Fallout Equestria: Desperado’s V4 (Molly Manticore Mega Mall.)

Fallout: Equestria

Desperado’s V4: Molly Manticore Mega Mall.

Ch 12, Intertwined Fate, Part 2.

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Finding a reasonably out-of-the-way spot on the third floor, which had blacked-out windows, we caught our breath. It was some sort of clothing store, with plenty of hiding spots in case they checked here.

“Are you sure it’s safe here?” I asked

Mystic nodded. "Not many animatronics come around these parts of the mall, since it’s bad for their image if they did, so it's harder for Blackcurrant to track us here."

I looked around, and something about this place felt way too familiar.

“It was good that he didn't seem interested in following you," Healing Herbs said. “But was he always this bad? My memories are… not the best, but I don't think he was ever that crazy."

“You knew him?” Mystic asked her.

Healing looked annoyed as she answered. “Unfortunately, I did. I was a student teacher at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns. I did mainly assistant work for the professors but also had to run the detention hall. He… developed several bad habits, resulting in him having to spend extended stays in detention. I think it had to do with the death of his mother and how distant his father had become. A shame, really, Mr. Blackroot was such a dapper unicorn, but by Blackcurrent's last year, he had really let himself go. As for Blackcurrant himself, he wasn't that bad, but he had very few friends due to the Blackroost's darker reputation."

"The Blackroots study dark and forbidden magic and its history as part of their duty to the royal family. Blackcharry and Blackcurrant are well versed in it, but our father… their father wasn't. Mr Blackroot married into the family and was known for being a prolific clock and toy maker, not a spell crafter." Mystic explained. "He was also known for becoming hyper-focused on whatever he was focused on, and without his wife by his side, it's not hard to imagine him unknowingly neglecting his children or allowing Blackcurrant's access to the forbidden archives to be unsupervised."

A sigh came from Healing Herbs. “That's probably what happened. Only a select few ponies have access to forbidden arcives. If any pony else wanted to access it, they needed Celestia's approval, with a pony who had experience in dark magic to supervise. Those experienced ponies were the Blackroots." She then paused for a moment, making a whirring sound. “But Celestia should be keeping a close eye on the Blackroots if I remember correctly. No way she'd let them just go mad like this!” The lights on the drone then flickered. “Oh right, nobody has seen her in years, but then… Luna?”

"Are you okay, Healing Herbs?" Mystic desperately asked.

"I think she's losing power," I suggested.

Mystic nodded. "Alright, I'm on it.

Looking at the drone, something didn’t feel right, and a feeling at the back of my neck prickled, my tail twitched, and the feeling of a tugging… “Wait! Don’t give her power!”

Mystic looked shocked. “But why?”

“Well damn… I truly hate you; you know that.” Quicktrot said as the lights on the drone grew dimmer. “Free me, and you’ll never see me again. Let me be in this world where the technology hasn’t gone to shit yet.”

There was no way I was going to do that. "Quictrot, you'll stay in there, and we will send you permanently to Tartarus."

The lights on the drone finally went out. Mystic looked at me worriedly, but I shook my head.

"There's no guarantee it will be Healing Herbs again if we power her back on." When taking orders, I attach the bot to my back. "We got lucky that she woke up and not the others inside Quictrot."

Mystic nodded, a tear forming in her eye. “I think I know. But it was good to see Healing again, even if… it was like that.”

I reached over and wiped the tear from her cheek. "I may not have known her for long, but it was good seeing her, too." Looking around again, I realized exactly where we were. "And maybe we should try some other place?"

It was Midnight Miscarried before it had rotted away, and seeing everything in mint condition and lit up under blacklight, I could understand the allure.

Mystic looked around as well and then giggled. "Oh, this place is fine."

“You know it?” I asked.

"Well, their costumes are really good, and they make custom orders, too. I even own a few." I cocked an eyebrow at her. "What, unlike the real Blackcharry, I do like to look pretty."

“And the other products here?” I further asked, motioning at the product behind the counter.

She rolled her eyes at me. "Mares like to have fun too, ya'know. Anyways, you shouldn't talk so much since you got a chubby form just looking at me." With a little laugh, Mystic began looking through the costumes. "Here, why don't we play dress up? Blackcurrant isn't the most perceptive pony, so having a disguise isn't a bad idea."

That sounded reasonable, but knowing mares, she probably just wanted to dress up first and foremost. "Alright, but only because it makes sense. And it was the chems that got me like that, that's what you said."

Mystic wiggled her flank at me as she looked through a rack of costumes. “So you're saying that you don't find me attractive?”

"I'm not saying that, you're a beautiful mare. It's just…" I then took a deep breath and rubbed my head in frustration, wondering why most mares were like this. "Please, miss Mystic, we only met, so it may be inappropriate to flirt with a stranger. Anyways, I am in a relationship of… some sort."

She looked back at me in shock and some concern on her face. "Oh, sorry… I got carried away since I don't have to be Blackcharry around you. I'm not allowed to be myself, you see, and Blackcurrant is desperate for me to maintain the image of his sister he has in his mind."

“I'm guessing Blackcharry doesn't live up to it?” I asked.

Mystic nodded. "He still thinks of her as some pure untouched genius, his virgin sister, you can say. But Blackcharry is married with foals, so that image is hard to maintain. Now his obsession is falling onto me."

I could understand why Mystic was being this way. If her personality was nothing like her original, it must be hard to live like that. "Okay, I think I understand."

Pulling out an outfit, Mystic trotted to the dressing room. "Thanks. Oh, and you don't sound sure of this relationship of yours. Is it a one-sided romance, where you're pining, yet she's drawn to another?"

“Ehhh, nothing of the sort. It's more her mother forcing us into a relationship, like at gunpoint.” I explained to her. “Frankly, I don't know what we are. It's not that we don't like each other, but she can certainly do better than me.”

Poking her head out of the dressing room, she had a frown on her face. "Well, I think you're certainly a good catch, if I have anything to say about it."

I smiled at that. "Thanks, but you don't need to cheer me up. I'm just another stranger, after all."

Mystic looked away and spoke with a sad tone. "Y... ya, you're right. But I guess that makes us both strangers, then. Funny that." She blushed and looked rather uncomfortable. "Umm, can you come here and help me with something?"

I took another deep breath and trotted over. Stepping inside, I froze to see a considerably scandalous outfit hanging up, reminding me of Star Charters' hostess dress. Mystic herself was trying to put on fishnet pantihos, but seemed to have gotten stuck. "Ummm… you sure you need me for this?" I asked as I looked away.

Mystic sighed. "I unfortunately don't have much power behind my magic, and most dresses aren't set for a mare of my… proportions. It's why I need my clothes tailored, or they tend to be tight in the wrong places."

She wasn't wrong. Mystic's hips were relatively big, but not absurdly wide, just more than the average from what I knew. She was just like with Miss Fizzy, which made sense if they were related. "Still, you sure it's okay for me to"

"It's fine!" She huffed. "Seriously, why is everypony so hung up on decency when we don't normally wear clothes?" She then bumped me with her flank. "Anyways, I never get to show off my outfits or… you know." She then took a step away from me. "Oh, I did it again, s… sorry."

“It's fine, I'm just not used to this kind of attention.” I then used my pipbuck to try and get the pantihos over her flank, but they were getting caught on something. I pulled again, and Mystic let out a little yelp. “Umm, you okay?” I asked, really hoping I didn't do anything wrong.

"Y… ya, I'm fine. It's just that it's getting caught on… something." She was blushing profusely now. "Please don't freak out, but you must go under to deal with it. Sorry."

This was not how I thought my day would go. "Are you… sure?"

She nodded. "It's fine, I trust you. And this is more my fault than anything." Mystic told me as she spread her legs and lifted her tail. I looked away and began feeling around. There was something soft and pillow-like there, and then I found the garter belt and tugged. "H... hay now, you need to look before tugging." She said nervously.

“Are you really sure?” I asked again.

"Yes, dammit! It can get sensitive down there!" She huffed.

Ya, that was it, I couldn't hold back and opened my eyes. Mystic was fully exposed and probably looked better than the mares in a wing boner magazine. On top of that, she was well endowed too, not to what the others said Fizzy was, but as far as I knew, most mares didn't have much. Actually, seeing it all, a part of the fishnet had gotten tangled in her tit and needed to be pulled free. I could only guess this was what Mystic meant by most clothing not being made for her proportions and freed it; which Mystic gave a sighed of relief. With her free, I then helped get her buttoned up, which involved me getting uncomfortably close.

"Thanks," Mystic said as she relaxed under me, which only made me more nervous. “Blackcarry thinks it was a flaw in my creation, causing me to be... well endowed. I'm fine with it, but it has its own unique issues, as you saw."

Once it was done, I backed out. After a long and awkward moment, Mystic stepped out in a saloon mare outfit, which included a hat and black veil. She posed in her outfit, letting a bit of back leg show, revealing the fishnet and a bit of the garter belt. "Nice, right." I nodded as her eyes drifted down, causing me to cover myself. Mystic held her hooves toward me in apology. "Sorry about that."

"I'm a stallion, so it's natural. Still, sorry for getting like that while you." I told her as I looked away in embarrassment. "And seriously, you should be more guarded. I mean, what if I wasn't, I mean… you know, right?"

Mystic lifted her veil as she trotted to me, her face blushing. "What if I'm fine with that? It's not like I'm the real M…" she sighed again. "Let's just say that if I was to be with a pony, I'd rather be with someone nice like you than with Blackcurrant."

“Right… sorry.” I apologized.

She then smiled and kissed me on the cheek. "I'm sorry, too. It's unfair of me to push my problems onto you like that. But I do stand by what I said." Mystic then trotted off, returning with another outfit. “Now it's your turn!”

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Mystic had me dressed up in a classic frontier pony outfit, mostly a poncho and a wide-brimmed hat. I recognized it as the outfit from the movie, A Hoof Full of Bits, so I didn't mind.

"Okay, so why all the outfits? I just want to ask. And are they all like that one you have on right now?" I had to ask as we trotted down the mall.

"Well, Nightmare Nights is around the corner. As for my personal outfits, most are just recreations from many of my favorite movies, like Invaders From Plants Z, Don't Bother Knocking, and The Pirates of Paradise. I absolutely love the outfit the mares had on them. So elegant, yet daring." She explained excitedly as she again posed in her saloon dress. "I even have a few variants of this type of dress, with one that shows a bit more. Well… had."

"They all show a lot more," I commented, remembering how much those movies got protests, as some ponies saw them as indecent. "And if you were in those movies, with your body, they'd be listed as X-rated."

"I'll take that as a compliment. And oh, a mare could dream of being on the silver screen like Lilac Lace," Mystic said wistfully. "But I know it will never happen." That was right. We both knew that soon, this world was going to end. No Applewood, no Canterlot, and barely an Equestria left.

I then felt a tug as Mystic dragged me to a booth.

“What are you-” she shoved a hoof in my face before pulling me inside.

"Just smile!" she said. As we did, several flashes went off. Once it was over, we stepped outside, and she grabbed two strips from a pocket in the booth, giving me one. "Here, at least something to remember me by."

Taking it, I saw several photos of us and looked awkward as Mystic posed differently in each. Looking at Mystic, she smiled softly at the photos before safely putting them away.

I couldn't help but feel sorry for her, knowing the end was coming and not being able to do anything about it. I doubted she could even run away. And her advances towards me, it wasn't like she even liked me. She didn't even know me. Truthfully, I didn't blame her, as she wanted a way out of this mess, and if sleeping with a stallion would do it, then any stallion would do. But at least I could let her be herself around me.

We both froze as we heard a family voice.

“What do you mean you still can't find her!” Blackcurrant shouted at another stallion. “The longer my innocent little sister is around that brute, the more he threatens to ruin her purity! And when you do find them, take that stallion to the scooping room.”

I… really didn't like the sound of that.

Mystic then nudged me, “we should hide until they move on,” she whispered.

We entered a relatively well-lit store, and before I looked adequately to see what it was, we were in a wedding dress shop. I cocked an eyebrow at Mystic as she mischievously smiled back at me. "Oh, come on, darling, at least let me browse."

One of the cult members was nearby, so I played along. "Alright, but it's bad manners for me to see the dress before the wedding day." I played along, and Mystic let out a giggle as she went deeper inside. The cult member got closer, his eyes on me, but fortunately, the poncho hid the drone, along with the rest of my stuff, as the hat obscured my face. "Is there a problem?" I asked, making sure he could see my gun.

He then pulled out a badge, “I'm Constellation, head of s… security, have you seen anypony impersonating a security pony around here?” he asked nervously, and I shook my head. “M..mind if I search you?”

I pulled back my poncho enough to reveal Checove’s Promise, looking Constellation in the eyes.

The cult member looked at the gun with amusement before looking me in the eyes as well. I didn't know why, but when we locked eyes, all amusement in his face drained, and he quickly left. With the threat gone, I turned and trotted in after Mystic.

"I know, right? The dress is absolutely beautiful." Mystic said to another mare.

"Ya, but are you sure it's appropriate? I don't think I should go with white." The other mare asked her, and I froze. Poppy Fields was here again and looking at wedding dresses. "It just doesn't feel right."

A cold chill ran up my spine as I felt eyes on me like I was being observed by sompony far beyond me, waiting to see what I did next.

"Oh, don't be like that, miss. From what I know, stallions don't care about what you dress up in; they only want to know you love them. Just find the prettiest gown you can. The fact that you love it will mean he will love it, too," Mystic told Poppy.

I saw it, saw her. In the back was a mare in a sunhat obscuring her face. She practically glowed with a golden light, her mane moving as though a gentle breeze was passing through. She was beautiful, monstrously, terrifyingly beautiful.

Poppy looked at the dress. "Ya, I guess you're right," she said, a smile forming on her muzzle—a smile I don't remember ever seeing her have on her before. She looked genuinely happy. "Thank you. I'll give it some real thought." Trotting off, she almost bumped into me. " Oh, sorry, sir," she said to me.

I quickly stepped out of the way while keeping an eye on the sunhat mare. "No, I should be paying attention," I said as I moved. A mannequin broke my line of sight with the mare in the back, and she was gone.

Poppy quickly left without recognizing me or even a confused pause.

“What are the odds?” Mystic said, and I raised an eyebrow. “Oh nothing, but… are you okay?” Mystic then asked. “You look like you saw a ghost.”

I nodded. "Ya, there's just this…" I couldn't remember what I was looking at; I was sure it was something… maybe Poppy? "I'll be okay." Ya, that must be what it had been. Seeing Poppy again was a real shock, then seeing where she died and then now… But I had already said what I wanted to say to her at her resting place, so I didn't want to ruin what happiness she had before her end. I could try to save her, but… That's not the Poppy I knew, and it would be selfish of me to make her suffer again for my own guilt.

Looking outside and seeing the cost was clear, I forced myself to smile. "Blackcurrant's goons have left, so we don't need to keep up the act."

"I know… but why not stick around here for a bit. You said you were getting married, right? So I thought it would be fun if we kept pretending to be together and get you a suit?" She suggested.

"Mystic, I don't know when I'll go back, so are you sure about this? Let's focus on stopping Blackcurrant. " I told her.

Mystic nodded, looking a bit disappointed. "The mainframe control room isn't far from here, under Sparkle-Cola Adventure, and the door is inside the big bottle," Mystic said quietly. "I don't know why, but Blackcurrent, Sparkle-Cola, and Solarus-tec were working together on it. They tried to keep it hidden, but Blackcharry caught on and had me look into it." she rubbed her leg nervously, "Now that you know, maybe we can do this, if only for a bit."

Right, not only Poppy had little time left, but it was the same for Mystic. Except her fate might be even worse. Almost everypony here didn't have much time to live, and they were going to die terrified and hopeless. The lucky ones will die quickly, the others die slowly to radiation, some will be killed by Molly, and even more will kill themselves. But thanks to me, Mystic knows it's coming soon and we can't do anything to stop it.

"Right, we might as well keep playing along," I told her, and the mare put a wide grin on her face. "Oh, and about what you said to that mare, I also think Canterlot My Love was a good movie."

Her muzzle scrunched up in mild embarrassment. "Well, I always wanted to say that wedding dress line. Where Lilac Lace helps the lost mare make up her mind about what gown to pick and practically covers her in flowers. If I were to get married, I'd have it be like that, though maybe not as pink as in the movie. Still, it's remarkable how Lilac Lace only played a minor role in it, but it helped jumpstart her career as an actress."

I rubbed my head in embarrassment. "Ya, same here with me." But back when I was with Poppy, it never happened. That and she never shared the same love for movies as I did. Sometimes, she'd get jealous if I mentioned Lilac Lace or other actors and actresses. Eventually, I stopped talking about films around her, since it was more trouble than it was worth. "Is it odd that I wanted to recreate some of those scenes? Anypony could fit Lilac Lace's role in it, but she really sold that scene."

"Ohhh, I know! And she was absolutely beautiful, too. Just pulled that mysterious beauty roll off perfectly" Mystic gushed as she did a little pose. “I even have several of her outfits recreated for me. Even if there's nobody to show them off to, I like to put them on. Though my mane is too wild to get the look just right, and I'd need a few more years to grow it out."

"Actually, I'd love to see that." The image in my head I was having was less than appropriate to share, so I kept my mouth shut about it. “If your mane is anything like Miss Fizzy's, I'm sure you'll look stunning.”

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After getting my measurements and picking out a suit, I let Mystic try on a few dresses, too. She was gorgeous, though the whole thing was more somber than fun, knowing what we knew. Once she was satisfied, we moved on, making our way to Sparkle-Cola Adventure, a mini theme park inside the mall.

Even on the third floor, the place was a buzz with ponies of all ages and robots managing game stalls and offering other services. But something had me a bit worried as we trotted through the crowds. "Say, are the robots here the same as the animatronics?"

Mystic first shook her head, then scratched her chin. “Maybe…” She said, “I think Sparkle-World was using normal robots, but there was this deal to open something like the pizzeria there. They have this whole world of tomorrow thing, and I guess they wanted Molly Manticor to be part of it… maybe.”

"You mean the Steller Zone?" I asked, and she nodded. "Right, that makes sense since they also run it mostly by robots." Looking over at one of the bots here, It was a Protect-A-Pony that looked more like a trotting vending machine than a robot. I could only hope the madness that happened here wasn't happening over at Sparkle-World.

"Over here!" Mystic called, taking me to the railings overlooking the rest of the theme park. At the center, and dominating the scenery, was a massive Sparkle-Cola bottle that reached up to the glass ceiling, which was both an enormous fountain and part of a large rollercoaster ride. "The bottle there is where they control the rides and the bots in here, but under it is the main control room and mainframe. I don't know how the security will respond if you get down in there, but I know that Oliver and Oscar are much more restricted up here. Because it's technically Sparkle-Cola property, mall security can't be as aggressive, not at first at least. And if a VIP is present, then the robots act extra careful. But that's as far as I know. Sorry, but that's all I can do for you right now, without a Key Tag, I can't do much without Blackcurrant finding out. ”

"No, this is more than enough information. If we can turn off the animatronics, then stopping Blackcurrant will be easier." I told her.

“If only we could stop him now.” Mystic said as she leaned on the railing, “It would save everypony so much trouble.”

I nodded as I joined her. "Well, maybe we can. Remember what Healing Herbs said: doing nothing now is just as bad as trying to change the future."

Mystic let out a huff of annoyance. "You know this is exactly why time travel stories never make sense. The rules only apply when they want to."

That got a laugh out of me. "Ya, I'm in full agreement there. And I'm a bonafide time traveler, too."

She smiled. "You know what? You're actually right about that. Too bad I can't travel with you, too. It's a bit grim, but I am curious about this wasteland. Anyway, I can at least look up the Blackroots history. If anything, it might give some hints as to how this all started. I'm not sure if it will help or not, but I know exactly where to start.

“You do?” I asked.

Mystic took a deep breath and nodded again. “Actually, I think I know where everything started going wrong with the family. But I can't say right now, not until I have more information.” She then got closer to me. “Before you go, I just want to say that I'm sorry for being so… forward, but it was good seeing-”

“Halt!" The hairs along my spine rose as Mystic, and I turned to see Oliver and Oscar Orthrus looming over us, its shadow far darker than it should be. "Hello, Miss Blackcharry, your brother is looking for you,"Oliver said pleasantly. “You and your companion," Oscar said in a less friendly tone.

I didn't know what the scooping room was, but I would find out if I let myself be taken, and I really didn't want to.

As soon as I looked for a way to escape, the animatronic Orthrus spread its claws out, blocking our path to escape. Worse, several securitrons had rolled in, further cutting us off. "You will come with us. This isn't a request.” Oliver and Oscar said in unison.

The last time I was trapped like this, Harp got me out by tossing me through… “That's it! Mystic, send your magic into me, like with Healing, that might send me back.”

"You sure?" she asked, and I nodded. "Okay, I'll try it."

“Wait! What about you?” I then asked.

But she smiled. "I'll be fine; Blackcurrant won't hurt me."

Mystic then kissed me on the cheek, and I felt a tingling as Mystic's body was covered in an overflow of magic, then…

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… everything was dark and cramped. "Hello?" I said as I tried to move. Pushing as hard as I could, I heard a creek and a pop.

Light filled my vision as I tumbled to the floor, the familiar stale smell filling my nose. Getting up, I saw that I had been inside a trash box. The outside looked clean and friendly, but the inside was so rusted and crowded that I esily broke out.

Looking around, I was still in Sparkle-Cola Adventure, but over two hundred years into the future. The theme park was an absolute ruin, with the roof having caved in long ago and below, the red glowing Sparkle-Cola rad formed massive pools. The balcony I stood on was only held up by the roots and branches that I knew came from Mystic.

I held my cheek where Mystic had kissed me, making me wonder why?

My ear then twitched as I heard rustling far below. Taking a closer look over the balcony, my eyes adjusting to all the red, to my horror I saw a horde of feral ghouls. They simply stood around doing nothing as large glowing shrimp scurried around them. It was a nightmarish sight I didn't want to stick around to see more of.

Trotting out, I turned my pipbuck radio on and whispered. “It’s me, Slowtrot, I’m back! How long have I been gone?”

There was a crackling for a long moment before some pony spoke. "Oh, thank Celestia, you're alive!" Harp nearly yelled, forcing me to turn the sound down even more. “Where in Tartarus are you?”

“OutsideSparkle-Cola Adventure, third floor," I told her.

“Alright, that's good enough, and don't move… no, wait, find a place to hide," Harp said in a mild panic.

I was getting a really bad feeling about this. “Harp, what went wrong?”

There was a pause, not long, but long enough that I knew I was about to really hate what she was about to tell me. "Slowtrot, You remember how we were told that the city was flooded with feral ghouls? We might have accidentally called them here, and they might have found a way in."

I sighed. "Not just from the outside, but there's a horde inside Sparkle-Cola Adventure. It's full-on Night of the Living Zombpony in there."

“Shit! Let's just hope it's not something we'll need to deal with.” She said, and I got nervous. "And it doesn't help that the animatronics haven't been slowed down by this; I don't know why, but the ferals and animatronics are ignoring each other," Harp explained. “I'm sending the girls out to get you, so… alright, blow you on the second floor is a Red Racer parts shop. Just hide in there, grab what you can when the girls show up, then return here."

"Alright, I'm on my way." Trotting to the stairs, finding them now conveniently open, I made my way quickly and quietly down. The open shops greeted me with their lights on and flickering displays, but all had something wrong with them. A roasted nuts shop had mushrooms where the nuts used to be, and a board game shop was infested with black mold. There was a Puppet Pals shop that looked clean on the other hoof, way too clean to be trusted. The Red Racer shop looked just dusty, which was fine with me.

The smell of rust and expired oil here was thick but not to the point of being unbearable. Still, I put on my gas mask to be sure. If my memory is correct, the founder of Red Racer was Scootaloo, one of the CEO's of Stable-Tec. Also, from what I remember from Thorn's memory, I saw that Scootaloo may have been dragged into some really bad ideas for Stable-Tec. But that wasn't here or there right now; what was important was that this was a Red Racer parts shop that sold more than scooters.

There were fully constructed bicycles, skateboards, and scooters on display here, though none were in any condition to touch. "How depressing! I would have freaked as a foal to be able to grab anything I wanted here, but it's all just junk now," I said to myself.

The sound of metal hitting the floor to the back nearly sent me jumping to the ceiling. I took a deep breath and though I knew it was a bad idea, I decided to investigate. It was mostly rust and mold here, but the closer to where the sound was, the cleaner this seemed to get. Then I realized I was in a Stable-Tec brand area.

I could only guess the stuff here was made with different materials or was just more rust-resistant, because the tools and parts here were all still in usable condition… though some were scattered about.

"H… hello?" I said, with the empty but not empty Checoves Promis at the ready. I found a blue tarp set up like a tent, and inside, a small something. It moved, and I could see a foal, a colt. Lowering my gun, I breathed a sigh of relief. "Hay kid, it's safe," I told him.

The colt turned, and I could see the blank milky white eyes of a feral ghoul, and though he still had his fur along with his mane and tail, he had long since chewed off his own lips and rubbed off the skin around his nose. With a snarl, the feral colt ghoul charged, and I entered S.A.T.S.

Time slowed to a crawl as the grim reminder of what had become of Equestria looked me in the face, mouth open and tongue missing. How hungry was he, how alone and scared he must have been. I had a good chance to hit on the head and took it, not wanting the colt to suffer more than he had. As time slowly returned to normal, I brought my gun down on the colt's head, cracking his skull.

I was unable to look away. The colt had died long ago, but it was no more brutal and dreadful of a thing I just did. And everything came welling up as I said, "Dear Celestia," then yelled, "FUCKING DAMNIT!"

“Slowtrot!” I heard Live yell!

Taking a deep breath, I called back, “Over here!”

Live, Star, and Lair were racing over, dressed up as security ponies, who stopped when they saw what I had done.

"Oh, the poor baby." Star gasped as she trotted to the colt and closed his eyes.

Lair placed a silver coin on his head. “If your lost soul still resides here, please look at the light of this coin and go to it.”

Live on the other hoof trotted up to me, eyebrow raised up. “Umm… What's with the getup?”

I struck a pose, forcing myself to be okay. "Just an outfit from a Hoof Full of Bits; it's a classic movie."

She just shrugged at me. "Okay, I guess it looks neat." She looked around, her eyes wide. "Ohh, jackpot. We need to take what we can from here."

Lair slapped a big tool kit with the Stable-Tec Logo on it. "Fuck ya, these are quality tools and parts. Any sailor worth their salt would kill to return these to the herd."

"Just do it, and be quick about it," Star said as she wrapped the foal in the tarp. Those animatronics are going to be on us soon."

"It's… good to see you're alright. You had me… We were worried," Live told me as she grabbed a large toolbox.

"Ya, it's good to be back," I said as I helped grab what we could.

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