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

Fallout: Equestria

Desperado’s V4: Molly Manticore Mega Mall.

Ch 7, Echoes.

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It almost felt like I had gone back in time, almost. The dim, empty mall was more like a soulless reconstruction of the past, neither like a museum piece nor was it waiting for ponies to return. It felt more like that… this was how it wanted to be and how it would stay.

Worse, I felt unwanted here. Not unwanted like I was a stranger intruding on someone's home, no. It was an all-too-familiar feeling, like I was a reminder of better times, making the darkness here feel even darker. I had become accustomed to this feeling for over a year, up until the day Poppy just left after our very last fight.

Instinctively, I placed a hoof to my eye, even though it was my shoulder that hurt. Then, I took a deep breath, reminding myself that it was all in the past and that I had to focus on the now.

"Right, I can't stay in the open," I said as I looked around. Most of the store's rusted shutters were closed, each painted in bright colors that had long faded and flanked. Yet, no flakes could be found on the floor.

As I quietly and carefully trotted down the mall, I noticed other things out of place. There were plants along the middle of the walkway, still alive in the divider they were planted in and even creeping out. The roots from underground could even be found here, creeping up to the roof on the support pillars and sprouting large leaves. I even saw several small animals that were weirdly twisted, like some pony that tried to recreate a squirrel from memory alone. Then there were the shadows, which seemed to move in the corner of my eye, but nothing was ever there when I looked.

My worry and paranoia only grew as I trotted, exposed to whatever was out there, so when I saw an open Caffey, I rushed inside and hid behind the counter. The smell of coffee was absolutely nostalgic, even if it was also moldy and sour.

Several broken robots were on the floor behind the counter, all the same kind with a terminal for a head. They were just like the ones in the security office, looking like they could move independently with a single wheel for a lower half.

Finally feeling safe, I clicked on my radio. “Harp, can you hear me?” I whispered. Static blasted back, forcing me to turn the volume down. I thought I had heard a voice in the static, but nothing I could understand. “I can't understand you?” I whispered again, getting more static in return.

Clearly, the interference was worse here, dashing my hopes for any help.

I remembered what I had been told: so long as I kept a low profile, the security wouldn't respond much to me. I then looked at my uniform and realized that maybe any security would see me as one of their own.

The sound mechanical thudding nearly caused me to jump out of my own skin, reminding me that Molly had tried to kill me. Even if security saw me as one of their own, the animatronics didn't. As the thumping got louder, it became clear that whatever it was, it was huge. Peeking, an animatronic Orthrus passed by, trotting on two legs like an oversized diamond dog. I recognized them immediately as Oliver and Oscar, two robots built into one body. Following it were four police protect-a-ponies, armed with their shock claws, and two of the bigger terminal robots; the image of an angry police pony was projected on their screen.

“Sweep the area," Oliver said

“All guests must be removed from the premises," Oscar said.

Oscar's face had similar damage to Molly's, scars from a fight long ago leaving the head blind on one side, which was to my good fortune to be on my side. But Oscar's mouth was similarly rusted as Molly's, giving the two-headed robot a downright bone-chilling silhouette.

As the security robots moved out, the animatronic walked away, loudly stomping out of sight. Which was good because I had instinctively held my breath and needed to breathe.

“Hello!” One of the big terminal robots said to me, nearly making me piss myself as I looked up at the carton image of a stern police mare. “Have you seen any trespassers? The mall is currently on lockdown.”

After an all-too-long moment of silence, I realized I wasn't in danger. I breathed a sigh of relief to see that the animatronic was gone. Since the robot saw me as an employee, maybe I could get help.

"Uhhh, no, I haven't seen anypony," I said to the robot. "Can I ask a few questions?"

The screen flickered, the face switching to a more friendly-looking police mare. "Certainly!”

After thinking for a moment, I came up with a few simple questions to start with: "Right, first off, what are you?"

“We are a mark one securitron designed in Lost Pegasus, with help from the Blackroots family. We provide superior law keeping compared to the standard protect-a-ponies in every way.” The robot said with preprogrammed pride

So they're called securitron, and the smaller ones must be simplified versions. "Now, I need to get back into the basement, but I lost my key to the security office. How do I get back down?"

“The mall is on full lockdown, and all access to the underground is locked off. Until upper management lifts the lockdown, none are allowed under the mall.” It answered.

That was bad news, meaning I was stuck up here. But then I had an idea: "How can I contact security under the mall?"

The securitron took a moment to respond, the screen flickering. "Have you turned on your radio?” Spoke the prerecorded voice of a mare, who strangely sounded like a very unamused Fizzy with a Canterlot accent.

Looking at the radio on my belt, I then turned the power knob on. Radio static slowly got louder as I tuned it, and then I pressed the talk button. "Hello, is anypony there?"

I stood there for a moment, with the security looming over me, and then I heard Fizzy's voice. "Hello? Oh, like hay, can I order some sparkle-cola and-"

“Slowtrot! Is that you, Slowtrot?!” Harp called out through the security radio, with a crashing sound that could be heard in the background.

Pressing talk, I spoke into the radio. "Ya, it's me. A little banged up from a close call, but I'm safe now."

“Thank Celestia. You had us worried. But why are you on the local radio… oh of course, why didn't we think they'd do that. This place is probably Zebra paranoid and has all but local radio signals jammed between the mall and basement.” Harp said, sounding relieved, but a banging in the background made me very nervous.

“What about all of you, is Molly's down there?” I asked.

“We're fine; Fruit Fly guided us to a V.I.P. safe room that Molly can't access. She keeps knocking, but she can't get in. It also looks like Blackcharry rerouted the mall's basic security network to here, so I should be able to help you." She explained.

I looked up at the securitron and nodded. “Thanks for the help.”

"And there you go, seriously, this is why you're all getting replaced by robots," the mare's voice said before a click sound ended the recording. Then, the securitron just rolled away.

“Was that Blackcharry?” Harp asked.

I shrugged. "Probably a recording Blackcharry left in the spell matrix for common issues. I can't say I'm surprised that forgetting to turn on the radio would be one of those issues."

“Let me guess, you're guilty of that," Star said mockingly.

“Maybe…” I said, remembering it happening at least twice. “But that aside, can you lift the lockdown? I can't get back down to you until it's lifted.”

“Right, let me check…” Harp said the sound of tapping could be heard through the radio. The lights flickered on for a moment before going back to emergency lighting. "Well, fuck. It seems that the mall is stuck in some sort of security loop. Something in the mall is triggering the lockdown, and unless it's fixed, there's not much I can do.”

"Let me guess, I'll have to fix this problem," I sighed.

“Yes, and unfortunately, it looks like whatever is causing the lockdown to stay on is on the fourth floor, " she explained to me.

That was perfect, and I bet I couldn't just take an elevator up. "Right, head up to the fourth floor. Is there any help you can get me? Fortunately, the normal robots see me as an employee, but I don't want to gamble with the animatronics."

“Yeah, I got a map of the mall here and access to the doors," Harp informed me. It looks like I can't access the stairs or elevators, which is extremely stupid of whoever programmed that, but I can open any store with second floor access. You can then go up that way. Can you tell me where you are?”

"Canterlot Coffee," I told her.

“Please tell me it's in good condition; I haven't had a latte in too long.” Harp blurted out. “I mean… sorry, let me check the map. It's on the first floor, in our area… seriously, there are four of them! Slowtrot, can you check and see what shop is across from you?."

Peeking over, I then sighed. “Another Canterlot Coffee.”

There was a long pause before Harp spoke up again. “Why were you wartime ponies like this?”

"Most of us were suffering wartime stress disorder and self-medicating. That's why we did stupid shit like putting a Canterlot Coffee across from another Canterlot Coffee." I explained.

This time, Harp sighed. "I guess that makes sense. Well, there should be a Sparkle-Cola shop west of you. It has stairs to the second floor you can take. Azure and Order will be meeting you up there."

"They're already out here?" I asked.

“Azure slipped away like he normally does and found Order in the mall," Harp told me.

“Hay Slowtrot!” Fizzy said. "Please grab me something from the Sparkle-Cola shop—anything would be nice!"

I wasn't surprised at all that she'd requested that.

“Me too!” Glittering Matrix requested.

"Alright, just don't expect anything fancy, okay," I told the two mares.

Carefully looking outside the cafe, I saw just one Protect-a-ponies still here, tangled in the overgrown vines. Leaving it be, I trotted west, ensuring my hoofsteps were as quiet as possible. But I was also a bit more confident, as I knew that the typical robots weren't dangerous to me… yet. I just needed to keep an eye and ear out for the animatronics.

Now, after spending time looking at the stores, I realize that the feeling of nostalgia really hit me hard. Foals Surplus, a shop that makes toy replications of gear used in the war. Red Racer, this one being the classic scooter shop, not the spark battery recharge station. To my surprise, there was even a Cheese Sandwich Funporium here, which I had thought they were all closed down by the Ministry of Morral.

Why were the Funporiums shut down? If I remember correctly, the Ministry Mare Pinkypie was in a relationship with Cheese Sandwich… until they weren't.

Refocusing on the now and wanting to avoid messing up and getting eaten by an animatronic, I spotted the Sparkle-Cola shop; it was hard to miss with the two-story-high bottle out on the corner of the shop. It was one of four shops at a cross-section with a curtained off-stage in the middle. The other shops were Hay Burgers, Candy Cove, and a Molly Manticore Pizzeria. I was thankful that Harp didn't open any of the other three, as a rancid rotting smell lingered in the air, and I was sure it came from them.

Looking up, this area gave me a better view of the upper floors, and I could better see that there were only three floors. So, the fourth floor must be on the roof. Seeing vines covering the glass over me didn't fill me with much joy, making me wonder what kind of mess was up there.

Something moving inside the Sparkle-Cola shop caught my eye; it was glowing painful red, an all too familiar red glow. A feral ghoul then trotted out, the thing covered in layers of Sparkle-Cola-themed clothing, and what skin was exposed was glowing a sickly Sparkle-Cola Rad red. The glowing ghoul wandered about, likely having been trapped in there since the bombs dropped, leaving filth and glowing hoofprints with each step. Soon, three more glowing ghouls joined it, all making a lot of noise as they bumbled about.

“Slowtrot, hide!” Harp said over the radio. “An animatronic is heading your way!”

Jumping into the overgrown shrubbery, I heard the loud stomping of a robot getting closer and closer. Muller Maulwurf stepped out from around a corner; the gigantic mole robot had massive teeth that would have scared the shit out of me if not for its even more nightmarishly large claws. The animatronic must have had thick foam covering the claws at one point and padding on the knuckles with which it walked with, but now both had been worn away to nothing, leaving sharp, rusted skeleton claws. I knew by looking at it that my armor would do nothing to protect me from those; even if they stopped me from getting slashed, the hit alone would crush me.

Several less intimidating securiton-like robots rolled in from behind Muller, holding brooms and mops, and another using an industrial vacuum. Muller itself put its tendrils nose to the ground, and a sucking noise could be heard as it began cleaning after the ghouls. I was gobsmacked, seeing such a robot used as an industrial vacuum.

The feral ghouls didn't like the robots interrupting their newfound freedom and attacked. One of the cleaning bots was easily smashed, crumbling like a folding chair with just one tackle. On the other hoof, Muller was unfazed, lifting one claw and swiping it through a ghoul, turning it into a bloody mess. Red glowing gore stained everything, Nerely making me vomit at the sight.

Another ghoul was tossed onto the stage, causing the already rotting curtains to collapse, revealing two more animatronics. Both were squirrels, male and female, and other than the rust around their mouths, they were in good condition. Unfortunately, that included their eyes, as one looked right at me.

“It's story time here at Molly's glade!” The male squirrel said as it took a step towards me.

“What story do you wish for us to tell” the female squirrel then said, joining the male

As they stepped off stage, the squirrels slipped on the ghoul's blood and fell to the grouped. Using it as an opportunity, I bolted for the Sparkle-Cola shop. My hoof lost traction as I slid on the slick floor, falling over to just be missed by Muller's claw as the massive robot clumsily stumbled forward. But my luck ended there as I slid past the entrance to the shop, the ghoul gore covering everything now.

My pipbuck then began to click, warning me of radiation, and I could only guess it was the ghoul's glowing blood that now stuck to me.

I pushed myself up and expected Muller to finish me off, but to my luck, the gigantic mole returned to cleaning and ignored me for now. The squirrels on the other hoof returned to the hunt, playing a distorted and out-of-tune recording of the Tortoise and the Hair. Though they didn't move fast, they were too close to the shop for me to bolt to it, and I dared not get too close to Muller.

“I am here to help!” Order, announced as the drone buzzed down. The drone fired a few bolts at the squirrels as it flew over them, causing one to chase it as the other continued to come at me.

*BANG!*

The loud shot of a rifle echoed loudly inside the mall as part of the female squirrel's ribbon exploded into pieces, and the robot itself then fell over.

“The way’s clear!” Azure yelled from the second floor.

Not wasting time, I dashed for the door, the squirrel on the floor reaching out for me with its metal claw, its head only dented. Inside the shop, the foul smell of rot was almost overpowering, my hoove sticking to the red glowing floor. Worse, the clicking of my pipbuck was going crazy, and I could feel the radiation's heat. Even if everything wasn't irradiated to shit, the store had been smashed and ruined, with red glowing mushrooms everywhere. So, there was no way I was taking anything from here for Fizzy, even if I wanted to.

Struggling to move, I went to the stairs, only to look back and see the squirrel following me, its big, heavy body unrestricted by the sticky floor.

Azure popped out again, firing his rifle at the animatronic, but this time, it did nothing to slow it down. "How thick is that skull?" He said before grabbing me and helping me up.

Aside from the mushroom-covered skeleton, the second floor was the same as the first. "Harp, close the shop!" I shouted through the radio as Azure, and I made our way out.

Just as the squirrel made its way up the stairs, the shutters closed and hopefully trapped it inside. That's when we heard the sound of police sirens in the distance, and soon we saw the flashing lights of the securitrons. The animatronic Orthrus also barreled through, nearly slamming into Muller, followed by its securitron escort. Fortunately, they were all on the first floor, but no way that would last long.

“You think we should split?” I said.

Azure nodded. “It's easy to get away if there is less chasing you.”

We both then ran in opposite directions, and the robots below struggled to pick which one of us to pursue.

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After getting far enough away, the security bots finally lost track of me, giving me a moment to catch my breath. But I was finding it hard to breathe and felt a bit lightheaded. My pipbuck was still slowly clicking, which left me worried.

“You okay?” Harp asked through Order, somehow showing concern through the drone's eyes.

I checked my pipbuck, and seeing that I had major radiation poisoning, I was left in shock. “Seriously, I was barely in that shop for long. Harp, is there a Ministry of Peace station anywhere nearby?”

“Just a moment,” she told me. “Okay, keep going down your direction and take the first left; I'll go find Azure and send him to you."

"Thanks. Let's just hope no ghouls are in there, too," I said, half jokingly.

“Please don't jinx yourself.” She said before flying off.

Taking a step, I nearly stumbled over as my head spun for a few seconds, then I powered forward. A little radiation poisoning wasn't going to stop me. But as I trotted, something felt off, like I could hear ponies in the distance, yet not? It sounded like an active mall. I was sure of it. I could even hear the faint music playing in a mall and smell the fresh food.

Rounding the corner, I saw the M.o.P. station, its lights both off and… on?

Trotting in, bright fluorescent light illuminated everything clearly in a way I haven't seen in months, not since I found myself in the wasteland. “Hello, sir; how can the servicetron aid you today?" It was one of those smaller securitrons, this one pristine and clean, the cartoon face of a nurse on the screen. Everything here was clean, with no cracks, rust, or dust.

Looking back, I saw the brightly lit mall, filled with ponies trotting about like back in my time. Had I traveled through time again, and if so, how? Harp hadn't pushed her magic into me, so it shouldn't have happened. Yet here I was.

I then felt queasy, reminding me why I had come here.

"I'm not feeling well, radiation poisoning," I told the servicetron nurse.

The robot's screen switched to concern, then back to a friendly, smiling face. "A simple matter; let me get you all cleaned up.” It then picked up a spray canister and a needle, rolling out from behind the counter. “Please remove your garment and stand still while I decontaminate you and inject some rad-away; it should clear you up in no time."

A robot with a needle didn't make me feel like staying still, but this was proper wartime medicine, so I wasn't going to freak out. Taking off the armor and uniform, I braced myself for the treatment.

A slight twinge of pain went into the upper front leg, and I could feel the rad-away being injected into me. Then the robot sprayed me and my gear down with a light mist that smelled strongly of mint. I recognized it as decontamination fluid; a few jobs I had done required us to go through it before clocking in or out, but it never told us why. Slowly, the clicking of my pipbuck stopped, and the red glowing blood dimmed as it slushed off me and my stuff.

“You should be all good now, and please stay healthy. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!" the servicetron cheerfully told me.

Getting dressed, I felt better again. Though my clothes were still stained with the remnants of those ghouls, at least they didn't glow anymore.

My ears then twitched as the sound of thumping caught my attention. Turning to look outside, to my horror, Molly stepped into view. The animatronic was in pristine condition, brightly colored, and had no rust. But it still had those damn teeth, blunted ya, but no less capable of crushing a ponies skull.

Unable to think, I waved at Molly.

The animatronic then waved back before walking off, a trail of foals following her.

After a long moment, I let out a breath I had been intentionally holding, the tension leaving me.

“Ahhh!” Azure nearly screamed. “On by the Abyssal Queen, is that what I've been doing to all of you?”

I was still in the M.o.P. station, but the lights were dim, everything was covered in dust, and the walls were cracked, with rust peeking from the seams of the metal sidings. "Sorry about that," I told Azure.

Order, then buzzed around me as Harp spoke through it. “Did you just jump through time? And you're looking a bit better too?”

"Yes, and yes." I told her, "I was able to get properly treated by the robot here." I informed my friend as I looked behind the counter, finding the medical servicetron's screen ripped from its crumpled body. Behind it, a stain of brown rust and fragments of bone.

"Oh my, that doesn't look like a happy scene," Azure commented.

“From the position, I think the robot was protecting somepony and failed," Harp added.

It certainly did, and the image of Molly passing by the station replayed in my mind. Looking around, I could see it, the faint sounds of more death. Splotches of rust all over, the floor worst of all, painting a picture of many victims here. How many ponies had gathered here for help, only to be caged in by Molly and her friends, then slaughtered.

"Let's just gather anything we might need and get out of here," I said as I felt like all eyes were on me, eyes of those calling for help who had long since become lost.

Azure and I began looking through the drawers as Order kept watch but we ultimately found nothing of use; the station had long been looted by the long-dead. But there was a locked back room with dents and gashes embedded into it. Azure attempted to open it but found the door locked.

There was a keypad, which surprisingly still worked despite being damaged and rusted. "Let's see," I said, and pressed 0, 0, 0, 0. With a beep, it opened up.

Azure rolled his eyes. “Of course, if it's not zeros, it's one, two, three, four.”

Inside was a familiar sight, similar to the employee lounge and the bunker of that village we raided with the Desperados. In one corner were two skeletons; surrounding them was syringe after syringe of med-x, enough to kill six ponies over. It was clear the ponies had locked themselves in here, maybe before Molly started killing every pony or maybe after. It didn't matter much, as every pony here was long dead.

"Good news and bad news," Azure said.

"Let me guess, not much is here," I said back to him.

Azure nodded. "If I had to bet, most of the supplies here were likely given out when those bombs dropped. What was left was used by those two in the corner."

That made a lot of sense. The medical supplies would have been quickly used up with all the ponies in the mall. "And the good news?"

The lurker pulled out one of a few large M.o.P. cases and opened it. Inside was a whole hazardous environment kit for doctors, perfectly preserved and smelling of sterilizing chemicals. "You lost your gas mask, right?"

"It's stuck in the contraband room, but that mask is made of scrap and dreams," I said as I pulled out the pristine M.o.P. gas mask. It wasn't anything military quality, but if what Arras said about military equipment, that was probably a good thing. The mask had a hard glass face, which didn't obstruct a pony's vision by much, and two air filters. Actually, it resembled Harp's gas mask but looked far more mass-produced.

The case had another useful thing inside a pack with basic medical supplies and tools. Nothing much compared to what I had on the Smuggler, but the tools were a lot better quality than what I already had. "All nice, but you think I'll need a gas mask?"

"Well, I had to take a detour to get here, and let's say our best bet to the next floor might be a problem without one of those," Azure told me.

“You sure?” I asked.

He nodded. "Turns out more of those bigger robots are coming up here and are blocking any way up or down. All except for one."

That made too much sense. Since Azure was firing off his rifles, it must have called all the security over here and gone into a heavier lockdown. "Okay, and where are we going that needs a gas mask?"

"I think the place is called Barnyard Bargains; the place was massive and overtaken by the plants and that fog." He explained.

I face hoofed. "Ya, of course, I'm returning to another old job I had."

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