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

Fallout: Equestria

Desperado’s V4: Molly Manticore Mega Mall.

Ch 8, Barnyard Bargains.

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Azure filled me in with what he knew: Barnyard Bargains had a strange choking smell that made him gag, along with that fog lingering in the air, forcing him to dip out of there soon after hiding inside. While inside he said it resembled a jungle, completely overgrown with plants. Thankfully, he was inside the superstore long enough for the robots to lose sight of him. Overall, it sounded like a shitshow in there, but we couldn't just hide in here until the security died down.

Fortunately, Azure and I had the advantage of staying under the radar when it came to the usual robots.

“Is everything clear?” I asked over the radio.

“Harp says you're good.” Glittering, Matrix spoke through the radio. "A few animatronics are on patrol on the second floor, but they're far enough away for you to be safe. I'll lift the gate for you."

I was confused as to why the kid was doing this? "Why are you on the terminal?"

“Memorized the code and layout. Also, Harps has difficulty looking through Order and her eyes simultaneously.” The teenager explained.

“My granddaughter has a picture-perfect memory," Rattlebones then explained. "So you can trust her on this.”

I'd heard about ponies with such memories and that the Ministry of Arcane Science was extremely protective of them. But that was neither here nor there right now as Order buzzed in. "Sorry, but I'm going to need to pull, Order back for now; its power is getting low," Harp said.

"Right, then, can you bring this back with you?" I asked, pulling out the last M.o.P. case filled with extra medical supplies.

Order clamped onto it, lifting it off the ground. “Ya, this shouldn't be a problem. I'll have Order come find you once its power is recharged." wobbling, the drone lifted off and flew away.

Moving out ourselves, we kept a low profile as we made our way to the superstore. Azure did not need to lead the way, as advertisements for Barnyard Bargains were all over, pointing us to it. Fortunately, as I had guessed, the security paid me little attention. Still, Azure had to take extra care not to be seen, which was much easier with my help.

“No sight of anypony suspicious.” The securitron told me, now facing away from where Azure was, giving him a clear path through.

"Thanks for the report," I told the robot before catching up with the Lurker.

He had the advantage of robots not being able to see him right away, a perception filter, as Harp called it, but it only gave him a moment of invisibility, a moment made shorter with security actively looking for him.

"Thanks for the cover," Azure said as he stayed low.

"No problem, but it's weird how you go so easily unseen when you literally glow," I commented.

He shrugged. "Magic is as magic does, I guess."

That was an annoyingly fair point.

We both heard an ear-piercing squeaking get close and quickly found a hiding spot behind a cheap jewelry stand. This time, it was an animatronic sheep stopping by, or at least I guessed it was a sheep at some point. The wool that once covered it was a sickly black with mold, and its body so rusted that it moved with a visible jerk with hooves on chalkboard squeak. I didn't know a robot could smell so foul, yet the smell of rot from it was absolutely pungent.

But It passed by soon enough, and we moved out again once it had gotten far away. We saw other animatronics along the way. All are just as severely degraded. Rabbits, birds, and even lizards made up the parade of nightmares, and I even recognized one of them to my annoyance. It was a simple bear animatronic with a park ranger hat on, a mascot made by the M.o.P. for the animal sanctuaries and forest safety. As monstrous as Hazy the Bear had become, I liked him and would not be forced to put the robot down.

As we moved, I was also tempted to ask Glittering Matrix to open one shop, Moonlight Records. It was a common music shop in my day, and if I was correct, it had a treasure trove of what might be lost music in there. But I also didn't want to go inside and find it all destroyed or release more feral ghouls to call the animatronics to us. It was a shame, but the music here would likely stay lost forever.

My nose scrunched up as I smelled a humid rot stench with a hint of chemicals—cheap colonels and perfume. Looking at the entrance of Barnyard Bargains, I wondered how that horrible smell had only worsened after two hundred years.

“You alright?” Azure asked.

I put on the gas mask, protecting me from the stench of cheap products. "Ya, I have less fun memories of working at Barnyard Bargains."

“Standard unfun memories, or unusual unfun memories.” He further asked as he put his own gas mask on.

"Standard. Barnyard Bargains was never sketchy as a business; it was just mind-numbingly boring. Frankly, nothing was really lost when they replaced their workforce with robots. The protests about it were mostly just done by the usual anti-robot protesters, not the employees." I explained.

"So monotonous that the workforce didn't care if they had a job there," Azure said curiously.

I shrugged as I trotted forward. "Probably. When I was let go, I was more relieved than worried. Probably because I hated the cosmetic section and how strong it stank constantly."

“You mean that overpowering fragrance?” all four of Azure's fin-like antennas has folded up and curled close to his body. “Even I can smell it, and I don't even have a nose.”

Stopping, the entrance was covered by a tangle of vines, with an entrance too small for a securitron to follow. "Ya, I think it was the owner's wife that decided to have so much perfume in all Barnyard Bargains, and I wouldn't have been surprised if she didn't have a sense of smell. Still, it didn't stop ponies from shopping there, and my marefriend liked the smell, so I tolerated it."

"Marefriend? As in a girlfriend, right?" Azure probed as we squeezed in.

Then, a beeping sounded as we pushed through to the other side, but it quickly fizzled out.

My pipbuck slowly clicked, warning me of radiation, but nothing so severe that I had to be worried about it yet. "Yeah, we were together for years, but in the end, I was the only one trying to keep the relationship alive."

Pushing past the vines and entering the superstore was like entering another world. The place resembled a jungle, with cracked pipes spraying water through the red fog that hung overhead, making it look like rain, and light beaming down from the broken glass roof. Above and below us was all green, blotched with color here and there, all mutant plant life growing wild.

Azure then sighed. "Well, I hope this isn't a problem." Pointing at the escalator, it had collapsed in on itself, and more vines blocked even the option of climbing up.

"Typical," I said. We should look for the employee stairs. They're also used as an emergency fire exits, so they should be on the outer wall."

“Which is on the opposite side of where we are.” Azure pointed out.

Again, I said, "Typical."

Picking a direction and trotting, it felt like I had entered a Daring Do novel, pushing our way through the jungle to find a long-forgotten ruin and recover the artifact inside. But each time I saw some old, rusted product tangled in the vines, I was brought back to my even more insane reality.

Seeing how mangled everything was by the plant life, I didn't even dare hope to find anything useful as we made our way down the aisles. I didn't plan on grabbing anything, but Barnyard Bargains was known for selling everything for everyday living. An untouched superstore like this would have had enough supplies to keep the Desperados well-stocked for years. I wouldn't mind finding soap and toilet paper.

“Hey, you have a problem!” Glittering spoke over the radio. “You triggered the security, and they've converged at the store.”

"Seriously! But how?" I then remembered the beeping and face-hoofed. "Right, the metal detectors. The metal detectors would be on if security is on full alert."

“How bad is it?” Azure asked.

“Harps got an eye on the situation, and she says that the bots can't get in, but you'll not be able to get out.” Glittering informed us.

“Is there a side exit on the third floor?” I then asked.

“Yes, let me ask Harp to check it," Glittering said, and we waited for her to return. "Thank you, Celestia. It looks like the robots don't guard those doors. There's one in the tools section, on the third floor.”

I wasn't surprised that the tools were on the top floor, likely far away from the entrance, along with anything a stallion would be interested in. Foal's stuff was usually even further back, so a family would need to go through everything first, giving any mare the time to find an excuse to buy random crap.

"Right, we find the employee stairs, go up to the third floor, and exit the employee exit in the tools section," I said, mentality jotting down the plan.

Something, like a shadow, caught my eye, but darker, deeper, and familiar. It resembled a mare, if barely. I was sure it was the same dark spirit as before, and as we locked eyes, it smiled before vanishing.

“Ummm, you have a problem.” Glittering, then said.

"Let me guess, Animatronics," I said.

There was then a crash from behind us and a roar.

“Yep," Glittering said. "And it's Molly. She seems to be leading several other Animatronics right to you somehow. At least they took out a security robot first.”

Small blessings, I guess.

Azure and I booked it, pushing through the foliage the best we could. But we were running blind and not all that fast, thanks to the vines. Our only saving grace was that the Anamotroncs would be hindered, though I wasn't sure it would be enough.

Finding a break in the jungle, we found ourselves in what must be one of many clothing areas for mares. Here, the plant life was shorter and less dense, with bushes sprouting out of the round clothing racks, appearing like an orchard that grew dresses.

Order buzzed down to us from above, sending a sense of relief through me. Then I heard a sigh of disappointment come through Order's voicebox. “Look at all those ruined dresses. It makes me wish we didn't have to destroy this place," Harp said. “Focus now; lives are at stake."

"Maybe we can pick you up some shoes if the opportunity comes up," Azure suggested. "Just not here or right now, as I'm sure you can understand."

Harp let out an amused chuckle. "I know, I know. The ways up are blocked, so you two might need to climb.”

"Actually, we're heading to the emergency stairwell at the other end of the wall. Can you guide us to the best route through?" I asked Harp.

The drone looked relieved as Harp spoke through it. “That sounds solid. Go to lingerie while I look; you can hide in the dressing room there."

I face-hoofed again as Azure patted me on the back. “Ya, I don't quite get the obsession with undergarments, but I know it's considered ungentlemanly to hide in a woman's dressing room.”

"At least we got an excuse," I said as we made our way to a severely overgrown dressing room in the middle of the maresware. Behind us, we could hear another crash, followed by snapping.

It was rather creepy seeing rotting mannequins dressed in fancy underwear, none in good condition, but I could still make out the lace. Ponies normally didn't wear clothes, so this was considered exotic foreign fashion. Still, it was no less embarrassing to be around it.

Awkwardly, some ads here were for ponies more Fizzy's shape, advertising bras and other undergarments. Most mares had little under their legs unless they were nursing, so some were pregnant in the ads. A few others were clearly for mares with assets to entice stallions.

Stomping and snapping passed by, fading off just as quickly as it started. Azure and I held our breath to stay as silent as possible. Looking at my E.F.S., I counted three red dots, two on our floor and one below.

The sound of rustling caught our attention, and the two of us looked up to see a sickly two-headed raccoon with wings. The mutant saw us and quickly scurried away.

"Looks like there's a thriving ecosystem here," Azure commented.

"You sure?" I questioned. "Could just be a monster made by the plants here, as Harp suggested."

The Lurker shrugged. "At this point, it's all magical nonsense to me."

“Are you two okay?" Harp asked as Order buzzed in, and we nodded. “Good. Unfortunately, you won't be able to get to the emergency stairwell from this floor. The toy section collapsed over the exit, but the first and third floors are clear-ish."

“What's the issue?” Azure asked.

“Well, there is a garden center on the first floor, and the plants there are spitters.” I really didn't like the sound of that. “To clarify, seed spitter plants. We have them back on the islands, and they spread their seeds by shooting them into animals. Which includes ponies. Death by seed spitter is considered one of the most painful deaths if you're not killed outright."

That was not filling me with hope. “Any advice?”

“Don't get hit," Harp told us. “I'm sorry, but there are just too few options with our time. If you head to the hats section, there are some thick roots you can climb down, make your way through the perfume section, past foal's clothing, and you will get to the garden center. I'll have Order distract the animatronics the best it can."

Order buzzed off before shouting. “begone foul things!” Followed by the loud pipping of its bolt launchers and solid-sounding thunks.

Following Harp's instructions, we ran out to the hat area. We saw the vines she had mentioned, which extended all the way from the ceiling and down to the floor. Unfortunately, we couldn't climb them to the third floor, as the superstore's floor plan was bowl-shaped. I thought about going to the roof from here, but then again, I wasn't much of a climber in the first place.

Azure was the first to repel down, looking like he had done this hundreds of times before… which he might have had.

The broken sound of circus music sent a chill up my spine as I turned to see Molly rip a dress shrubbery out of her way. The nightmarish animatronic ripped apart the rotting cloth as she moved at me, mouth open wide, revealing the endoskeleton robot underneath.

Panicked, I jumped, missing the vine, and almost fell, a back hoof getting caught in Molly's grip. "Fuck!" I yelled.

Molly let out an off-tune laugh as she lifted me up so we could be face-to-face. The shadowy pony looked back at me from inside her mouth. "There can be no hope when all is, STRIFE!” It's words resonating in my mind as Molly lifted me up Higher.

A bolt logged into her head as Order flew over, but Molly didn't budge. “Let him go, you bitch!" she yelled.

With no other options, I drew my pistol and pulled the trigger. The gun let out a loud click, reminding me that it had no bullets in it.

*Bang!*

Checoves Promis let out a bullet it shouldn't have, striking the shadow pony inside and dispersing her. Molly recoiled from the shot, flinging me up, her plant matter-slicked claws losing their grip on my leg and sending me flying up and away.

Everything became a blur as I flipped flank overhead repeatedly until I crashed into something soft.

Thankfully, I was alive, but even though the gas mask stayed in place, wherever I landed, the perfume stench was so strong that it seeped through the filters. "Oh, Celestia, save me; I can taste it!"

"At least you aren't dead," Azure said before gagging. "But what is even that?"

Helping me off whatever broke my fall, I looked back to see a massive and ugly flower surrounded by a thick yellow haze that quickly spread out. The thing was the source of the overpowering perfume smell. With the faded posters all around, it was the centerpiece of the superstore.

“A Kieran corpse flower.” I read. “But why?” A cold shiver ran up my spine again, and I looked back to see Molly looking back down at us.

Another Animatronic joined her, some sort of pink rabbit with a broken ear and several of Order's bolts embedded into its face. The rabbit climbed over the railings and jumped, its big feet caught in the vines, causing it to fall face-first into the ground with a loud slam. Azure and I watched as it got back up, the fall having pushed two of the bolts through and causing sparks to erupt from the robot.

I then suggested, as I picked up Checoves Promis and holstered it. "We should go."

"Agree," Azure said just as Order flew over us.

“Run, you idiots!" Harp screamed just as we heard more loud thumping coming right at us.

Hazy the Bear appeared from the opposite directions, claws out, mouth open, and running way too fast.

Diving in the sides, Hazy just missed us and slammed right into the overgrown corpse flower, sending another thick yellow cloud out, now filled with what was clearly pollen.

Order flew over again. “This way, before the fucking rabbit explodes! Go, Go, GO! “

Following Harp's voice, we exited the pollen cloud just as it reached The damaged rabbit. Its face sparked again, and then everything became white as my ears rang and I was knocked off my hooves.

Azure helped me recover as my senses returned, only to find everything was now on fire. "What?"

"Powder explosion," Azure said as he got me moving. "Pollen is extremely flammable. If I had a copper coin for the times I had this happen to me, I'd have-"

A loud thud causes us to stop and look back. From the raging fire that was the corpse flower came stomping out Hazy the Bear, the robot now completely engulfed in fire as it did its iconic pose of pointing at us. Before, the pose was a warning of proper fire safety; now, it felt like a vengeful spirit coming to take away foals who played with matches.

*Bang*

Azure didn't hesitate to shoot the animatronic through the eye, causing it to stumble back into the burning corpse flower. “No, we aren't doing this right now!” He yelled before pushing me to run.

I felt something sickly wet as we ran through the foal's clothing area, and dark, slick water began raining down around us. It smelled rancid as it coated everything and made the floors slippery. But the fire started dying down, saving us from a dangerous situation.

Then we saw it, the garden center, and saw them. Strang bulb plants on long, thin stems wilted in our direction as the bulbs bloated up. Azure and I dived down, sliding along the muck-covered floor as seeds were shot over our heads. We didn't even dare to stop, jumping up and dashing as soon as possible.

Slamming into the wall, I saw the emergency stairwell and ran to it, the sound of seed hitting the wall following me. Reaching the door, I struggled to open it, only budging when Azure used his crowbar. A refreshing burst of stale air hit us as the door flung open, and we dove inside.

Slamming the door shut behind us, several pinging sounds came from the other side before the seed spitters stopped, and only then did we catch our breath.

"That… was unpleasant," Azure said as he removed a seed stuck in his shell.

I checked myself as well, finding that the armor mostly protected me. As my adrenaline faded, the pain in my flank became increasingly apparent.

Azure chuckled. “Looks like you got shot in the ass.”

"Ya can tell," I said, scowling at the oversized crab pony.

"Yeah, just let me use these medical tools, and I'll pull it out, " he offered.

Doing just that, Azure held a pair of tweezers in his face claws and got digging. I winced in pain as I felt not just the seed being pulled out but also the tiny roots. I then winced again as he applied the disinfectant and a bandaid.

"Fascinating," Azure said as he studied the seed; its roots were reaching for him.

"Terrifying, I say," I commented.

The radio crackled as Glittering spoke up. “Slowtrot, Azure, are you okay?”

"We're in the stairwell," I told her.

She sighed. “Good. Your way should be clear if you can get to the third floor. Molly's still around, but I don't think she can get up there from where she's at. Also, Order is pulling back again. So Harp suggests you take a breather before moving out.”

"Not going to argue with that," I said.

Sitting down, I winced again as pain shot up my spine. “Say, you got any healing potions?”

Azure shook his head. “Sorry, just bandages.”

That was just great; here I was without any quick relief. But at least I wasn't in any real danger for now. There was a pop and a fizz as Azure hoofed over a bottle of Sparkle-Cola Rad.

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Seriously?”

"Ya, I know, after that soda shop, maybe not the best thing to drink, but it's what I got." He said before pulling out a second.

With a sigh, I took it, the pipbuck giving a few clicks as I drank it. As I remembered, Rad was just an overpoweringly sweet drink that tasted more like a knockoff of Sparkle-Cola than something the company would have made before the owner went missing. "Ya, I still don't like it."

"Truthfully, it does have a distinctive artificial taste, like something an alchemist would make. But the sugar does help." Azure commented, then tapped on the glowing fin on his head. "My kind is rather gluten-dependent if we want to keep a healthy glow."

“That's… weird. Why?” I asked.

He finished off his drink first before answering. "I'm not an expert on the subject, but our glow comes from bioluminescent bacteria that help fight parasites and viruses. The bacteria happen to have quite the sweet tooth, and because of that, we rarely get fat from overconsuming sweets. Though we would end up glowing brighter and drooling out the excess bacteria, something we avoid doing outside tending to our young."

My brain froze momentarily, and I could not process the image.

“Sorry, that might have been more than a bit much.” He apologized. “How about we change the subject. You said you had a girlfriend, or marefriend as you ponies seem to call it. How come you didn't mention her before?”

I took a deep breath, not really comfortable with the subject now that it was being asked about. "I… just didn't feel like it was relevant. We'd been separated for a long while before all this happened, and it didn't end well. Truthfully, I had finally managed to get Poppy out of my mind before everything went crazy. Then I just forgot about her."

“Oh… a bad breakup. Did one of you cheat?” He then asked.

"Celestia, no!" I blurted out. "Neither Poppy nor I were like that. It's just that I wasn't the pony who could help her. I tried to help, but I think I only made things worse for her; that's all there was. It is not like it matters; she and Everpony are dead. Nothing more than background radiation to be forgotten."

Azure nodded, like he knew anything about that. "But there were good times too. Things you rather not forget?"

It felt like he was trying to open up a scar best left alone. But… I felt compelled to say something about that. "For me, there was, but not for Poppy, not for a long time. We had known each other since we were fowls, neighbors, we were friends and had fun. Things started to get serious as the war was dying, and then she joined to take part in the relief core."

“Join up, as in the military?” He asked.

“Ya. Celestia was transitioning the army to a peacetime stance as a show of good faith to the Zebras.” I told him.

"But peace never happened." He said, and I nodded.

"The Little Horn Massacre… I try not to hate, and my mom always tells me never to hate, but I hate the Zebras for what they did there. Not all of them, but sometimes it's hard to not hate. It's far easier to forget and pretend that nothing ever happened. That's what Poppy chose to do." I then finished off my cola, the sweetness attacking my teeth.

Just mentioning it brought me back there, to the Ministry of Morral building, the pinks not letting me in, and that callus doctor telling me it was best if I just went away. I never felt more useless, never more unwanted, that after all my efforts to help, it amounted to a "Do I know you?"

The radio crackled, snapping me out of my thoughts. “Are you both still in the stairwell?” Glittering asked.

"Ya, we're still here," I said

"Good. The Order is on its way, so make your way to the third floor, " she told us.

“Are you good to go?” Azure then asked me.

I took a deep breath, not feeling good at all. But I hadn't felt good in a very long time. “I feel normal, so I'll be fine.”

"I can understand that." The Lurker said before trotting up the stairs.

Following, we passed several boxes of stuff, all rusted and degraded. I saw a garden machete but wondered if it would even be helpful or if it could survive the first swing on anything. I was also glad we kept the gas masks on, as the thick dust made everything a dreary gray as we kicked it up.

“How's things outside?” I asked.

Harp’s voice came through the radio. “There's one Animatronic out there, but I managed to trick it into a tangle of vines. If you stay to the left, you'll be fine.”

“Also, I turned most of the fire suppression system off, but a pipe or two burst somewhere, so the floors might still be slippery," Glittering told us.

“Hay! Was there anything interesting there?” Fizzy then asked.

"There is Nothing worth taking. This place is an absolute wreck. You have better luck finding anything down where you're at," I said back to them.

“Lair thought the same. She, Star, and Live are checking the storage rooms here." Harp informed us. “And don't worry, those girls are more than capable of protecting themselves.”

"Unfortunately, it's slow going due to the lockdown.” Glittering added. “Can't even open the basement doors from here, so they must do it manually."

Well, at least they were doing something, and I trusted those three to be able to take down an animatronic if push came to shove. "Alright, we're heading out."

Azure and I had to push hard to open the door, as plant matter and rust had covered it. The thick, humid air rushed in with one good shove, and we had to squeeze out. The atmosphere had changed a bit, with the sound of water in the distance reminding me of a waterfall. There was also the sound of animals, primarily birds, making quite a racket.

"Well, look at that," Azure said as he trotted to the railing.

Following him, I saw where a pipe had burst, tons of water flowing out and pouring down like a waterfall, hitting the second floor just to do it over again. Down below, it looked like a pond of silky tainted water had formed, but clear water was taking over where the waterfall hit it.

Azure blew a long whistle, "If only I had the time to draw this out, or a camera."

I looked across from us, seeing a trapped beaver-like Animatronic. The thing glared at us with hate-filled eyes as it struggled to break free from the vines. "Ya, maybe we can find a working camera along the way. But let's get out of here before that beaver does us what it does to trees."

With a nod, Azure and I ran left to the tools section of the store, passing the stallion clothing section, all just as ruined as everything else. Fortunately, there wasn't that much obstructing our way that we couldn't just go around, and we found the door quite quickly. Like the last two times, it was pretty stuck.

"Hold these," Azure said as he hoofed over four intact but entirely moss-covered tool cases and pulled out his crowbar.

I looked at the things and then returned to Azure as he managed to pry the door open. Rushing in and forcing the door shut, I returned the tool case to him.

“You know it's going to be junk, right?” I said.

"Just wanted to check. You never know unless you take a look." Azure cracked the degraded case open using his crowbar, and the smell of machine oil wafted into the air. "Jackpot." He said as we looked at standard wrenches, screwdrivers, and other simple tools. "Well, if we need to get any nuts or bolts on or off, this will be able to do it. Though it will need a new case." He then tapped the M.o.P. case we both had on us. "And this might do."

I couldn't argue with his logic and wanted to kick myself for not thinking the same thing. But there were always other shops to check if we had the time. Until then, it was back to the Mega Mall, where Molly awaited me.

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