room to move about, and he was strapped in to the chair he’d often sat in when they played fun learnin’ gamesies.
A voice shook him out of his slight sleepy confusion.
“Ground control to Major Tom, do you read me?” That was the radio in his helmet. It was very important not to take off his helmet: You couldn’t breathe in space.
“Majow Tom hewe, yis.” Looking down to the instrument panels in front of him, he pressed a hoof with a squeak to turn on the lighting inside of the capsule. It flickered, flooded the area with a Halogen glow.
There was a moment before the voice on the other end continued.
“Major Tom, you won’t be coming home. The nation thanks you for your service.” The voice was cold, emotionless. Stating the fact as a matter of complete certainty. Tom blinked a few times.
“Wha…wha? Wha? Tom am backsies soon…?” That’s what he’d been told anyways. There was a click as the comm channel disconnected.
Well, that was strange. But ground control wasn’t bothering him anymore so he unbuckled his harness by maneuvering his hooves carefully against the little button. Freed, he gave a tiny flitter of his wings. He lifted off the chair! There wasn’t much room to move around but he made his way over to a small observation panel.
“Tom fwyin’! Fwyin’ su high! Wook mummah! Am bestest fwyin’ Tom!” He recognized Earth: It’s where mummah said he and all fluffies lived. Where everyone lived. Except for aliens but she’d assured him that he wouldn’t be meeting any of those. Digging his hooves into the side of the craft, he forced himself out with a spurt of energy and meandered through the air. Bouncing back and fourth, making sure not to hit the panels which were important.
Giggling and wearing himself out, he drifted for a bit. Talked into his helmet:
“Otay, mummah. Weady tu gu homesies naow!” As if it would be that simple. There was no voice on the other end to tell him yes or even no. Then it occurred to him: He’d already been told something. Just moments ago really.
“Majow Tom hewe, nee’ homesies naow! Wan teww mummah bou’ fwyin’!”
Dead silence on the other end. Giving a small ‘huuhuu’, the fluffy drifted against a wall and stuck there for a moment.
“Majow Tom tu gwound contwo! Pwease say anyfing!” More silence. Had they really forgotten him? Or just didn’t care? No. No. It couldn’t be true.
“Hewwo?”
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Veronica sat in shocked silenced in front of what was supposed to be the celebratory launch meal. Tom…wasn’t coming home. They had never told her this. Why would she have agreed to it? To launch a beautifully compassionate creature up in a tin can to never be seen again?
Of course she’d said as much to those in charge.
“No, I don’t believe it. Nobody’d be so cruel.” Yet the congealing slice of pizza that laid in front of her spoke the truth. She could deny it as much as she want, but it wouldn’t get her anywhere at all.
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“Ansew Tom, dummehs! Am hewe waitin’ fo’ tawkies!” The fluffy was upset. All that training and learning how to do a good job and they weren’t even talking to him. Growling in frustration, he whipped his tail from side to side.
“Nee’ bwing bigges’ staw back ‘fo mummah! SAY SOMEFIN, BIG DUMMEHS!” Crashing his front hooves against the observation panel that showed off Earth way down below, he made squeaks against the material but it had no other effect.
Sticking out his tongue, he blew wet raspberries into his oxygen helmet. ‘Pffttbb!’
Well, if they didn’t want to talk to him then maybe he could try something else.
“SOWWY POOPIES!” Grunting and forcibly shitting himself, he managed to fill up a diaper which had been fitted under his flightsuit instead of covering everything in nasty poopies. That didn’t feel satisfying to do at all.
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“Are you fucking kidding me? A promotion? This is all a FUCKING PROMOTION for some piece of shit FluffTV show!?” Veronica’s nostrils flared in her fury. Taking this to a higher-up had gotten her an answer at long last, but it was ridiculous to say the least. The bureaucrat she was talking to was a paunchy old guy with pinched cheeks and a creased suit by the name of Anders. He gave a nod.
“Sure, Hasbio paid us to launch a fluffy into space. Not get him back. We collect valuable data, we get paid for the benefit, he’s immortalized in a cartoon. Look!” Rummaging around under his desk he brought out a stuffed toy of a brown pegasus fluffy. Her fluffy. There was a little orange flightsuit on it, a collar with a nametag that said Major Tom.
“Cute, innit it? They sent this over. Whole merchandise line focused on Tom. Isn’t that great? Fluffies all over the world will know him and want to be just like him.” Squeezing the toy’s abdomen, it gave a recorded line in Tom’s own voice: ‘Weady tu fwy!’.
Veronica immediately felt sick to her stomach.
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“Tom sowwy ‘fo makin’ sowwy-poopies! Am su sowwy! Sowwy ‘fo nebba pickin’ up toysies, an’…an’…”
Toys! Maybe that’s what they wanted. It was one of the only valuable things to a fluffy.
“Yew can hab bestest space shuttew toysie! An…an aw toysies! Hab sketti nite! Hab nestie! Nu wan! Omwy wan homesie! Wan mummah!”
Pressing his face to the observation window, he thought about what mummah was up to. Why wasn’t she coming to help him? Why didn’t she help or do anything? Couldn’t she come up in her own ship and save him?
“Hab ebbyfing, buh nu am hab mummah. Pwease? Tom nee’ mummah ‘fo huggies an’ wub.”
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“Mr Anders, sir! I’ll do anything! Please get Tom back! I’ll…dock my pay! Take my retirement!” Slamming a hand on his desk, her eyes brimmed with tears. She was supposed to be a professional, sure, but being a handler meant that you had a connection with the animals under your care. That they could expect the best out of you, not just the bare minimum.
“I know you’re no scientist or pilot, Veronica, but I’ll spell it out for you. That’s a one-way vessel meant for the likes of any animal. It’s one shit-stinking fluffy. What’s your big hang up? That it called you ‘momma’?” The man had a cruel sneer on his face. Curling his fingers around the Major Tom plush toy, he shoved it out to her and forced it into her hands.
“There you go. One ‘Major Tom’. Now get the fuck out of my office before I have your ass on the unemployment line.” Veronica walked out of the office, feet shuffling along like a zombie. She didn’t know what to do. Even if there was some fantastical bargaining chip, it’s not like it would work.
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“Mummah nu am wub fwuffy nu mowe? Bad fwuffy?” Curling his limbs up and floating around the air, the sensation no longer brought him joy. It made him feel absolutely empty.
Tears streamed from his eyes. Had mummah planned this the whole time? Because he was just a fluffy? He knew all too well that a lot of humans didn’t like fluffies, especially not brown ones. Still, mummah had given him lots of wub. Being patient with him even when he freaked out when he had to get a bath, getting down on the floor to play toys with him, making her own mummah’s skettis recipe.
They had laughed and played together. So why was he just…why was he just a poopie now? He hadn’t felt like that ever since he’d been at the Fluffmart when he was just a babbeh. Back then, every day was full of saddies. Nobody loved poopies. Mummah had though.
“Huu…NUUUU! MUMMAH! TOM WUB YEW SU SU MUCHSHIES! YEW AM BESTEST MUMMAH, PWEASE WUB TOM!” He bawled out to the dead connection. Nothing still. Even his sadness meant nothing. Maybe he’d been a poopie fluffy all along, truly. This was just one big meanie thing to do to him because he was one. Nobody loved him. Nobody cared. He was all alone in space and that was it.
“Wan fowebba sweepies. Haechu, Tom. Dummeh Tom. Stinkeh dummeh poopie babbeh Tom.” He told himself through a veil of tears. Ruined everything.
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Veronica wept, sitting on a toilet. Uncontrollable, ugly sobbing. The force of it caused her body to bend, limbs splaying out. It was deeply bestial and had no sense of shame behind it. Why had she been so stupid? The fluffy was up there with nobody to tell him it would be OK. Because it wouldn’t be OK.
She’d done this before. Sent animals up…there. To never come back. Maybe Anders was right: That the fact he could talk to her had made him seem like more. The realization caused her to scream, the sound ripping straight out of her chest and echoing against the walls in this enclosed space.
“I’m sorry Tom. I’m so fucking sorry! I’m sorry to all of you!” The animals. All of them. Sent, scared and alone up there. None of them were stupid. They were living things. If they could speak, surely some of them would express love. They didn’t even need to. You could see it in their eyes and she wasn’t one of the delusional few that told themselves otherwise to feel better at night. At least not now. The veil had been lifted. Her eyes were open.
She couldn’t do anything for them now, but…she could at least change.
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Tom drifted in space. He was completely devoid of anything. No love. No coming home. Just a dummeh poopie babbeh and he deserved this.
The speaker in his helmet crackled.
“Major Tom, do you read?” That was…that was his mummah! Eyes which were red and puffy from weeping shot wide open. Ears twitching inside his helmet, he chirped up.
“Majow Tom hewe, mummah! Mummah, wan come homesies! Wub yew!”
There was static on the other end of the line. Sniffling. Was mummah…crying? Crying because of him?
“Tom, you have to listen to me. I love you too. But…you can’t come home.”
Tom’s tail swished from side to side. If she loved him, why couldn’t he come home? It was mummah saying this though, so he’d listen.
“The people here are bad. Bad men. And I was a bad mummah, too. I’m sorry, Tom. You deserved better. And I couldn’t give it to you.” More sniffling. Crackling. Tom immediately had heawt-saddies, but not for his own situation. Because mummah was down there crying and he couldn’t give her huggies.
“Yew am bestes’ mummah, bestes’ mummah ebah. Tom nu am poopie babbeh?” Clutching legs against his chest, he waited for the response. There was a small laugh. Nervous, unsure.
“No, Tom. There’s no such thing as a poopie. You’re a one of a kind fluffy. And…I want you to do something for me.”
Tom nodded as if she could see it! Of course. Of course he could!
“The big red lever. Pull it down. Don’t let your hoof off of it. OK, Tom?”
He gasped. No way! After explicitly being told many times to not touch it, he knew better! His mummah knew exactly how he’d respond to this though.
“You have my permission, Tom. Pull it and don’t let go.” Veronica’s voice was determination. Smiling weakly, he went to work the lever down with all his might. It was incredibly difficult. Immediately, the Halogen light shifted to a red warning light which flared around him. A deep robotic voice spoke all around him.
MANUAL RELEASE IN…TEN
“I love you, Tom.”
MANUAL RELEASE IN…NINE
“Tom wub yew tu!”
MANUAL RELEASE IN…EIGHT
“How’d you like flying?”
MANUAL RELEASE IN…SEVEN
“Tom wub fwyin’!”
MANUAL RELEASE IN…SIX
“What are you thinking about?”
MANUAL RELEASE IN…FIVE
“Tom happeh, mummah.”
MANUAL RELEASE IN…FOUR
“Hab scawdies.”
MANUAL RELEASE IN…THREE
“You’re a brave boy, though.”
MANUAL RELEASE IN…TWO
“Weawwy?”
MANUAL RELEASE IN…ONE
“Catch me the biggest star, Major Tom.”