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

Fallout: Equestria

Desperado’s V4: Molly Manticore Mega Mall.

Ch 6, Nightmare Manifested.

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Though time had done its damage, this private station certainly was a V.I.P. area. It was clean and well polished, with decor that didn't border on the gaudy, a quality over quantity style. There were statues and busts, along with a few paintings, all in near pristine condition. And though the marble-looking floors and walls had cracks, none looked or felt unstable. We took a bit of time to just look around, but after Platinum Hill, this was only marginally impressive.

Harp looked the least impressed, letting out a sigh at a statue. “Let me guess, a copy of something you know?” I asked.

“Worse, an original to feed a certain ponies obsession.” She said, pointing at a plack.

"The goddess of beauty," I read, then looked up at the statue and noticed that it resembled Fizzy a bit.

“Magnificence told me a bit about this, that Blackcharry hated coming here because of her brother's obsession over her. Commissioning these in some twisted worship of her.” Harp explained.

Fizzy joined us, looking at the statue with unease. “Normally, I'm flattered having images of myself, but this makes me feel exposed, like ya know.”

"Because, unlike the porn you've made, their occult magic is attached to it," Lair said as she trotted over, even running her hoof over it. I then noticed that the statue had little bat like wings growing out of them and was very anatomically accurate, down to the slightly exaggerated privets. Way too precise for my tastes, as though I was peeping at a real pony. That's when Lair frowned. "I don't think we should stay here for long."

“What, why?” I asked.

“Gargoyles,” Rattlebones said. “Those aren't statues, they were ponies.”

Fizzy gasped. "You don't mean?"

Rattlebones nodded. "I've seen it before, where if a creature is petrified for long enough, they become Gargoyles. However, if they still have a sane mind, it's unlikely. Best if we do not find out."

"But we can un-petrify them, can't we?" I mentioned.

“Too risky to try now.” Pewter said. “and like Rattle said, they may not be sane.”

Live joined us, looking worried. “Is… this what will happen to my sister?”

Pewter shrugged. "Hard to tell. It takes a hundred years for a gargoyle to be born, and even then, other factors are involved, such as radiation and other dark magic."

Live let out a sigh of relief. “Then let's get moving, this place creeps me the fuck out.”

"Agreed, but I'll let Greased Chain know about them. Maybe some of these poor ponies can still be saved," Harp told us.

Pewter trotted up to one, placing a string with a silver coin attached to it around the petrified mare's neck. "I'll catch up to you and make sure they stay asleep."

In all agreement, we trotted out of the V.I.P. station and down a long hallway. I was a little paranoid about the statues following us while our eyes were off them, but in the end, nothing happened. Eventually, we came up to a blast door oddly different from what I had seen before. On it was an image of an alicorn, and it almost looked like Celestia, yet far more masculine.

Harp let out a very irradiated groan. “Fucking Solarus-Tec, of course, they had to be involved here.”

“Who?” Star asked.

I decided to answer. “A rival to Stable-Tec. They were never as big as Stable-Tec was, but they were well known enough.”

"And they were certifiably incompetent and insane," Harp told us. "Nothing Solarus-Tec did work as it should, yet they stumbled into making some of the most advanced techs you will ever find. That is if you like accidentally atomizing your house."

"Oh, right. There was that incident with the vacuum radio. Somehow, it acted as a sonic weapon at the right frequency," I said.

"Oh, that sounds cool. Did you see it in action?" live asked

I nodded. “Nearly got killed by it when I gifted one to my sister… well, they were all recalled, so I doubt any still exist.”

"Among other such blunders in arcano-tec science." Harp sneered as she opened the blast door. To our amazement and annoyance, several doors opened in a different way, reminding me of the spy movies when entering the spy's base.

After the sixth door opened, the way was clear, and a blast of air blew past us; it was humid and smelled of grass.

“Certainly doesn't smell like your typical ruin,” Lair commented.

“It certainly does not,” Rattlebones added. “Stay close to me, little pear.”

Glittering Matrix huffed. “I'm not a foal, gramps, don't call me that.”

The old stallion nodded. “Right, right. Still, stay close, okay.”

"I'll check on ahead," Azure said, then trotted into darkness.

After a bit, our radio crackled. “It's clear, but we have a minor problem.” the Lurker told us.

We trotted down the long hallway, our only light coming from the pipbucks, distorting our shadows. The further we trotted, the more cracks formed in the concrete, formed by roots of some plant weaving in and out.

Catching up to Azure, we were stopped by a checkpoint with a security booth and another blast door. The booth had a robot inside, whose head was a terminal screen. The thing was lurched over and lifeless.

Azure hit a button on the blast door, but nothing happened. “Looks like the power is off on this side.”

"Right, let me try something," Harp said, shimmering, trotting to the door. Power returned, turning on the lights and causing the sound of beeps and boops to come from all around.

“Amazing!” Rattlebones said in awe.

“Gauck all you like, but I can't do this forever!” Harp said. “Fizzy, open the door!”

"Right, like sorry!" Fizzy jumped and rushed over, pressing her hoof to a pad.

Lights flickered red, and nothing happened.

“Umm… what's happening?” Harp asked.

Fizzy scratched her chin for a second. "Last time, like, Mister Robot let me in. And it did a whole skanny thing before opening the next door after this."

The power went out, and Harp gave a frustrated sigh. "Why didn't I ask first?" She then turned her attention to the robot. It twitched as its power came back on. "Robot, let us in!"

The screen that was its face flickered, and the image of a police pony head appeared. “Hello! As per security-related procedures, all passing through must be vetted by security. We can't have any pesky Zebras sneaking through.”

“And how do we do that?” Harp asked.

“I’ll contact the secretary's office, and they will check the Ministry registration… oh my, it seems that the power is down, and security cannot be contacted. Only ponies in my local registry can be allowed through until contact with security is established.” The robot then scanned us all, a green lite on its head flickering. “Two known ponies on local registry confirmed. Miss Blackroot, and … ERROR… ERROR… Employee Slowtrot, paycheck still not collected, cannot be removed from registry… Welcome back… Slowtrot… you are… ERROR… days absent from work, please report to the security office promptly.”

All eyes fell onto me, and I face hoofed. “You gotta be kidding me,” I grumbled.

Harp stopped giving the robot power and trotted back to us. “I think I have a plan.”

“Let me guess, I will go in and open the doors for everypony,” I said.

"Yes, though not as simple," Harp said. "It seems that security is… overly through here, and we won't be able to get in unless we blast through or make it recognize us as V.I.P.'s. And no, we're not blasting through; otherwise, we risk either this place collapsing or security coming down on us hard."

“So how do we do this?” Lair asked as she eyed me. “I doubt Slowtrot here can hack a terminal. Then there's the power thing… What about hacking the robot?”

“Not going to work,” Glittering said as she pointed at the security booth. “Look, it's completely cut off, no way in or out.”

Order flew over to the window as Harp spoke. "A cable connected to the robot is likely connecting it to the security office. It's likely what also supplies the robot with power."

"That means we need Slowtrot to turn on the power," Rattlebones said, "But then there's the security issue."

"Easy enough," Harp said as Order flew over to her. Once the power is on, I can send, Order on my behalf. I'll be able to hack any terminal through it. After that, Slowtrot just needs to upload our data to it as V.I.P.'s." She then pointed at my pipbuck. Can you check if you have all our data in that?"

I had nearly every pony's medical information on my pipbuck. "Everypony but Rattlebones and Glittering," I told them.

“Good, then scan them, then we'll get you in,” Harp told me.

“I'll go too!” Fizzy announced.

“No, you won't!” Harp snapped, “We can't risk you getting hurt, and it sounds a bit callous, but Slowtrot…”

"I get it. I would rather not have anypony risk their lives on my behalf either," I told them. "Anyways, it sounds simple enough; turn the power back on and head to security. But how are you getting Order inside?"

"Simple, the same way Fruit Fly gets around. Isn't that right!" Harp shouted.

Several clunks came from the ventilation, and the sprite-bot was stuck in the opening. "Very much so, but the vents stay shut without power."

“I don't like that thing.” Order stated. “Or trust it, my Lady.”

“Neither do I, but it's the least of our worries right now,” Harp said as she trotted back to the checkpoint. “Slowtrot, you should still be able to contact us through the pipbuck radio, so let us know if you see anything odd.”

I trotted over and nodded at her. "Everything is odd to me right now, but I'll do that."

The door and robot powered back on, and a board police pony was now on the robot's screen. "State your business?”

“Checking into security to pick up my last paycheck,” I told it

“Very well, please enter.” It said, and the doors opened.

Trotting inside, there was a clear spot for me to stand, and doing so, the robot pressed a few buttons. “Scanning will commence; please stand still.” Several lights washed over me, and then everything was bathed in red. Contraband detected, weapons detected, employee out of uniform!” A clunking sound came from the door as it shut on me, and a slot opened in the wall.

“Ummmm…” I said out loud.

“It's okay; just dump everything. We'll get it back later,” Harp told me.

Sighing, I dumped my saddle bag, guns, and clothing. Strangely feeling naked without any of it… Oh, right, I was.

A green light flashed on, and the slot closed. Then another opened, and it filled with a few things. Pulling them out, I groaned as I saw a Molly Manticore security uniform and hat, a belt with a busted radio, a rusty baton, a large flashlight, and a… my gun!? Checoves Promis somehow got back to me, and though I dreaded that gun, it was at least a small comfort.

Getting dressed, the other door opened, and I trotted through. "I'm on the other side," I said over the radio, and the door slammed shut as the power went out.

“Good. Are you okay?” Harp asked.

I tossed the broken radio to the side and replied. “Ya, just had to change clothes, still got my pistol too, but no spare mags. Or any ammo in it.”

“Shit, that sucks, but why no ammo?” Star said.

“I keep that gun empty,” I admitted.

Star let out a groan. “Why not? Pistols are useless if you can't just pull it out and start firing!”

I rolled my eyes. “This gun goes off on its own, so no, I don't keep it loaded!”

“Enough chatter.” Harp cut in. “Slowtrot, do you see anything over there?”

Turning on my pipbuck lamp, I breathed a sigh of relief, as right next to me was a map. "Ya, I got a map of this level. I think there's a backup generator not far from here, and the security office is a bit further out."

“Good, get that power on, and please be careful,” Harp told me.

"I'll do my best," I told the others as I took a closer look at the map. I couldn't tell how big this place was without a reference to compare it to, but the number of hallways and rooms told me that this mall was massive. Fortunately, it didn't seem like every square hoof was used, but it was still mind-boggling. The important places were also labeled, so I could still read despite the mold and grime that grew on the map.

This particular tunnel connected to a bigger one, which circled under the mall, connecting to a few other tunnels of the same size, likely going outside. Nothing was in the center, which seemed odd, and elevators were all over the place, likely for moving products. Most of the smaller rooms down here just had a letter and numbers, which I guessed was for storage, and a few employee lounges were brightly listed.

A sense of dread washed over me, thinking about what I might find in such places.

Refocusing on the task at hoof, the generator room for this sector was just down the way and around a corner. The sooner I get the door open for everypony, the sooner I won't have to be here on my own.

My hooves echoed down the dark and empty hallway, my pipbuck light helping me see well enough not to trip over my hooves or the odd root. Properly attaching my new flashlight to my uniform so that the beam shot ahead, it flickered on, providing poor illumination, but one that extended further than my pipbuck.

I was then treated to seeing a long dark brown smear along the wall, which I hoped was just paint, yet I was sure it wasn't. "It's not safe here," I muttered to myself, checking Checoves Promise to make sure it was still there. Even without ammo, it at least made me feel safer.

After getting turned around once, I finally found the door to the generator, cracked open by a vine on the ground having wedged through. To no surprise, the door was stuck; the open button didn't respond. Seeing nothing to use around me, I pulled out the baton, a metal tube wrapped in a rugged and cracked rubber. Wedging it in the door, I pushed forward, hoping to open it. "Open ya, rusted bastard." I cursed, putting my back into it.

With a clunk, the door moved a little, then steam burst out, and the door opened, causing me to fall over. With the way clear, I got back up and dusted myself off, picking the baton off the floor. The thing was never meant to be a pry bar and was now bent with the rubber hanging off, but I awkwardly sheathed it anyway.

The generator room was just as dark as everything else, but the issue was clear. At some point, one of the animatronics got into the generator, likely causing a power surge, or I guessed. I saw a sizable robotic rodent in red pants, with its face on a thick cable, as though it attempted to chew through it.

Scanning the room, nothing else looked out of place except the occasional root growing through the walls. Trotting to the robot slowly, I lightly tapped it with the bent baton, just in case it was still active. After a long moment of it not moving, I breathed a sigh of relief and attempted to get it off the large cabal. It was too heavy to push or pull, so I had to roll the bastard off. So, taking a deep breath, I got a good hold and pulled upward, hoping to roll it.

Slowly and annoyingly, it moved. To my disgust, small insects scurried out of every opening and even onto me as I slowly moved it. With one last huff, I flipped the robot over and off the exposed wire, causing me to collapse onto it.

The burnt skull of a pony came muzzle to muzzle with me inside the robot's mouth, and for a long and dreadful moment, I couldn't move, only looked into its empty eye sockets. Only when a pale white spider crawled out of the skull and waved its legs at me did I push back, launching myself away as I quietly screamed?

I took a moment to catch my breath as I lay there, wondering if it was even worth it to stay here. Maybe just leaving and building bigger walls around the city was the better plan. I knew it wasn't. If left alone, whatever was down here would get out, and we all would regret not doing anything about it when we could. But I knew I would regret being here, yet there was no going back.

That was the story of my life, damned if I do, damned if I don't. I couldn't help but try to help Poppy, just as I couldn't help but try and help the R&D Stable. Both times, I got burned for it.

"I'll regret not doing something more than trying to at least help. It's best to see this to the end," I told myself as I got up.

If I was right, I noticed there should be a master circuit breaker here, along with the fuse box. To my luck, this place was built like most generator rooms. On a large metal box was a lever, and next to it was a pannal. Checking the pannal, I opened it to find a nearly burnt-out fuse box, the large industrial fuse shattered inside.

Clicking my tongue in annoyance, I looked about, moving boxes and opening drawers, but only finding junk I couldn't use. I did find a hammer, and it gave me an idea. Returning to the fuse box and pulling out the bent baton, it was just bent enough to fit if given a few love taps. An old trick I learned at the munitions plant was that anything metal could be a fuse if it didn't melt or catch fire. Scared the shit out of me to see a white-hot screw in the box, but if it worked, it worked.

Bashing it into place, I then flipped the master circuit breaker down and then back up, causing the generator to spark back on. Sparks of magical energy shot from the generator and the fuse box, but the power stayed on as the emergency light dimly illuminated the room.

“Powers on,” I said over the radio. “Oh, and one of those robots caused the outage.”

“---I-zzz--ear you. S---ding -zzz-der over.” Harp said.

Sitting tight, I looked around, noticing that there was graffiti all over the place. Nothing as bad as that raider-infested stable, but it was rather bleak. Mostly, it was ponies cursing the Ministries and the Zebras. Still, a lot of "Molly is coming" was repeated all over the place, as though the pony was being driven mad with fear. But disturbing me the most was one phrase written big and bold, “There can be no hope when all is Strife!”

Looking at the rat robot, I wonder if the poor pony inside it and the one trapped down here were the pony. The poor soul having been driven to madness before being found by the animatronic.

As the vent opened, a clunk caught my attention, and Order hovered down. "Hello Slowtrot!” It said in its robotic voice.

Harp then spoke through her drone. “Checking, checking, is there any interference, Slowtrot?"

“No, I hear you just fine,” I replied.

“Oh, thank Celestia. All the concrete and steel were messing with the signal. Order is far more advanced and made for an underground environment, so it's not as much of a problem as you can see." Order then few around, scanning the room but not getting too close to the generator, and stopping near the fried robot. "So this the culprit, and… oh fuck, is that a pony inside!”

I nodded. "Just like we were told. I hope the poor pony wasn't alive when they got stuffed inside."

Order bobbed in agreement. “Ya, but why?”

"Personality, I don't care. I hated those robots long before they became like… that. Let's just finish this mission and destroy all of them." I said.

“Right, I'll meet you in security, so watch yourself.” She said as Order flew back up into the vents.

“You don't need to tell me that twice,” I said out loud.

Remembering the direction, I trotted out of the room and…

"Crap, which way again?" I said with a sigh before remembering my pipbuck was made for this. Checking the map, I got myself pointed in the right direction. Only to be stopped by a mass of roots. Roots and two feral ghouls on the other side. The ghouls hadn't seen me quite yet, so I backed up and took a detour, and to my annoyance, it was through an employee lounge.

I was at least grateful for what lights were on for me and that I didn't need to pry the door open since the power was on, but trotting into the lounge confirmed one of my fears.

On a long rotted away coach were three skeletons holding each other; their uniform looked to be from a shipping company, likely getting stuck down here when the bombs dropped. Surrounding the bones were a ton of bottles, chem tins, and one revolver. Each skeleton had the back of its skull shattered, the wall painted brown, and three bullet holes.

I let a breath out I hadn't realized I was holding, a sense of sorrow washing over me as I imagined the hopeless scene. Who were they, and what were they thinking? We may never know, but at least they weren't alone, even in despair.

I stayed no longer in the lounge than I needed to and made my way to security. To my annoyance, another one of those terminal screen robots was in another sealed-off booth, with the face of a board policy mare on it and another checkpoint door. "State your business,” the robot asked.

"I'm here to see security for my last paycheck. Slowtrot's my name," I told the bot.

The robot's screen flickered, and the police looked annoyed as the door opened. "Step on in.” Just like before, the room scanned me, and like before, a red light flashed. “Where is your baton, your radio?”

“The radio was broken, and the baton was lost,” I said.

The red light turned off. “The company will be taken out of your paycheck.” the robot said before opening the door. “Pick up new gear inside before returning to work.”

I shrugged before entering.

Inside, I found Order buzzing about from one terminal to the next. "Oh, good. You're here. I almost have things ready; just give me a moment," Harp said.

Letting her work, I took a quick look around. The room was pretty large with several rows of terminals, each with a robot at them, the same kind inside the booths, but these weren't connected to the floor but had wheels for a lower half. Most were just scrap, but a few were still active and tapping away on broken terminals. Another room looked to house a bunch of giant robots, similar to the screen heads here but bulkier and meaner looking. I was sure they were some sort of security robot and glad none seemed active.

A green blinking light caught my eye at a door that said "Armory," next to it was another door that said, "Contraband."

Trotting over, I saw my gear in the Contraband room, locked tight behind the metal door. With a sigh, I checked the armory, hoping something good was still inside. Unsurprisingly, it looked like the armory had already been ransacked long ago. But not everything had been taken, thankfully. There were only a few spare batons and radios and what looked like a complete set of security armor. But no guns or ammo, not even a helmet.

Taking the radio and baton to satisfy the security, I then pulled out what armor there was. All of it was cloth armor with plates underneath, strong and rigid, reminding me of Stable-Tec security armor. It did not cover all that much, but it was better than nothing.

“That looks like Stable-Tec armor!” Harp said over my shoulder through Order.

“It probably is, but I don't think it will be useful,” I said.

“Still, better than nothing. Anyways, that armor was made to protect from cutting, stabbing, or blunt force trauma. And if I remember correctly, the royal guard back home put alloy strips in that armor to help better protect from guns.” She explained as Order had flown to a large terminal and plugged itself into it. "That aside, I need you to hook up your pipbuck to this. We should be able to register all of us as employees on the local registry.”

Doing just that, the large terminal fortunately had cables already on it, possibly from the last ponies to have been here. There was even a note left behind, so after hooking up my pipbuck, I read the note.

Yo! To whoever makes it this far into this shitshow, sorry we didn't leave much behind, there wasn't much left anyways, and we needed the gun for the obvious. I at least left behind a proper set of armor to make room for the guns. It's a spare set of ballistic weave that I thought somepony would use, so it should at least give you some protection.

Oh, and if you have the same luck as we did, you should put it on right away. Molly has direct access to this security room and probably knows you're here.

Sincerely, Rainbow Dash

I recognized that signature. When I was a foal, I had a signed Wonderbolt poster, and that certainly was Rainbow Dash's signature.

Taking a deep breath, I quickly put on the security armor, strapping it tightly over the uniform. "Are you done yet?" I asked.

“Almost, there's just so much junk data that the system matrix is overburdened, not to mention how old it is. Why, something wrong?” Harp said.

"Ya, Rainbow Dash left a letter here, and she said that Molly might be paying me a visit soon," I said just as a loud clunk caught our attention.

Order revved its wings as Harp spoke. “Shit! Just a moment, it's almost done!" The screen flickered as a lot of gibberish text flashed by, error after error, before the screen went black. "Oh, thank Celestia, it's done! Now get the fuck out of there!"

I didn't need to be told as I unplugged my pipbuck and looked for a way out.

The door opened, and I ducked low as Order flew up high and away from me. "Over here!" The Order called out, and I heard slow and heavy hoofsteps, which sounded much like power armor.

Peeking, I saw her—Molly Manticore. It was not the same robot I was used to; it was one of the newer models—well, newer back in my time. Despite the rust, she was brighter in color and shine, looking more like an oversized toy than an animatronic. But time had degraded the friendliness that Molly might have had, as her rounded graspers had rusted away to become jagged, rusty claws, which reached up for Order, causing some mechanical parts inside her to sputter.

Crawling away, there was only one other door out of here and my only salvation. Thanks to Order, Molly was too distracted to see me, giving me a clear way out. Pulling the lever, the door made the loudest screech in my life, forcing me to roll over under a desk to hide.

Molly, now likely looking my way, slowly stomped over, a distorted circus tune playing from her, the same music she always played. A growl came from outside, and two feral ghouls trotted in.

I then realized that my salvation was blocked by the same roots that forced me to go around.

Both feral ghouls then charged Molly, slamming into her hard metal shell, doing nothing. With one claw, she swiped a ghoul's face off, its congealed blood tossed across the room. Molly then grabbed the other as she opened her mouth. Like my nightmare made real, Molly's once blunted teeth had too rusted away, forming two rows of jagged fangs, top and bottom, looking sickly brown.

“Slowtrot!" Harp Called out. There's an emergency hatch to your right.” I looked over to see more walls. "Your other right!" she yelled, and I saw it—an emergency exit hatch that had been opened long ago and was covered in cobwebs.

A loud crunch stole my attention as I looked to see Molly rip the Ghoul in two with her mouth, guts, and tendons being stretched out till they snapped and spilled their rotting guts all over her.

Crawling, I almost went to the exit hatch when I froze. Nothing was inside the hatch, yet something looked back at me. Nothing was there, just darkness, yet something was. I was sure of it.

The darkness then moved. A shadowy form of a pony could barely be made out, and it glared at me. "There can be no hope." A voice spoke from nowhere, speaking to me. When all is," a glass bottle rolled from a desk and shattered on the ground near me. Strife!”

My blood ran cold as the shadow pony vanished, and I looked back. With a thud of a step, Molly was now looking at me, illuminated enough in the dim light to make out several burn marks on her shell, partly melted spots. Hanging from her mouth was a ripped piece of purple cloth and a fair bit of hair from a rainbow mane.

I scrambled as Molly charged at me, but several loose papers under me kept me from moving. Unable to think what to do next, or think much at all, I curled up and protected my head and neck as I was taught as a foul when attacked by an animal, letting the animatronic slam a claw into me. Everything went white with pain for a second as I went flying, slamming to a stop at the wall, when I got myself up and found myself next to the escape hatch. To my good fortune, Molly had fallen over, slipping on the same scattered paper as I had. But she wasn't down for long, and neither was I going to just stand in place and let her get a second shot at me.

Entering the hatch, only a ladder greeted me, and so I climbed, climbed like my life depended on it. Molly reached in soon after and up for me, pulling out a tuft of my tail, but I kept going, not looking back, not wanting to see that face again.

Reaching the top, I opened another hatch and came out in some smaller security watch room, the screens here all dead, long been smashed by some pony. Checking myself, thankfully, the armor on my shoulder had taken the hit, and its padding absorbed the worst of it. But the outer layer now had a gouge in it, and the metal plate ripped out, meaning if I was hit there again, it likely would be fatal. "Rainbow Dash, I owe you a beer," I said out loud as I trotted to the only door.

Carefully stepping out, I found myself in the mall, dimly illuminated by the sun that had just risen. To my astonishment, the mall was in near pristine condition. Aside from a crack here and there and some rust stains, it didn't look over two hundred years old. I could even see my reflection on the floor.

*Click*

The door closed behind me, and as I attempted to open it again, I found it magnetically locked. "Oh, that's not good," I said to myself as I was alone, trapped in the Mega Mall.

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